The new administrator for the Honolulu Liquor Commission yesterday announced a series of reforms for the long-troubled agency, saying that a recent corruption charge involving a supervisor calls for a "total overhaul."

Chief among the reforms detailed by Dewey Kim Jr. were an internal investigation headed by a former police chief, a reorganized night enforcement program, and a plan to hire at least six additional investigators.

Kim started his job as head of the agency that enforces liquor laws in Honolulu just two weeks before the commission was rocked by corruption charges again.

On April 14 a federal indictment stemming from a massive FBI investigation accused inspector James Rodenhurst and the head of security at Aloha Stadium of extorting money from the owner of two Honolulu nightclubs.

And even though this allegation is new to Kim, it mirrors charges from 2002 that resulted in the conviction and firing of eight liquor inspectors.

Kim said Rodenhurst was placed on leave without pay on April 17.

As part of getting the word out that the agency won't tolerate corruption, Kim said the agency this week began mailing out letters to nearly 1,400 businesses that sell liquor outlining a "zero tolerance policy for bribes or other gifts to Liquor Commission personnel."

The letter mentions the latest indictment and the earlier convictions of eight investigators on similar charges. It is signed by Kim and Liquor Commission Chairman Dennis Enomoto, who has been working to improve the agency in recent years.

"We want to make crystal clear that solicitation or acceptance of any bribes, gifts, donations, gratuities, etc. will not continue," according to the letter.

The letter includes the commission's standards of conduct and says: "No employee at the Honolulu Liquor Commission may receive anything of value from licensees. Nothing."

The Liquor Commission has struggled to clean up its act, but the addition of Kim and the reforms he announced yesterday were a hopeful sign to critics.

City Councilman Charles Djou said he's encouraged by Kim's initial proposals.

"There are specifics here; there's more than vague generalities," Djou said.

"I think he has the right attitude for cleaning up the Liquor Commission."

Djou said he thinks Kim's approach in setting out a zero-tolerance policy about gifts right away is a good idea. "There is no wiggle room here," Djou said.

And Djou is pleased with Kim's proposal to rotate the investigators so they're not reviewing the same bars over and over, which can set the stage for corruption.

Kim said the commission has selected private investigation company AKAL Security to handle the internal review of the federal indictment charges and follow up on any other questionable areas. Former Honolulu Police Chief Lee Donohue is chief of operations for that company and will oversee the $25,000 contract.

Donohue said he's not sure how long the investigation will take. "Our main task is to review the evidence that's been collected and to see what kind of violations were committed by employees," he said.

Another former HPD official — retired white-collar crime specialist Dan Hanagami — has been selected to reorganize the way the commission runs its night enforcement of bars and restaurants under another contract worth nearly $25,000.

In a written statement, Mayor Mufi Hannemann said he is encouraged by the direction that Kim is taking.

"We're pleased to see the new Liquor Commission administrator continuing to take steps to clean up an agency that has had its share of issues over the past several years," Hannemann said.

Kim, a former state deputy attorney general, said specific changes can be made to ferret out corruption but he's not ready to say that public trust in the commission should be restored this week.

"As I sit here now, I cannot assure anybody of anything," he said.

Kim said the agency has to take ultimate responsibility for the actions of its employees in the way that a parent has to step in if a child kept crashing the family car.

"You have a responsibility to either teach them how to drive or take the car away from them."

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.