Gov. David Ige and Mayor Kirk Caldwell are likely to leave office with a legacy haunted by two big issues they never campaigned on, couldn’t hide from and are probably so divisive, they couldn’t win.

Both issues showed up last week with both men trying to take action, although they should know they face a political dilemma, not a political solution.

Building the Thirty Meter Telescope on the Big Island’s tallest mountain and allowing some form of regulation for vacation rentals are both issues with supporters and opponents dug in and ready to fight, or at least sue, somebody.

The first issue is Mauna Kea’s telescope — a spectacularly good idea, located 13,290 feet up a mountain central to the history of Native Hawaiians.

All of Hawaii’s bureaucratic hands are touching the issue: University of Hawaii, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawaiian Home Lands and the Governor’s Office. Government may bless it, but the telescope also grows passionate protesters.

An international scientific consortium put together the telescope’s plan. Astronomers from around the world agreed that the high, clear altitudes at Mauna Kea provided the best perch from which to peer back — not just at the 200 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy, but at the more than 100 billion galaxies in our observable universe.

On a cultural level, however, Mauna Kea is seen by Native Hawaiians as the spiritual center and wellspring of their culture.

Last week, the state announced that the final legal hurdles have been cleared, and construction — delayed since Ige first took office in 2014 — will finally start. Ige tried not to antagonize Mauna Kea supporters and handled the issue with kid gloves, while telescope supporters bitterly complained that the Big Island was losing jobs, economic security and a place in the scientific community. A classic no-win issue.

Clearly Ige had no choice but to push ahead, but did so with such reluctance that he never appeared to be shaping the debate.

At the same time, Caldwell last week was handed the latest version of the City Council’s bill, which supporters say gives Caldwell the tools to toughen up vacation rental laws. It sounds good: Officials claim anyone running short-term rentals must have a registration number, which allows the city to track them, making sure they are paying taxes and such. The number of rentals per Honolulu district will be limited.

Honolulu under Caldwell, however, has not been the place where laws and ordinances go to be enforced. Unfortunately, neighborhood violations turn into eyesores, community issues and news stories before action is taken.

At the same time, even before Caldwell makes a decision on whether to sign or veto the proposal, parties on all sides of the issue are exploring lawsuits.

The other counties seem to have developed some consensus about regulation, but in Honolulu, there are as many people and economic entities making money off the rentals as there are people upset by their new, unwanted neighbors.

These two issues are tough — they demand someone with a whole-Hawaii view, who gets out in front with a solution, campaigns daily for a compromise, and devotes as much energy to resolution as Caldwell and Ige did to their last re-election.

Neither man has shown the leadership or community engagement to drive home a deal that ends the division.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.