LIQ 18th Regular Meeting - November 12, 2026 – YouTube
RELATED: Liquor Commission Secrets: Has Kamehameha Schools entered the marijuana business?
Honolulu Liquor Commission Chair Jeff Hong announced his resignation from the Liquor Commission at its meeting last night, November 12, 2026.
Hong did not respond to our request for comment before we published, “Liquor Commission Secrets: Has Kamehameha Schools entered the marijuana business?” September 5, 2026.
His statement to the Commission is the first public comment we are aware of. Hong does not mention any connection to Ola Brew distillery, which would create a conflict of interest for a Liquor Commissioner. Hong describes only: “Hawaiian Ethos and distantly related businesses” and “the board of directors of Hawaiian Ethos and other business partners.”
But Hong has lots of other interesting things to say. Here is his statement, verbatim, from the meeting transcript:
* * * * *
Chapter 2: Chair Hong announcement
So, um I wanted to like the last time I was doing this, I got a little disrupted and so I wanted to make clear what was going on and what's going to be going on in the near future. So, next slide.
So, I'm actually not sure why Scarlet picked this photo of me for their post.
Maybe to embarrass me, but it captures a lot of what led me here today.
It's the summer of 2019. I'm serving as an officer of both the national and Hawaii affiliate boards of the American Civil Liberties Union.
We're at Honolulu Pride and I'm leading the ACLU contingent with students of the Richardson School of Law.
As background, uh, for over a hundred years, the ACLU has led the fight for civil liberties, free speech, voting rights, marriage equality, racial justice, and other protections provided by the Constitution.
The ACLU has litigated against the FBI, ICE, the state of Hawaii, local counties, and their police departments.
Coupled with my background as a small businessman and technology entrepreneur, I believe my experiences led the mayor to nominate me as a Liquor Commissioner during Scarlet's first discrimination lawsuit.
Uh, from their posts, there are those that mistakenly seek to tarnish my reputation and cast shadows on activities where I take pride and joy.
I enjoy riding my unicycle in an appropriate costume during Honolulu Pride.
Not with horns, as un-informed counsel might have suggested, but with the crown of the Statue of Liberty, the symbol of the ACLU.
* * * * *
I am the unpaid chairman of the Board of Hawaiian Ethos, a medical cannabis dispensary with a farm in Hawaii County in which I hold a small minority state.
It is no secret that I like to drink liquor and sometimes enjoy our legal farm-to-table medical products.
Uh, my experience at Hawaiian Ethos has made me a better commissioner.
I know what it's like to operate in a three-tier, highly regulated environment. I know the frustration of wasting vast sums of money waiting for inefficient government agencies to process permits.
Unfortunately, the public service trolling by Scarlet with press items like ‘the liquor commission secrets and marijuana business’ has personal costs to me.
They make vast requests to the Department of Health, county liquor commissions, DCCA, and other agencies about Hawaiian Ethos and distantly related businesses to fuel their conspiracy theories.
I have had to answer to the board of directors of Hawaiian Ethos and other business partners who ask why they're being dragged into the press because I carry out the volunteer duties of a Liquor Commissioner and I stand in the public eye as Chair.
Next slide.
So I'm proud of my public advocacy at the legislature. They would claim my exercise of free speech is an abuse of my position as Liquor Commissioner. They are wrong.
* * * * *
Here's another picture used in one of their posts. I'm leading the change 23 coalition of civil rights, religious, and civic organizations advocating for the successful constitutional amendment that cemented marriage equality in Hawaii.
That year, I was riding a unicorn because before Hawaii, marriage rights were like chasing a unicorn. and we are writing again in 2024.
I have advocated for multiple legislative changes across a broad range of topics, including for liquor to ensure that we can have special licenses for for-profit entities.
I am on the record in opposition to continued punishment of felons after they have completed sentences such as sex offender registries.
I have testified at the legislature for the expungement of cannabis felonies in part because they preclude ownership of a bar.
But I felt the other side of my criminal justice reform advocacy purely because of my role as commissioner. I have a convicted felon sending material to my home and when asked to stop they threaten to continue.
Felons are emailing my colleagues and trying to get names and addresses of my managers and business partners from public records simply to disparage the commission and me to gain an advantage.
I have great respect for citizens rights to question their government and government figures. I have spent over two years volunteering to advocate for civil rights.
But I cannot ignore the sense of fear and harassment from my family and associates due to my volunteer service as a commissioner.
And so with a sense of both closure and irony, I'm announcing my departure from the commission. Next slide.
And for the record, I have included some of the dismissals of Scarlet's many charges and complaints filed against me after the 2026 lawsuit was filed against the commission.
The ethics commission has dismissed multiple concerns as speculative, frivolous, and lacking a reasonable bas basis in law.
The circuit court dismissed their lawsuit to appeal a ruling of dismissal from this commission.
And the mayor sent a long letter dismissing many of their claims and concluding with the city's intent to vigorously defend the various allegations.
Done with the slides.
Okay. So, in 2022, I was nominated to the commission during Scarlet's first lawsuit.
I had been to Scarlet, but I didn't know Robbie Baldwin. I invited him to my home to hear his side of the story prior to my confirmation as a commissioner. I thought his claims were plausible and I accepted the appointment.
From my civil rights background, I know how to hold government agencies to account, but I did not know how to handle potential violations as part of government leadership.
As a graduate of the FBI Citizens Academy, I reached out to the FBI to explore possible courses of action if I saw corruption or civil rights violations.
I encouraged the FBI to conduct training for the commission staff to open new lines of communication.
I did not have any further contact with the FBI until interviewing our new administrator because there was nothing to report.
I am now recused from Scarlet's current lawsuit claiming discrimination against the LGBTQ community and retaliation for investigation of minors at the club. My recusal closes my involvement with Scarlet litigation.
I am frankly disgusted by those who had abuse our hard-fought civil rights protection for money. It dilutes the power of many meritorious claims who deserve justice.
I recuse myself because I'm biased by the facts.
I have been working in this office and in the field with staff for hours every week for the past three years and never witnessed discrimination based on sexual orientation or expression.
Working at the liquor commission, I saw my whole wife hardworking staff who could have been my friends, relatives, neighbors, classmates, or their children struggling to help our business community with antiquated systems.
I'm grateful to the mayor and city council for providing this opportunity to serve. I admire those across county government working to make Honolulu a better place.
I was one unaware of the depth of your care and dedication and my lack of appreciation for all you do.
I thank all of you. I thank all of you, the staff, the lenses, the practitioners for welcoming and working with me these past three years. I know I leave the agency in good hands and so as they say, aloha.
Thank you.
PDF: 11-12-2026 HNL Liquor Comm Agenda Amended.pdf
BACKGROUND:
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