Crabbe stepping down as OHA’s chief executive officer

Office of Hawaiian Affairs CEO Kamana‘opono Crabbe, who survived political upheaval and controversy over seven years, announced Thursday he will be stepping down from his post at the end of the month.

The agency issued a statement saying the trustees and Crabbe came to a mutual understanding that his last official day would be June 30, the day his contract expires.

Crabbe made the announcement at the end of Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting, tearfully reading from prepared remarks, occasionally speaking in Hawaiian and often going off script.

He vowed to cooperate in creating a smooth transition toward new leadership and said he would not reapply in the board’s search for a new executive. He urged the OHA staff to support the transition effort.

“It was a very great voyage,” he declared. “I enjoyed every minute sailing with you.”

The former clinical psychologist has led OHA since March 2012. Before that he was the agency’s research director since November 2009.

Board Chairwoman Colette Machado said an interim CEO likely would be named June 20, with the top candidate being OHA’s chief operating officer, Sylvia Hussey, a former Kamehameha Schools administrator.

The board authorized the hiring of a consultant to assist in its search and recruitment of a new leader, and Machado and Crabbe committed to working together to develop a succession plan “to ensure that services to our beneficiaries continue uninterrupted,” according to OHA’s statement.

In remarks to the board, Machado said she wasn’t really sure Crabbe would commit to cooperating in the leadership transition. She called his cooperation “a gift” and “opportunity.”

“You’re leaving as a class act,” she said.

At the beginning of Thursday’s meeting, testifiers offered wide-ranging support for Crabbe during at least an hour of testimony.

Later, emotional trustees heaped praise on the CEO.

“You came to us with your head held high. You leave us with your head held high,” Hawaii island trustee Robert Lindsey said. “You came as a warrior. You leave as a warrior. South Africa had Nelson Mandela. We had you.”

Kauai trustee Dan Ahuna said he learned a great deal from Crabbe.

“For me it was a great voyage,” he said. “We had rough waters, but you made it look like we were just cutting through the waves.”

Even Oahu trustee Kelii Akina, who had called for Crabbe’s resignation last year after the state auditor pointed out inappropriate spending by OHA members, told the executive that he was “a true leader among the Hawaiian people” and “a beloved man, which speaks to your heart.”

Crabbe, draped in lei, grew emotional as he summed up his tenure in office. He said he has much to be proud of, including accomplishments such as returning the feather cape and helmet of Kalaniopu‘u to Hawaii, OHA being named co-trustee of Papa­hanaumokuakea Marine National Monument and making OHA a center of Native Hawaiian knowledge and information through online databases and research reports.

Crabbe, apparently at the end of a three-year, $450,000 contract, also brought up “the infamous John Kerry letter,” which got him into hot water with the board five years ago.

He had sent a letter to the then-U.S. secretary of state asking for an opinion on whether the Hawaiian kingdom still exists as an independent sovereign state under international law. That prompted the OHA trustees to fire off a letter to Kerry rescinding Crabbe’s letter, explaining that it didn’t reflect the board’s position.

The disagreement led to a session of hooponopono, the Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness, between Crabbe and the trustees.

“That question has never been answered,” he told the trustees Thursday.

Crabbe’s tenure at OHA’s helm was dogged by sporadic controversy.

In early 2017 former trustee and Crabbe critic Rowena Akana led a revolt against the executive but fell one vote short of trying to buy out his contract.

Last year the board met behind closed doors to discuss Crabbe’s contract after the state auditor uncovered spending irregularities. Additionally, there were reports about the Federal Bureau of Investigation and state Attorney General investigating the agency.