Native Hawaiians are nearing a resolution on the lengthy, controversial issue of lands ceded to the federal government after annexation and transferred to the state government at statehood. Gov. Neil Abercrombie and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs recently proposed to settle the stalled issue with a Kakaako land deal, a proposal already sure to draw legislative scrutiny so does not need further impediments.

But a seemingly benign internal issue at OHA is threatening to erupt in heated disagreement as trustees try to fill a vacancy created in August when retired state Circuit Judge Boyd Mossman of Maui took a position with the Mormon church. Mossman said he hoped the remaining eight OHA trustees would appoint his successor to serve temporarily until the seat comes up for election.

Unfortunately, that has not been so easy within the OHA board. Neither of two Maui residents nominated by trustees to sit in Mossman’s seat received the six votes needed to be chosen in secret balloting last Tuesday. Former Alexander & Baldwin executive Mercer "Chubby" Vicens drew five votes and Rose Marie Lindsey Duey received the other two.

Trustee Rowena Akana abstained from voting in objection to the process, and trustees Peter Apo and Donald Cataluna indicated they would not cast further votes on the issue of whom to elect. If those three trustees hold to their decisions, no candidate will have enough votes to be chosen.

The board of trustees has until Dec. 23 to decide on its choice, but is required to inform the governor by Dec. 16 if it cannot agree on the replacement. Board Chairwoman Colette Machado told the Maui News upon Mossman’s resignation that she would not let that happen, but that promise is teetering. After Tuesday’s failure, she said she will ask trustees on Thursday to reopen the list of nominees by Dec. 8 to vote again in mid-December.

"It’s counter to our mission of self-determination," said Haunani Apoliona, referring to the possibility of a major OHA action to be decided by a gubernatorial appointee. "It’s the wrong message to send to our beneficiaries." Indeed, a close vote could mean that the trustee to decide the ceded lands issue would indeed be the choice of the governor sitting on the opposite end of the table.

Such a weighty decision should be made by an OHA board chosen entirely in public elections. If Abercrombie’s pick should be the deciding vote on the agreement, critics in the Native Hawaiian community will mock it — and OHA trustees would have themselves to blame.

The tentative agreement calls for the state to convey about 25 acres of land near Kakaako Waterfront Park to OHA to satisfy the $200 million in disputed past claims. Abercrombie on Nov. 16 praised the potential pact, which he said would benefit Native Hawaiians and be "the right thing for the state." OHA also lauded the plan to use the land with the "key stakeholders" of Kamehameha Schools, the Hawaii Community Development Authority and the University of Hawaii.

With so much at stake, OHA needs to move beyond internal bickering to prevent a relatively minor issue from festering. If the governor’s choice is the trustee who casts the deciding vote, the deal will risk being portrayed as a sellout and denounced as capping more than a century of trickery and abuse. OHA trustees cannot let that happen.