The ongoing strife plaguing the Office of Hawaiian Affairs board of trustees erupted again Thursday as six members walked out of the panel’s regularly scheduled meeting in protest.

The walkout — the second such revolt in as many months — followed a decision by Chairwoman Rowena Akana to block testimony on two potentially controversial personnel items posted on the meeting’s agenda.

“It is the intent of this chair not to turn this meeting into a circus,” Akana said. “And that is what the public is looking at: a circus that this board continues to create.”

Trustee Robert Lindsey, the former chairman whose ouster prompted the last walkout in December, turned to Akana: “It’s a circus you are creating.”

Lindsey joined Colette Machado, Peter Apo, Dan Ahuna, Carmen Hulu Lindsey and Lei Ahu Isa in leaving the boardroom at OHA’s Iwilei headquarters. Only Akana and Keli‘i Akina stayed in their seats. John Waihee IV was absent.

The action terminated the meeting 10 minutes in due to lack of a quorum. The nine-member board requires five members to conduct a meeting.

Feuding among the OHA leadership spilled into the public following the November election of Akina, which led to a stormy change in board leadership in December and a brazen attempt to oust Kamana‘opono Crabbe as OHA’s chief executive officer earlier this month.

On Jan. 3 the new board majority voted to enter negotiations to buy out Crabbe’s $450,000, three-year contract. But the CEO struck back forcefully, choosing to defend himself in public session rather than behind closed doors where personnel discussions usually take place.

At that meeting, Akana criticized the agency’s top staffer by saying, among other things, that many employees have left OHA due to Crabbe’s flawed leadership.

But Ahuna, a Crabbe supporter, disclosed that Akana has been the target of 33 employee complaints involving harassment, abuse of power and bullying of staff members. He said that OHA Chief Financial Officer Hawley Iona is leaving the agency because of Akana.

Akana responded that the complaints all come from Iona.

Among the six items of new business on Thursday’s agenda were the two that Akana removed at the top of the meeting: changing the position title from chief executive officer to administrator, and approving the ad hoc committee to review applications for the chief financial officer position.

Akana told the nearly full boardroom that no discussion would be allowed about personnel items tied to the administration or the board of trustees.

Afterward she released a statement:

“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.”

But several trustees, including Hulu Lindsey and Ahu Isa, both of whom backed Akana’s rise to chairwoman, said that the public should be allowed to speak on the items, especially since they were posted on the agenda for the last week.

Most, if not all, OHA board meeting agendas have a section reserved for “beneficiary comments/community concerns,” allowing speakers to discuss just about anything as long as they keep their comments to less than five minutes.

Hulu Lindsey tried to make a motion to hear testimony on the two items, but OHA attorney Darolyn Lendio advised that it’s the chairwoman’s call whether to allow any testimony on items removed from an agenda.

At one point a woman yelled out asking those wanting to testify to stand up. A couple dozen rose from their seats.

Afterward, former trustee and longtime Chairwoman Haunani Apoliona said every other chairman was open to hearing from everyone.

“The issues are sometimes very easy to listen to; sometimes they are not. It just depends on your attitude as leader,” Apoliona said.

Akina later described the events as democracy in action.

“Sometimes democracy is messy, but the exciting thing is people are paying attention to what’s going on,” he said. “And I would say to the public: Don’t lose heart. It’s great that we’re seeing things take place. We’re obviously in the midst of a transition.”

Liza Onuma, staff attorney with the state Office of Information Practices, said that while the state’s Sunshine Law limits a board’s ability to change its agenda by adding items, it does not restrict a board from changing its agenda by removing items.

A 2005 OIP opinion concluded that a board chairman or anyone else charged with creating the agenda may cancel an individual item, she said. The opinion also recommended announcing the item removal at the beginning of a meeting without opening it up for discussion.