There is no flash, no trash talk — just answers to questions.

It is up to you to rate the answers, unfiltered by the bombast of a Neil Abercrombie or the political spin of a Linda Lingle.

That was the take away from an hour-and-a-half interview with Gov. David Ige by Honolulu Star-Advertiser editors and reporters.

Clearly the current occupant of Washington Place doesn’t have all the answers, but on several big issues, he has made a decision.

The University of Hawaii is currently trying to get $3 million for athletics and $5 million for the Cancer Center. Ige did not try to split the difference. For Ige it is docs, not jocks.

“There are many, many, many requests for the resources that the state collects from taxpayers and part of my job is trying to decide what is more important. I do believe the Cancer Center is more important than athletics,” Ige said.

The Ige administration may actually be more of a Scrooge than that because the latest version of the 2016 state budget recommendations show the Department of Budget and Finance rejecting both appropriations.

Ige may have a soft spot for UH athletics — he hired UH’s volleyball All-American setter Kanoe Kamanao as his office manager in 2008 — but the program is still another costly line in the budget.

Before the state sinks money into a new stadium or goes nuts trying to keep the Pro Bowl, Ige reminds you about his priorities.

“Clearly, if you look at our economy, hospitality is No. 1. … One additional flight from Japan every day generates $140 million, so definitely I’m focused on increasing capacity and working on making our com- munity better.

“I don’t know what would be the priority for sports explicitly, but I know when I look at things that are on front of my plate, sports is not top of mind,” Ige said.

Not everyone at the state Capitol, however, is ready to put down the pompoms.

Rep. Isaac Choy, an accountant and critic of UH spending, said the Cancer Center’s actual cost is $13 million, not $5 million, and is a “nice to have,” not a “must have.”

“Nobody is saying, ‘No, no, no, save the cancer center.’ More people are saying ‘Fund UH athletics,’” Choy said.

Both men recognize that college sports has become a major industry and UH really is not in the big picture.

“The challenge is the landscape is changing in college sports, especially in college football, so the question is what is the future for college football at the University of Hawaii, that is one question,” said Ige.

For Choy the debate is not whether UH will continue to fund the most expensive program, football; the question is will UH have an athletic program, period.

“I believe he is right, the whole landscape is changing. I still think we need to analyze it a little deeper — it is not about getting rid of football or not, it is whether we want UH athletics or not,” Choy said, warning that not everyone at UH wants sports.

“I know there is tremendous opposition from the students,” Choy said. “They are getting hit twice, first for the tuition increases and then a doubling of the student athletic fee.”

Choy is adamant that Hawaii, like most places, sees UH sports as “the front door” of the university, but precisely who is paying for holding the door open is still a disagreement between the legislative and executive branches.

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