Just months after taking office, Gov. David Ige found himself caught in the undertow of the fierce dispute over the Thirty Meter Telescope, a $1.4 billion project with determined supporters and fervent opponents.

Those days of protests and arrests on Mauna Kea in spring and summer of 2015 are among the most memorable to date for the Ige administration, and the handling of the issue and the protests was seen as an important test of the sympathies and resolve of the new governor.

The issue seems certain to flare up again during Ige’s re-election campaign next year. Sponsors of the TMT project say that unless they are cleared by next spring to move forward with construction of the telescope, they may need to move the project to the Canary Islands. No matter what happens, Ige could be blamed for the outcome.

That is an uncomfortable position for any politician in an election year, but it isn’t clear yet how Ige’s most formidable opponent can profit from his predicament. Both Ige and Democratic challenger U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa say they personally support the telescope, which is a politically popular position.

A Star-Advertiser poll in 2016 showed more than three out of four likely primary voters on Oahu that year supported the project, but protests and litigation have now stalled it for nearly three years.

While TMT supporters see the project as critical to the future of world-class astronomy in Hawaii, TMT opponents regard the massive proposed telescope as “desecration” of a sacred mountain.

Those stark positions left little room for compromise, and Ige in 2015 seemed to be seeking some middle ground on Mauna Kea. That seemed to make both sides unhappy, and House Speaker Scott Saiki said Ige struggled to formulate his response to the protests.

“The perception was that there was hesitation on the administration’s part, and that it was not clear what direction the administration wanted to go in,” said Saiki, who supports TMT.

‘A leadership issue’

After 31 protesters were arrested on April 2 for blocking construction equipment, Ige announced the first of a series of pauses in construction activity. He traveled to the mountain to meet with protesters to better understand the issues, and also participated in a prayer and cultural protocol at the summit.

Ige then offered a “proposed way forward” in May 2015 that included asking the university to remove one-fourth of the telescopes now on the mountain, but the following month the protesters used boulders to again block the summit access road to prevent construction crews from reaching the TMT construction site.

Attorney General Douglas Chin oversaw the law enforcement response to that round of protests, which involved another dozen arrests, but some business leaders who support the project were dismayed at the inability of government to firmly take control of the summit to allow TMT construction to move forward.

“You know, you’re looking at this and saying, “What the hell are you guys letting go on? What are you thinking of?’” said one Hawaii island business leader, who spoke on condition that he not be identified. “Where is the decisiveness?”

Another longtime Hilo executive said much of the Hilo business community is strongly in favor of the project, but the perception is most state and local politicians hope to sidestep the controversy.

“If it’s a political thing, one versus the other, they’re going to try and lay as low as they can for as long as they can until this thing is finished,” the executive said. “This whole thing is a leadership issue, and the people that I’ve spoken with feel that (Ige) is not doing enough to move this whole thing forward.”

The opponents of the telescope project seem equally unhappy with the governor’s handling of the issue. Kea­loha Pisciotta, president of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, said some of the protesters were initially reluctant even to meet with Ige on the mountain.

Ige and Chin were “taking an aggressive stance, creating draconian rules and criminalizing Hawaiians who are simply taking a stand, they don’t have a choice,” said Pisciotta, a leader in the protest movement. “They unequivocally sided with the developer against the constitutional protections for Native Hawaiians and environmentalists in the state.”

Pisciotta recalled hand-delivering to Ige’s staff more than 66,000 signatures on a petition in 2015 asking Ige to stop arresting and prosecuting demonstrators, and “stop the desecration.” Ige never responded, she said.

‘Middle of the movie’

Hanabusa, who is challenging Ige in next year’s primary election, said Ige was unclear about where he stood on TMT, and should be held partly responsible if TMT sponsors abandon Mauna Kea for another site.

“You know, I did not understand what they were trying to do by the meetings or whatever else they were having,” she said of Ige’s response to the 2015 protests. “I think they weren’t clear as to where they were, and I think that’s one of the things you cannot do, is be unclear on your position, especially when you’re the governor.”

Ige compares his TMT experience to “entering in the middle of the movie,” meaning he became directly involved in the conflict after the telescope had undergone a state and county permitting process that lasted nearly seven years, and the protesters were already mobilized to block it.

Ige said he is proud of his administration’s effort to ensure there was a fair permitting process, and to allow opponents an opportunity to express their views. Ige said he met personally with the protesters for “fact finding and so that I could better understand the issues and concerns.”

“We were focused and committed to safety, and ensuring that all of those involved — those who would be part of the construction crew and those who would be protesting the project moving forward — would be able to do that in a way that did not jeopardize the health and safety of anyone involved,” he said.

The state Supreme Court overturned the conservation district permit for TMT on Dec. 2, 2015, and further delayed construction, and Ige said he was disappointed with that decision. The court ruled the state Board of Land and Natural Resources had improperly approved the project’s permit before holding a required contested case hearing.

“We thought that the permit was valid. The process has been the same process that the Land Board had used for decades in dealing with these kinds of permits,” Ige said.

A second contested case proceeding this year gave all parties an opportunity to make their case for or against TMT “in a fair and impartial manner,” and Ige said he was pleased the board was able to promptly issue a new conservation district permit for the project.

Court to decide

When the conservation district permit was re-issued in September, Ige told reporters that “we are committed to assure and protect the rights of individuals to … voice their opinion on the project. At the same time, we are prepared to assure access to those who are permitted to proceed.”

The Hawaii Supreme Court is now considering appeals of both the new conservation district permit and a sub-lease that was issued for the TMT project.

State Rep. Andria Tupola, who is running for governor as a Republican, said that if Ige truly supports TMT, he should have taken steps to properly manage the mountain that were suggested by the Hawaii State Auditor.

“That would have shown some real leadership, that you understood the problem, that you are passionate about it, that you got it done,” she said. “I would say for me, if anybody including the sitting governor was so passionate about this project, then do your homework. Do your homework and figure out what it is that’s the real problem.”

When pressed on whether she thinks the TMT should proceed, Tupola said that “with the way that the comprehensive report is written, and with the suggestions of the auditor regarding mismanagement, no.”

She cited an array of legal complexities that the university should have dealt with over the years, but did not. That includes establishing administrative rules to govern operations on the mountain, a chore that the university never completed, she said.

John Carroll, a retired lawyer who is making his third run for governor as a Republican, said he supports the TMT.

“They should proceed environmentally in a safe way, but they certainly should proceed,” Carroll said. He said there should have been a gathering of Hawaiian leaders before the project started “to put all of that to bed.”