A federal magistrate spoke publicly yesterday about the state's attempt to provide services to Hawai'i's 9,000 mentally ill residents and said there is no move to oust a Department of Health mental health official from the program that is trying to meet the goal.

Thomas Hester, head of the department's adult mental health division, said last month that he would resign because he understood a plan had been developed from discussions among state and federal lawyers to take away his authority to help provide the services by a June 30 deadline next year.

He withdrew his resignation after talking to Gov. Linda Lingle, who praised Hester and said the federal court was trying to "insert" itself in the state mental health division.

"There is no plan and never was a plan to remove or replace Tom Hester," U.S. Magistrate Kevin Chang said yesterday in his first public remarks about the case.

Chang said he found it "puzzling and unfortunate" that Hester misunderstood what he was told. The magistrate also said news accounts about Hester's comments led to confusion and "unnecessary and unwarranted" fear among the mentally ill that they would be abandoned or would not receive services.

Chang has been appointed by Chief U.S. District Judge David Ezra to oversee the state's efforts to come up with a strategy by next year's deadline to provide the services to the mentally ill. The deadline falls under a federal consent decree that was the result of a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit against the state.

In a report issued in February, Chang found that the Health Department was falling behind in developing the 3 1/2-year-old plan for the mental health services. He warned the state would have to work hard to meet the deadline.

Chang told the lawyers, health officials and mental health advocates in his courtroom yesterday during an update on the plan that the assistance and advice from the court-appointed special monitor and the team evaluating the state's progress came at the request of the state, its workers or its lawyers.

Any suggestion that their input has not been beneficial is "wrong and not supported by the record," he said.

The magistrate said the focus of the case should be developing a sustainable mental health system that provides services for patients and doing it on time. His next report on the state's progress will be issued next week, he said.

Justice Department civil-rights lawyer Verlin Deerinwater said he supported the magistrate's remarks, while state Attorney General Mark Bennett said he believes that the magistrate's handling of the case falls within the boundaries outlined by Ezra and is "entirely appropriate."

Hester, who attended the hearing, later declined to comment about the magistrate's remarks. But, he said he's grateful he's going to work on the process to develop the mental heath system.

Bud Bowles, executive director of United Self Help, a nonprofit group helping the mentally ill, attended the hearing and later applauded Chang's remarks. "He set the record straight," Bowles said. "He let everybody know we should work together and we should continue to do so."