Off the news: Liquor Commission on hunt for new exec

The Honolulu Liquor Commission (HLC) is looking to hire a new assistant administrator when Anna Hirai steps down after nearly 25 years. Let’s hope this heralds a new beginning for the agency, which has been scandal-plagued, organizationally deficient and understaffed for years.

A bribery scandal involving eight HLC workers erupted in 2002. Audits in 2005 and 2019 found that organizational problems weren’t being fixed. And in 2021, the commission settled a federal lawsuit alleging anti-gay discrimination, agreeing to continued court oversight. Administrator Sal Patilos was brought on by the Blangiardi administration in August 2023. We wish him, and the liquor commission, well.