Good sense has prevailed. Lee Donohue, the city's former police chief, has seen to it that another potential misstep involving the beleaguered Honolulu Liquor Commission has been averted.

Donohue works for Akal Security, the private security company that had been negotiating to conduct an internal investigation of the commission. Last week, the company decided not to seek the $25,000 contract, after all.

The problem: Akal also had employed James Rodenhurst, the commission night-shift supervisor inspector who was placed on leave without pay after he was indicted on federal extortion charges. Hiring the same company as investigators in the commission's housecleaning surely would raise eyebrows.

And the commission — where echoes from various corruption scandals still resonate — clearly doesn't need any more of that. Following on the heels of the prosecution of eight former inspectors on bribery charges, Rodenhurst was accused of extorting money from nightclubs.

The commission's new chairman, Dewey Kim Jr., has pledged to find a private contractor to handle the investigation — one who comes equipped, but not with baggage like that. It's essential that the work progress completely aboveboard so that this agency can finally reclaim the public trust.

Only then can it turn its attention where it really belongs: to the rational, efficient regulation of city liquor laws.