honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, July 22, 2005

Liquor official steps down

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Wallace Weatherwax
spacer
spacer
The Honolulu Liquor Commission last night approved a settlement that removes embattled administrator Wallace Weatherwax from the office today but allows him to stay on the payroll until he retires on Oct. 31.

Commission special assistant Anna Hirai will perform the administrator's duties until a permanent successor is named.

On July 14, the commission stripped Weatherwax of his duties and assigned them to Hirai.

Commission Chairman Dennis Enomoto said the settlement negotiated with Weatherwax allows the agency to move forward with reform efforts after years of being under fire in what has become a litany of scandal: eight former investigators found guilty of racketeering, bribery, extortion and other charges; a city audit blasting the commission for mismanagement; an ongoing investigation by the FBI and other ethics inquiries.

"We're hoping that the public will see this as a major action, a turnover," Enomoto said. "It's a big transition."

Because Weatherwax is protected by the city civil service system, Enomoto said, making a change was complicated.

Weatherwax did not attend the meeting. Afterward, his attorney, Eric Seitz, said the retirement date of Oct. 31 is "advantageous" for Weatherwax and for the commission.

"It's an amicable agreement — nothing to fight about," Seitz said.

Enomoto and Seitz said it allowed time for a transition and Weatherwax agreed to not challenge the decision or file a lawsuit in the matter.

Last week, Mayor Mufi Hannemann and others spoke out against a Weatherwax proposal to arm liquor inspectors. Weatherwax pitched the idea last week but the commission decided to not take any action on the firearms proposal.

Despite that vote, Weatherwax told The Advertiser that he made the proposal because firearms are needed to protect the inspectors in an increasingly dangerous work environment.

Enomoto said those public statements put Weatherwax in a position "very contrary to what the commission's position actually was." According to Enomoto, "that was a significant turning point."

City Councilman Charles Djou, a vocal critic of the commission, praised the commission for moving Weatherwax out of the agency, although he's sorry that Weatherwax will remain on the payroll for 3 1/2 more months "for doing nothing."

Weatherwax earns a salary between $71,676 and $101,004. The commission oversees nearly 1,400 bars, clubs, restaurants and other businesses that sell liquor. It gets its money — $3.7 million budgeted this year — from the operations that it licenses and from fines paid by those businesses.

"I am disappointed that it's going to take so long to have this management shake-up," Djou said. But he also said he understands that reaching a settlement avoids the cost and legal issues that could arise.

Enomoto said the commission is looking forward to working with Djou on more reforms and "getting the resources we need to make things happen."

In the past, Enomoto noted that the commission had taken staff action, then been sued or challenged and forced to reinstate people. "We got the transition that we wanted: The administrator's out of the office and we did it with no liability to the city or the commission," Enomoto said.

The commission also voted to immediately begin the search for a replacement for Weatherwax. Enomoto said he hoped the replacement could be in place by the end of the year.

Commissioner Iris Okawa said she thinks the negotiated settlement represents a key step forward. "I believe the issue of public confidence in the commission is highly important."

The five members of the commission approved the settlement unanimously.