Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees are still working to pick a replacement for former Maui trustee Boyd Mossman despite failing to agree on a successor this week.

Two Maui residents nominated by trustees for the position failed on Tuesday to garner the six votes needed to fill the vacancy created when Mossman resigned Oct. 31.

Maui businessman and former Alexander & Baldwin executive Mercer "Chubby" Vicens received five votes during secret balloting, while Maui activist Rose Marie Lindsey Duey received two votes. Seven of the eight remaining trustees voted. Kauai trustee Donald Cataluna cast his vote via fax after participating in the discussion via teleconference. Trustee Rowena Akana said she objected to the process and abstained from voting.

Tuesday’s discussion among trustees was heated at times. And after two rounds of balloting yielded the same number of votes for the two candidates, several trustees said they believed the decision on a successor should be left up to Gov. Neil Abercrombie. State law says if the OHA board cannot agree on a replacement within 60 days, the governor must choose within 30 days thereafter.

The deadline for trustees to choose is Dec. 23, but the board must inform the governor by Dec. 16 if they cannot agree.

"I don’t think it’s a good idea to let the trustees pick a replacement," trustee Peter Apo said.

Cataluna stated he would not participate if another vote were conducted.

Stating that the process had become too politicized, Apo said, "I do not want to go through this again."

But trustee Haunani Apoliona, who was the only board member to speak up for one of the candidates Tuesday when she endorsed Duey, said it flies in the face of what OHA represents to leave the decision up to the governor.

"It’s counter to our mission of self-determination," Apoliona said. "It’s the wrong message to send to our beneficiaries."

Board Chairwoman Colette Machado said she will ask trustees on Dec. 1 if they would like to reopen the list of nominees, with a Dec. 8 deadline to submit candidates. Assuming a five-day vetting period, trustees could hold another vote in mid-December, she said.

Machado said she’d also like to hold a hearing on Maui to give people a chance to talk about the candidates as requested by Akana and a member of the audience.

"I’m not inclined to give this to the governor," she said.