OHA Trustees Walk Out After Chair Squelches Public Testimony
Rowena Akana unilaterally ruled that oral testimony regarding the embattled CEO would not be permitted at a public meeting.
A Board of Trustees meeting at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs abruptly ended shortly after it started Thursday when a majority of the members walked out.
At least five trustees walked out after Chair Rowena Akana announced that she was deferring two items from the agenda until a later date.聽The nine-member board, already down to eight because Trustee John Waihee IV was absent, thus lost quorum and could no longer continue its business.
The removed agenda items 鈥 to form a committee to find a new chief financial officer and to change the title of OHA鈥檚 鈥渃hief executive officer鈥 to 鈥渁dministrator鈥 鈥 directly involve CEO Kamana鈥檕pono Crabbe, who Akana is trying to remove from his position.
The board room audience included at least a dozen members of the public who indicated they wished to testify.
But Akana, citing state Sunshine Law and backed up by legal counsel, said it was within her authority to change the agenda. Only written testimony would be accepted regarding Crabbe, she said.
The reason for the change, said Akana, was because she did not want to convene 鈥渁 circus.鈥
Trustee Colette Machado, a former board chair, strongly disagreed with Akana鈥檚 unilateral move. She called it 鈥渦nfair鈥 and noted that some testifiers had flown to Honolulu from the neighbor islands.
Another trustee, Carmen 鈥淗ulu鈥 Lindsey, agreed, saying people showed up at the meeting so that their聽voices could be heard.
Trustee Dan Ahuna asked whether OHA beneficiaries 鈥 Native Hawaiians 鈥 were informed of the schedule change. They were not.
鈥淗ewa!鈥 someone in the audience shouted, using a word that can mean 鈥渨rong,鈥 鈥渋ncorrect鈥 and even 鈥渟in.鈥
Machado, Ahuna and Trustees Robert Lindsey Jr., Peter Apo and Lei Ahu Isa then got up from their chairs at the board table and walked out. So did Hulu Lindsey, although it was unclear whether聽she was joining the others.
Akana and new trustee Kelii Akina remained behind.
So, too, did聽several state sheriffs, who were on hand in case聽things got out of hand.
Akana latter issued this statement, explaining why once she removed the agenda items, public testimony on them could not be taken:
The decision to defer testimony on items not present on today’s agenda was made to comply with Hawaii’s open meetings laws. If members of our board deliberate or comment on testimony related to non-agendized items, the board may violate such laws. Accordingly, I used my discretion as Chair to defer such testimony until the item was placed on a future agenda. Beneficiaries were still able to submit written testimony today to the board. Moreover, beneficiaries are able to orally testify when such items are included on a future agenda.
Here are links to Civil Beat鈥檚 related reporting:
Chaos At OHA: A Power Struggle And Employee Accusations
OHA Board Votes To Buy Out Contract Of CEO Crabbe
Endless Infighting at OHA Starts To Cost Real Money
OHA Races Offer Stark Choices, But How Many Voters Will Care?
OHA: Agency at a Crossroads Is Caught in a Power Struggle
