CONCORD - Although frustrated and angry by the apparent disarray at the State Liquor Commission, the state's five executive councilors are not ready to “blow up” the agency, in a political sense.

The councilors say the two current liquor commissioners should be kept on board, at least while the Attorney General's Office investigates the latest controversy facing the all-important state revenue producer.

“No, they shouldn't be ousted, but a review of the authorities of the commission is definitely in order,” said Executive Councilor Chris Sununu.

“I think we have very good commissioners who are interested in reviewing their rules, policies and procedures to make sure they are in line with the best interests of the state, so I don't think we should blow up the whole commission,” Sununu said.

All five councilors also said Gov. John Lynch, despite being a lame duck, should nominate someone soon for the open third slot on the panel rather than defer to the next governor in January. One councilor said that if it were later in the year, closer to the end of Lynch's term, he'd feel differently.

The source of the current consternation is the continuing mystery of how 300 cases of wine worth about $100,000 went missing from a Portsmouth state outlet during a move of the store's inventory to new space in the same mall on Islington Street. It's not even clear whether the wine is missing, or whether a major accounting error occurred.

An investigative report by the commission liquor enforcement chief, Eddie Edwards, was inconclusive, Edwards said, because liquor commission employees untrained in how to conduct internal probes were first tapped to make inquiries about the wine. His unit was not called in until 10 days later, and, as he wrote, “back-tracking often results in mistruths, damaged, destroyed or lost evidence and an unwillingness for witnesses to come forward in good faith.”

Commissioner Mark Bodi has since resigned for reasons he has said were not related to the missing wine. Edwards reported that his unit's probe turned up “capricious allegations by senior level commission staff members” that Bodi was “having product moved to Store 6 (in Portsmouth) for him to purchase at a later date” at sale prices.

“The investigation revealed that his request was consistent with similar requests made by other commissioners, licensees and customers,” the report said. “To the best of my knowledge, there is no law or rule that prohibits this practice.”

Citing this as an example, Edwards wrote, “Much of the evidence or information” his enforcement staff obtained in the overall probe “is contradictory, ambiguous or unsupported.”

Bodi told the New Hampshire Union Leader last week he pressed for an immediate investigation by the attorney general. Instead, the commission did not go to the attorney general until six months later.

During the 10 days that transpired between the discovery of the discrepancy and Edwards being informed about it, there was a “poorly conducted initial administrative investigation” by the store operations supervisor and human resources administrator, who “failed to take comprehensive notes and witness statements and failed to isolate questionable inventory,” Edwards reported.

Edwards' report showed that his investigators received conflicting statements regarding the whereabouts of the wine and the related necessary documentation.

As a result, the report was inconclusive and does not even mention whether a crime had been committed.

The overall disarray the investigators found, Edwards wrote, “reflects a disturbing common thread in store operations.”

Edwards cited a lack of “standardized operational policies” and “standardized training,” as well as a lack of both “senior level accountability” and “supervision at all levels of store operations.

It also found “failure to enforce current directives, failure to properly train employees, refusal to adopt modern loss-prevention policies, poorly managed structure of store operations” and “retention of questionable employees.”

The report was particularly hard on the commission's human resources unit, saying it “has demonstrated a continuous lack of fundamental knowledge of handling administrative investigations.”

It said the unit's deficiency in investigative skills hurt Edwards' staff's “opportunities to gather creditable documentation.

“When handled poorly at the outset, they become damaged: Relevant and adequate information is not properly obtained,” he wrote.

“Mismanagement to a process that is so crucial and so necessary to the stewardship of government rises to the level of malfeasance that should not be overlooked,” Edwards' report concludes.

The five executive councilors had still not seen the report as of Friday.

Councilor David Wheeler said he tried to obtain a copy from the Attorney General's Office, but said his request was refused by Deputy Attorney General Ann Rice. Wheeler said she cited the ongoing investigation.

That frustrated Executive Councilor Ray Wieczorek, who said, “The worst thing they can do is stonewall us.”

“It is purely and clearly in the hands of the attorney general,” said Executive Councilor Ray Burton. “It's a serious matter.”

He voiced confidence in the two remaining commissioners, Michael Milligan and Chairman Joseph Mollica, but wants Lynch to move quickly to nominate someone to fill the vacancy created by the Bodi resignation.

“We need to wait until the evidence is in” before saying whether the commissioners should remain on board, Wheeler said.

Sununu said that although the councilors have not seen the report, they were briefed by the commissioners.

Overall, Sununu said, unlike other state agencies, the commission's contracts with outside vendors do not have to go before the Executive Council for approval.

“There are powers they have been granted that I think should be reviewed,” he said.

Councilor Dan St. Hilaire, a former Merrimack County attorney, declined to comment on the missing wine, citing the attorney general's investigation.