Vowing to bring stability to a panel wracked with dissension, Colette Machado of Molokai today was elected chairwoman of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees.

Machado, a veteran trustee and former chairwoman, edged out Carmen Hulu Lindsey of Maui for the leadership position following a couple of rounds of paper-ballot voting. Machado’s election comes after board member Rowena Akana was forced out as chairwoman on Feb 2.

The election appears to settle the question of whether CEO Kamana‘opono Crabbe will continue as top staffer at the state agency tasked with bettering the lives of Native Hawaiians. Machado has been a supporter of Crabbe who had been under fire from Akana.

However, Crabbe’s leadership continues to be under siege. A lawsuit filed this morning by Campbell Estate heiress Abigail Kawananakoa seeks to invalidate Crabbe’s three-year, $150,000-a-year contract.

The suit, filed in 1st Circuit Court, argues that the full board failed to give its authorization to changes in the contract before it was executed in November.

The suit takes up where a complaint filed last week by Akana left off, asserting virtually the same arguments. Akana withdrew the complaint earlier in the week.

After today’s board meeting, Machado said she’s confident the new suit will be dismissed. Board counsel Robert Klein was authorized to make changes to the contract, as long as they weren’t substantial, which they were not, she said.

As for Crabbe, Machado said, the board needs to look at areas where it can increase Crabbe’s “capacity” and improve him as a CEO.

“I think everyone’s been battered,” Machado said. “So it’s a matter of re-establishing. What that would look like, I’m not certain. But we’re going to have figure out how to resolve it.”

Machado also said she supports a proposed audit to identify areas of potential waste, abuse and fraud in procurement.

Kauai’s Dan Ahuna was elected vice chairman.