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Committee advances appointment of Robert Condiff to Honolulu Liquor Commission
Summary
The Council Committee on Budget reported out a resolution to appoint Robert Condiff to the Liquor Commission after questions about restoring public trust, staff morale and pay scales. Committee members raised concerns about preserving institutional knowledge ahead of an administrator retirement and flagged investigator pay as a retention issue.
The Honolulu City Council Committee on Budget on Wednesday voted to report out Resolution 25-100 recommending the appointment of Robert Condiff to the Liquor Commission.
The committee advanced the appointment after a brief public Q&A in which members pressed Condiff on whether he is familiar with recent efforts to restore public trust in the commission and how he would work with the commission and new administration staff to implement recommended reforms.
Condiff told the committee he is “familiar with what has happened over the last 4 years” and said his professional career has been in Hawaii. He said he serves on the State’s Small Business Regulatory Review Board and has reviewed liquor commission rules there. “My approach to this is to ensure that obviously we uphold the laws and the regulations … but how do we engage with the business community and small business to ensure that we are allowing them to run their operations and be successful in doing so, and still comply with our regulations,” he said.
Why it matters: Council members framed the appointment as part of a broader effort to restore the Liquor Commission’s reputation after multi-year concerns and an administration review. At least one long‑tenured deputy administrator was reported retiring, which council members said raises the risk of losing institutional knowledge.
Members pressed Condiff on staff morale and investigator pay. Councilmember Kea Aina noted that the commission has an independent budget and suggested the commission has discretion to review pay scales for investigators and other staff to improve recruitment and retention. Condiff acknowledged the staffing shortfall and said he would review competitiveness “to maintain a staff so that we can continue to operate as efficiently as possible.”
Formal action: Committee Chair Dos Santos Tam moved that the resolution be reported out for adoption; there were no objections recorded during the committee discussion and the item was advanced to the full council for adoption.
What was not decided: The committee did not adopt any new pay changes, staffing assignments, or implementation steps at the meeting. Condiff said he would meet with the administrator and other commissioners after his appointment to develop concrete plans; no formal direction or deadline for that follow-up was recorded.
Looking ahead: The appointment now moves to full council for consideration. Condiff said he is “looking forward to being on board” and that he values council members’ input as the commission implements recommendations to restore public trust.
