2025-12-15 Liquor Commission Minutes Hilo (Special Meeting)

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Andrew, I like the data -driven and measurable outcomes that you talked about, I'm a teacher by practice so I like to rely on data and measurable outcomes, I appreciate that very much. Stacie, I am very impressed with the knowledge that you have, the practical ideas and applications that you want to bring forth, and I feel that it was very apparent in the testimonies that were provided. You have already established a very positive working relationship with everyone that you will be working with. Steve, there's just a wealth of experience that you bring to the Department. I did appreciate the fact that when you said the letters of recommendation that you had were not solicited but were offered to you, that is very impressionable you know, what you brought to table. In my review of everything that I've listened to, my support would be to choose Stacie as the next Director as I feel that she would bring the best of everything to continue the legacy that the Department has established and wants to continue to grow in a very positive manner. Greenwell: It was obvious to me that both inspectors know their job, both inspectors seem to be very enthusiastic about the law enforcement and what can be done to support education for outreach programs, going to the community, going back to the distributors and so forth. Andrew seems to have a good grasp on what an inspector or an individual needed to do. Stacie had a good grasp on the licensing, she excelled on licensing because that is where her training has probably been more so than in the inspection category. Stephen with his expertise, experience and 21 years on the job, he seemed to understand very much of how the intricacies of public relations work at the counter, at the bar, at the licensee's place of business. Thank you all for applying, with that I'm supporting Stacie. Taniguchi: It was very difficult because as you know, this is a new process. I've been interviewing people for decades and personally I don't like the idea of giving out questions before the interview. You know, I just don't like it, I think it's wrong. We were advised that you know, we had to conform to certain things and even in open session, think we should be interviewing everybody privately, I wouldn't want to be interviewed publicly. So, based on that, everybody had the questions, so obviously, how do we evaluate it? Very difficult because you know, I mean everybody has qualifications, I mean you know you all have the minimum qualifications. So, basically what I had to do was I had to go based on how the applicant responded to all the questions which you already had ahead of time anyway. And was it natural, was it articulated clearly? I think everybody had good points, but I think the overall articulation of the answers for me was Stacie. She did a good job on that, everybody did a good job, but I think Stacie was the most natural and everything came out really, really clearly, and succinctly. And you know, the new ideas as well as things to continue Gerald's legacy as well, I think made me sway towards Stacie as well, but I wanted to thank all three of you for applying. Nakashima: Nakashima, no comments. MINUTES - LIQUOR COMMISSION MEETING SPECIAL MEETING - MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2025 - HILO PAGE 32 OF 35