Gov. David Ige closes out his first summer leading the state with two things made clear: no vacation and a lot more to do.

For someone who has something of a minimalist or moderate approach to government, Ige is finding three big issues defining his administration.

How he handles Native Hawaiian protests on Mauna Kea and Haleakala, surging homelessness and the teetering neighbor island hospitals will set the mark for his first year running the state.

There is no obvious solution for any of the problems on the list.

On the Maui and Hawaii island mountain tops, construction of important new telescopes has been delayed because of Native Hawaiian objections. Protesters have not indicated any room for compromise, so Ige’s offering of a polite detente will either end with the forcible removal of the protesters or the state walking away from projects that had clearly been state priorities.

The new Hawaii Poll results on homelessness show that Ige is expected to be leading the charge. The poll also shows that Ige’s efforts so far have failed to impress the voters.

A full 23 percent of those surveyed gave Ige the worst possible score for his handling of the homelessness issue.

“I am leading the effort to better coordinate and expect that we will make progress,” Ige said in reaction to the poll.

So far Ige has named a task force but no one has offered ready solutions for the increasing number of men, women and children without housing in Hawaii. The blue tarp ghettos may be a symbol of Hawaii’s failed housing plans, but they are also quickly becoming a human crisis.

Ige has taken a somewhat plodding approach, announcing a “one small step at a time” tactic to securing help.

“We are working with the (service) providers trying to understand exactly where and when those spaces are available and then look at when we can begin the phased enforcement,” he said during a recent news conference.

Sometime before the end of the year, the Ige task force will have to come up with both a place for the homeless and the money needed for a major relocation. And that just postpones the inevitable decision of building or buying real housing for the poor and not a tent in Aala Park.

The third issue — neighbor island hospital funding — may be the most difficult, but it was put on Ige’s back by Ige himself.

During the last legislative session, Ige lobbied for the power to take over negotiations for the sale or transfer of Maui Memorial Hospital to private operators. The move is strongly protested by public worker unions, who feel their members will lose benefits or jobs under a private arrangement.

Just last week, Ige had his first public meeting on Maui with the Hawaii Health Systems Corp.’s Maui Regional Board. At the meeting, Ige and the board said they plan to announce a new partner for the three Maui health care centers by the end of next month.

At the same time that Ige is negotiating, the United Public Workers, representing the hospital workers, filed suit to stop the state from taking the hospitals private. Legislative observers fear that the union could drag out a delaying lawsuit for years, while the hospitals run a deficit and are forced to lay off workers.

Watch for Ige’s first summer of decisions to color what the public thinks of him and also how his administration learns how to govern.

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