Two of Nebraska’s three Liquor Control Commissioners resigned Monday after Gov. Jim Pillen called them and asked them to do so, the commission’s former chairman said, adding to a tumultuous period for the state agency after its former executive director was indicted last week.
Bruce Bailey, the former chairman who had served on the commission for more than a decade, and Commissioner Kim Lowe both resigned Monday morning after Pillen “personally called” each of them and sought their resignations, Bailey told the Journal Star on Monday.
Their departures leave the commission, which regulates the sale of alcohol in Nebraska and helps regulate the sale of medical cannabis, without a quorum and unable to function. Pillen’s office announced Monday that it would accept applications for appointments to the commission until Oct. 17.
The governor sought their resignations less than a week after federal prosecutors accused the agency’s former executive director, Hobert “Hobie” Rupe, of providing favors to two Lincoln strip clubs in exchange for money, free private dances and sexual acts.
Rupe was the only commission employee mentioned or even referenced in the indictment, which also named an owner of the two clubs.
But Pillen signaled his dissatisfaction with the commission’s leadership late last week when he rejected a regulatory change the agency sought under Rupe that the governor said would “effectively provide government permission for customers to touch the dancers at a strip club.”
In a letter to the commission Friday, Pillen said the proposed changes emphasize “the depth of the failure of leadership and governance” at the commission and said “forthcoming appointees would not even consider such a measure.”
Three days later, he sought the resignations of Bailey and Lowe, who did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Monday.
In a phone interview, Bailey said “we didn’t know anything about” the regulatory change Pillen rejected and said the governor’s motivations were at least in part political.
“I don’t think there’s any way to offer a defense,” he said. “We have a pencil and he’s got a sledgehammer. Basically, we’re ready to go on. And that’s what will happen.”
The resignations pave the way for Pillen, a Republican who has appointed anti-cannabis advocates to the Medical Cannabis Commission, to reshape both commissions in his image.
“He had a different direction for the commission, and he also had a different direction for the way that we were handling our position with the cannabis (commission) as well,” Bailey said.
He noted that he “wasn’t voting as the majority” on the Medical Cannabis Commission, which has placed far stricter limitations on medical cannabis possession than the law passed by voters last year calls for.
Bailey has been a vocal opponent of temporary regulations and has also publicly expressed frustration with the lack of funds, infrastructure and direction from state lawmakers over how to run that regulatory body.
Omaha Sen. John Cavanaugh, a member of the Legislature’s General Affairs Committee responsible for confirming members of both the Liquor Control Commission and the Medical Cannabis Commission, said the resignations were cause for concern.
“I’m very concerned about the regulations being put out by the Cannabis Commission,” Cavanaugh said Monday. “They have overstepped their authority in how they craft those regulations and have been incredibly disrespectful to the will of the voters.
“And I’m concerned all five members to the Cannabis Commission will have been appointed by the governor, who has stated his opposition to a program voters voted for,” Cavanaugh added.
In June, Pillen appointed J. Michael Coffey, a retired district court judge from Omaha, to serve on both the Liquor Control Commission and the Medical Cannabis Commission.
Coffey, who is serving in an interim capacity, replaced Harry Hoch, Jr., who was not reappointed by Pillen to a second term. Coffey’s appointment has not yet been confirmed by the Legislature.
This is a developing story. Stay with JournalStar.com for updates.
Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or awegley@journalstar.com. On Twitter @andrewwegley
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