The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is hoping to pick a successor to longtime Administrator/Chief Executive Officer Clyde Namuo in the next three to five months, OHA Chairwoman Colette Machado said Wednesday.

Namuo, 60, said he is stepping down Dec. 30 after 10 years.

He told the Star-Advertiser at the end of August that he was intending to leave before the end of his contract, which runs through July 31.

At a news conference Wednesday, Machado said "it is with anticipation and sadness" that the developments were formally announced.

After Namuo leaves, OHA Chief Operating Officer Richard Pezzulo will serve as acting administrator, Machado said. The search for a new administrator will be headed by OHA’s Asset Resource Management Committee, which is chaired by trustee Oz Stender. Machado said a professional recruitment company will help. Namuo’s contract pays him $129,000. His successor is expected to make about the same amount.

Namuo said he and a majority of the board of trustees agreed that he would leave at the end of the year to allow for an orderly transition.

"Bringing somebody on at the start of the calendar year just makes more sense," Namuo said. "At the start of a new legislative session, it’s going to be much better to acclimate whoever the trustees choose as the new CEO at the beginning of the year." The Legislature convenes its session annually in the third week of January.

Namuo, who said he is leaving the job of his own accord, added he has no immediate plans.

There have been some rumblings of dissatisfaction with Namuo’s management style both among trustees and OHA staff. In response, Namuo said, "I think there’s always going to be, when you have very bright leaders on your team, people (with) different views about how things are done. I wouldn’t say that they were negative."

Those disagreements did not factor into his decision to leave in December, he said.

OHA’s annual operating budget rose to $30 million from $12 million under Namuo.

Machado praised Namuo for leading OHA through a period of fiscal stability, updating and streamlining both financial and personnel operations, and for helping foster better relations between the elected trustees. The agency also created a five-year strategic plan under Namuo’s guidance and lobbied hard, albeit so far unsuccessfully, for passage of federal recognition for Native Hawaiians.

Namuo was hired by the OHA board in July 2001 under then-Chairwoman Haunani Apoliona. Machado succeeded her late last year.

In related news, Machado said OHA Maui Trustee Boyd Mossman is expected to resign at the end of the month. Trustees must pick a successor within 60 days or give up the right to choose that person to the governor. Machado said trustees intend to pick someone by the deadline.