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Mayor releases travel and expense records

MEDIA RELEASE

Mayor Billy Kenoi released his business travel and expense records today for the first year of his administration.

The mayor’s work with the Hawai‘i Conference of Mayors comprised the bulk of expenses in the report. Mayor Kenoi also traveled to the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting in Washington, D.C., in January 2009, and visited tourism industry leaders in Japan with the Hawai‘i Travel Authority in October.

“This travel allowed me to establish relationships with key players from Washington D.C. to Honolulu to Japan,” Mayor Kenoi said. “Those relationships are essential in this uncertain economic environment, and they led to direct benefits for the County of Hawai’i.

“These trips helped to open discussions or to secure commitments for new collective bargaining contracts; for a major new highway in Kona; for more than $100 million in federal stimulus funding; and for additional airline capacity arriving in the County,” Mayor Kenoi said.

Mayors of the four counties in Hawai‘i for the first time forged a united front in lobbying the Governor and Legislature on behalf of the counties’ interests, particularly on collective bargaining issues and successfully preserving the counties’ fair share of the state’s Transient Accommodations Tax on hotel rooms. Hawai‘i County received nearly $18 million of TAT funds in the FY 2009-2010 budget as a result of the HCOM effort.

The report, covering the period from December 1, 2008 through December 6, 2010, details Mayor Kenoi’s HCOM lobbying expenses, primarily for travel to and from Honolulu, totaling $9,281.35.

The four Hawai‘i mayors also traveled to Washington, D.C., in January 2009, for the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ annual meeting, which coincided with the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

“The conference was a tremendous opportunity to gain valuable experience and establish important new relationships with federal officials and other mayors from across the nation,” said Mayor Kenoi. “This was part of the lobbying effort that resulted in $100 million in federal stimulus funds coming to Hawai‘i, including $35 million to build the mid-level road in Kona.”

Travel expenses related to the Washington, D.C., trip totaled $6,862.18.

Mayor Kenoi also participated in a “Spirit of Aloha” promotional trip to Japan sponsored by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, which resulted in direct talks with officials from Japan Airlines that led to the continuation of direct flights from Japan to Kona. The meetings also established relationships that will help Hawai‘i County gain additional JAL flights in the future, said Mayor Kenoi.

Mayor Kenoi noted that his administration reduced the number of “warm bodies” working for the County by 77 employees during his first year in office, and defunded another 55 vacant positions. Those cuts saved County taxpayers millions of dollars. The mayor also ordered his executive staff, including himself, to take one furlough day a month starting July 1, 2009. The furloughs will save the County $41,714 this year.

“No administration has worked harder than ours to reduce and control the cost of government, but it is also important that we make an investment in economic development,” Mayor Kenoi said. “For example, it is critical that we make an effective case in Washington, D.C., for our share of federal stimulus funding, which is bringing more than $100 million in new federal spending to our County.”

“It is also essential that we make our case at the state Legislature for retaining the transient accommodations tax, which is the second-largest source of revenue for the County at $17.8 million. And it is essential that the four county mayors work together to shape fair and frugal collective bargaining agreements, because the new public worker contracts will cost the counties millions of dollars.”

“Some travel overseas is also critical because it establishes relationships that will benefit our primary economic engine, which is tourism,” Mayor Kenoi said. “Political leaders across the state and the nation recognize we cannot simply sit back and hope and wait for better times. We need to reach out to potential markets, reach out to the key players in the visitor industry, and try to shape our own future.”

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