The state Senate this afternoon voted to confirm Abbey Seth Mayer, a community-based planner on Moloka'i, as the director of the state Office of Planning. The 13 to 12 vote was unexpectedly close. Eight of the 13 senators who voted to confirm Mayer also voted with reservations.

State Sen. Clayton Hee, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahuku), the chairman of the Senate Water and Land Committee, urged senators to vote against confirming Mayer because of what Hee described as Mayer's lack of qualifications for the job and his short time in the Islands.

Mayer, who has been on the Islands for four years, is executive director for Ke Aupuni Lokahi, the Moloka'i Enterprise Community, part of a federal program to promote economic development in struggling regions.

Mayer graduated from Yale University with a bachelor's degree in art and painting concentration.

Hee said the statutory requirements for the state planner include training in urban and regional planning or related field experience involving government planning.

Other senators, however, said Mayer has earned the respect of planning staff as interim state planner and has shown a willingness to listen to advice and outside recommendations.

State Sen. Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai), questioned what he called the "perverse localism" that discourages the consideration of people who were not born and raised on the Islands.

Mayer, his supporters said, would balance land conservation with development projects necessary for economic growth.