Telescope is key issue for Big Isle House candidates

The Thirty Meter Telescope debate placed Native Hawaiian activist Kealoha Pisciotta in the spotlight, making her name and face recognizable across Hawaii island.

“We feel overwhelming support,” said the Green Party candidate. “It’s the kind of support where the auntie just comes up and hugs you and says, ‘Mahalo, sister, for all you do.’ … It’s overwhelming. … It’s truly very aloha.”

Pisciotta, considered a long shot against incumbent Rep. Richard Onishi, said the Democratic nominee garnered just 3,346 votes in the primary out of more than 14,600 registered voters in sprawling District 3, which extends from Hilo to Kau.

Should Pisciotta manage an upset, she will be the third Green to win a partisan race in Hawaii.

Pisciotta, a vocal opponent of the TMT, is a named petitioner in the contested case hearing against the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

While a physics major, Pisciotta worked two years as a telescope technician at the CalTech Submillimeter Observatory atop Mauna Kea, followed by 12 years as a telescope systems specialist at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope.

“We’ve never been against astronomy,” Pisciotta said. “We’ve always considered it a noble endeavor. It’s not about taking sides. It’s about doing what’s pono. … We’re for Mauna Kea. We’re for protecting our aquifers and sacred places.”

Onishi said he supports the project because the TMT has worked with Big Island communities, paid substantial impact fees, made contributions to educational programs and says it “will provide for our kids to have technological jobs that will be required for the project.”

He said an advisory group of Native Hawaiians had looked at the issues surrounding Mauna Kea, its protection and where the telescope could be located and did extensive vetting to address those concerns.

On other issues, Pisciotta opposes both the governor’s proposal to increase the state gas tax, vehicle weight tax and state registration fees to pay for state road projects, as well as the surcharge to finance rail.

“In general I don’t support regressive taxes, those taxes that disproportionately affect poor people,” she said.

Onishi, on the other hand, says the state needs to be sure it has enough money to provide matching funds for federal highway money.

He said he’ll consider different approaches such as a road usage charge, which would be fairer since electric vehicles don’t pay any gas tax.

Doing away with the weight tax and charging mileage tax would be a disadvantage to those who use more gas, but a mileage tax would create a large, once-a-year burden for those living paycheck to paycheck, Onishi said.

Many in the mostly rural district commute 40-plus miles a day for work.

“We just can’t keep penalizing those who have less efficient cars or travel long distances or have to be in their cars for long times,” he said. “It’s trying to strike a balance so that everyone pays some of the costs.”

Onishi skirted the issue of extending Oahu’s half-percent excise tax surcharge to finance construction or operation of the rail system, saying it will likely not be presented to the Legislature in the near future since it was extended until 2027.

If it did, the 34 Oahu legislators would have to deal with it, not the 17 neighbor island lawmakers, he said.

Pisciotta opposes any extension, saying developers of hotels and other large projects should pay for rail.

“Special interests are getting special deals and putting a burden upon people who are already struggling to live here,” she said, adding she is opposed to “sweetheart deal programs” where large tracts of state land are given over for use to big entities.

She also supports having off-island homeowners pay more property taxes.

Agriculture is important to the district and to both candidates.

Onishi, who serves as vice chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, said the anti-GMO, anti-pesticide movement is not based on scientific fact. These movements try to penalize agriculture businesses by placing restrictions on them, he said.

He said that GMO crops are genetically modified to allow for less pesticide use, and cites examples such as Rainbow papayas and anthuriums. He wants to help Kau coffee farmers, who lease private land that was recently sold to owners who have increased their lease rent, by creating an agricultural park.

If elected, Pisciotta said she would try to find funds to help farmers and fishermen flourish.

She would like to help Hawaii feed itself first, then be able to export food.

She proposes buffer zones around schools to protect them from chemical use.

She favors smaller, sustainable, diversified farms that don’t deplete the soil.

Caring for the state’s natural resources would protect “our breadbasket” and give reason for people to continue coming to Hawaii — “for the overall natural beauty and our environment.”

She also proposes creating jobs to “malama the aina,” to care for the land, including in outreach, education and enforcement.

Also in the race is Libertarian candidate Gregory Arianoff.