The Hawaii Tribune-Herald has this item about Hawaii County Mayor Bill Kenoi and misuse of a government credit card. Excerpt:

Despite strict rules against using county-issued credit cards for personal purposes, and a prohibition against purchasing alcohol with them, Mayor Billy Kenoi charged $892 on his county card at a Honolulu hostess bar one December day in 2013.

Kenoi said Friday he reimbursed the county for the expense on his purchasing card, or pCard, in March 2014. Finance Director Deanna Sako confirmed the mayor did.

“Any error in judgment in the use of my card is entirely my own,” Kenoi said. “I take full responsibility for the purchases on my card. … Certainly, I could have exercised better judgment.”

Kenoi said he’s used the county card for personal purchases on other occasions, but he always reimbursed the county. It’s not known how often this occurs because repeated attempts by West Hawaii Today to get copies of the credit card statements have been turned back by the county. …

The bar, Club Evergreen, “is one of several Korean hostess bars in downtown Honolulu, where patrons buy drinks for themselves and for hostesses who sit and enjoy them with the customers,” according to the Tribune-Herald.

Hawaii Mayor Billy Kenoi at the Legislature in January 2015.

Cory Lum/Civil Beat