John Waihe'e IV is expected to formally resign as vice chairman of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs board of trustees at the board's monthly meeting today.

Waihe'e, 37, is expected to stay on the board, however.

Last month, Waihe'e pleaded not guilty to a charge that he drove under the influence of alcohol near Punchbowl in May.

Waihe'e, an OHA board member since 2000 whose current four-year term runs out in 2010, could not be reached for comment late yesterday.

OHA administrator Clyde Namu'o said Waihe'e "is concerned that publicity of the arrest could somehow negatively impact" the agency.

Trustees have been discussing a replacement as vice chairman, Namu'o said, adding that he was not at liberty to divulge a name from the nine-member panel.

Waihe'e's was one of several high-profile DUI arrests locally last year. Last week, state Rep. Jon Riki Karamatsu, D-41st (Waipahu, Village Park, Wai-kele), resigned as vice speaker of the House of Representatives after pleading no contest to a drunken-driving charge.

Waihe'e has yet to make a public comment on his arrest.

On the date of his plea last month, he ran from news crews waiting outside court to interview him.

Waihe'e was charged in connection with a May 10 accident on 'Auwaiolimu Street near the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl. The car he was driving collided with a pickup.

A police report on the accident said Waihe'e "appeared very disoriented" as he sat in his car, a 1991 Toyota MR2, as officers questioned him about possible injuries. The air bags in the car had been deployed and the windshield was cracked.

One officer reported that when he spoke with Waihe'e, "I could smell a strong odor of an alcoholic-type beverage coming from his breath" and that Waihe'e had "red, glassy, bloodshot eyes and spoke very slowly with a slurred speech."

A later blood test reportedly showed Waihe'e was illegally impaired by alcohol at the time of the accident.

Waihe'e is the son of former Gov. John Waihee III.

In an unrelated issue on today's OHA agenda, OHA trustee Rowena Akana is expected to announce she is resigning as vice chairwoman of the OHA Committee on Asset and Resource Management.

Five of Akana's colleagues, including ARM Committee Chairman Oswald Stender, asked Akana to resign. Akana said she was asked to resign because of her vocal criticism of the trustees' expenditures of OHA money.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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