HONOLULU -- Embattled Liquor Commission administrator Wally Weatherwax Thursday night agreed to retire in three months and to work from home until then. The Liquor Commission was ready to fire Weatherwax, but agreed to the negotiated settlement out of concerns he might sue.

During Weatherwax's tenure as Liquor Commission administrator, liquor inspectors shook down dozens of Honolulu bars for bribes. Eight of the agency's inspectors now face federal jail sentences after pleading guilty to criminal corruption.

Last week, the commission stripped Weatherwax of all his duties and now has accepted his offer to retire on Oct. 31.

"We are hoping that the public will see this as a major action, a turnover," Liquor Commission Chairman Dennis Enomoto said.

It is a turnover the commission has been pushing for months.

The head of the commission said the turning point was when Weatherwax went public with his proposal that liquor inspectors should be allowed to carry firearms.

The idea of having gun-toting inspectors seemed ridiculous to the mayor and others.

The commission said it agreed to Weatherwax's retirement proposal out of concern that with his civil service protection he might sue in the future.

Councilman Charles Djou had demanded that both chief liquor inspector John Carroll and Weatherwax be fired immediately.

"I am disappointed that we cannot immediately get a new administrator in and that we are going to have to expend public resources, it looks like for three and a half more months, paying Wally Weatherwax for doing nothing," Djou said.

The commission said it hopes to find a new administrator by the end of the year.