The retired judge who was selected to preside over the upcoming Thirty Meter Telescope contested case hearing is denying allegations that she maintains a bias in favor of the $1.4 billion project.

Retired Hawaii island Circuit Judge Riki May Amano submitted an amended disclosure form to the state Board of Land and Natural Resources acknowledging her ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center membership but saying she was unaware it was affiliated with the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

UH-Hilo is applying for the project’s conservation district use permit on behalf of the TMT International Observatory Board.

The Mauna Kea Hui petitioners contend her membership, at minimum, offers the appearance that she is partial to the telescope project and should therefore be disqualified.

In her disclosure, filed Monday, Amano concedes that it was correct for the opponents to raise the issue as she and her husband have maintained a family membership since April 2008. But in the end she dismisses the reality of the claim.

“On balance, I do not believe any reasonable person would consider my passive family membership of ‘Imiloa likely to affect my impartiality as a hearings officer in this case,” Amano wrote.

Project opponents remained unswayed.

“With all due respect to Judge Amano, the petitioners stand by their objections,” Richard Naiwieha Wurdeman said in an email to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Wurdeman said his clients contend one can’t be a neutral arbiter while being a multiyear dues-paying member of one of the parties in the proceedings.

“The membership is a direct connection to one of the parties in the contested case, UH-Hilo, and the membership also obviously represents the arbiter’s support of the mission of that particular party, which includes the development of the TMT observatory project,” he said.

The ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, described as an integral part of UH-Hilo, opened its doors two months before Amano joined the center with a mission “to honor Maunakea by sharing Hawaiian culture and science to inspire exploration.”

In her submission, Amano said neither she nor her husband have had any involvement with the management, oversight or governance of the organization.

Amano wrote that she may have been to the permanent exhibit and/or the planetarium no more than five or six times over the years, and she’s taken advantage of the 10 percent discount for family members at ‘Imiloa’s restaurant and gift shop perhaps three times a year.

“I was unaware that ‘Imiloa is connected to the University of Hawaii. When we joined, it seemed like a membership-based cultural organization much like the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i and the Bishop Museum on Oahu,” she said. “It never crossed my mind that ‘Imiloa was or could be connected to this case.”

UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl declined to comment.

Campbell Estate heiress Abigail Kawananakoa, a supporter of the petitioners, issued the following statement:

“I find it incredulous to have a judge who served in Hilo feign ignorance of the facts about UH-Hilo and its ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center. It is offensive that someone sworn to uphold the law so blatantly disregards it.

“The magnitude of this case demands the highest standards. It cannot be seen as or be a predetermined outcome dictated by the politically connected at the behest of the economic elite. We would be remiss to settle for anything less.”

But Thayne Currie, a Mauna Kea astronomer who represents a social media-based group called Yes2TMT, conceded that while the judge should have disclosed her ‘Imiloa membership, such an affiliation does not necessarily mean someone is pro-TMT.

Currie said ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center has clearly shown itself as trying to be neutral and allowing all opinions to be expressed.

He said the objections to Amano are part of a deliberate campaign to stall the approval process since TMT officials have indicated they want a permit by the end of this year or by the beginning of next year or else they are moving on.

“At what point is the state’s handling of this issue itself a violation of due process for those pursuing the permit?” he said.

Mauna Kea Hui has also submitted objections to the way Amano was selected, claiming BLNR violated the state’s open-meeting, or “sunshine,” law by making its decision without a public hearing. The hui’s filing with the board asks that the hiring process be restarted.

State Attorney General Doug Chin has previously said the correct process was followed in the hearings officer selection.