Business leaders pressure Ige to act on Mauna Kea

For a consensus-seeking sort of leader such as Gov. David Ige, the open letter in last Sunday’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser must have been somewhat upsetting.

“Letter to Governor Ige from the Business Community,” is how it started, indicating off the bat that this wasn’t to be a love letter.

Fourteen business and construction-related groups took out the ad to remind Ige that by now work should have resumed on the one-year delayed, $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope atop Mauna Kea.

TMT supporters such as Hawaii Island Contractors’ Association, Pacific Resource Partnership and the Hawaii Island Economic Development Board want TMT to deliver work for their members and high-tech jobs in the future for those living on Hawaii island.

Perhaps more surprising was that the strongly worded release included the Kailua Chamber of Commerce, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Hawaii and the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce.

“The project should proceed … TMT’s inability to proceed has brought national and international attention which we are afraid could further undermine Hawaii’s reputation as a place to do business,” the letter said.

Protestors on the mountain are stopping construction and the state isn’t doing enough to move the protesters, raising the fear that political pressure is behind the delays, the business community said.

“The result of faulty law enforcement surrounding Mauna Kea is fostering tension, aggression, racism and business uncertainty. Ambiguity surrounding the rule of law has prompted a poor economic climate,” the open letter said.

On a crassly political level, you want Hawaii island business groups in your corner. If they trust you, the support continues through election day. Weighing against that calculation is not so much the support of Hawaiian groups, but the possible opposition of Hawaiian groups who consider construction of TMT to be a desecration of ancestral lands.

Ige told television reporters covering the news story that while the state is enforcing the laws regarding protesters on the mountain, “we want to be sensitive to cultural perspectives.”

The governor, who is traveling in Asia, apparently sought to distance the administration from the construction timing.

“The project (TMT) needs to decide when they want to proceed and how they want to proceed,” Ige told KITV-4 News.

Back in June, Henry Yang, chairman of the TMT International Board, said construction was halted when protesters used boulders to block access to the site.

“We are planning to resume when the issue is resolved,” Yang said at the time.

While dithering between supporting local business and Hawaiians’ demands for recognition is not an inspiring way for Ige to wrap up his first year, it could be worse.

At this exact same time four years ago, Gov. Neil Abercrombie had just seen his director of communications, deputy director of communications, his chief of staff and deputy chief all resign. Legislative insiders were saying the “administration was in internal crisis.”

By that time, Abercrombie had already attacked AARP and the Pro Bowl and attempted to tax pensions. He would go on to lose to Ige in a historic Democratic primary defeat.

Ige will not find consensus on Mauna Kea, but his strategy of playing for a tie and not a win may be the best he can do.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborrecca@staradvertiser.com.