“Oh shit” -- Mayor Harry Kim

HTH: … “When Ige told me what he would ask of me, I’m the one who said: ‘What? Now?’” Kim said. “I wish he asked me sooner.”…

“If (TMT) leaves us, there will be a sadness,” Kim said, but he added that if TMT cannot be built on the Big Island, then that will reflect how badly the state has wronged the Hawaiian people.

“We have made the Hawaiians feel like strangers in their own land,” Kim said. “A lot of people are up there now because it makes them feel proud to be Hawaiian.”   ….  (feelings!)

CB: “Oh shit,” Mayor Kim thought.

read … With lines drawn, Kim to begin process of seeking common ground over Maunakea

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STATEMENT by GOVERNOR DAVID Y. IGE:

News Release from Office of the Governor, July 23, 2019

Today, I am asking Hawaiʻi County Mayor Harry Kim to coordinate both county and state efforts to peacefully attempt to reach common ground with the protectors of Maunakea and the broader community. Mayor Kim is closest to the situation and the impacts are greatest on the island he leads.  

We both share the goal of achieving a resolution that is peaceful and satisfactory to as many as possible in the community. I support the vision he has widely articulated for Maunakea as a beacon of hope and discovery for the world that brings us together rather than divides us. And we both understand that the issues underlying what is taking place today are far deeper than TMT or Maunakea. They are about righting the wrongs done to the Hawaiian people going back more than a century.

While Mayor Kim will be taking the lead, hard decisions will need to be jointly supported by the state and county and we will be working together to determine next steps that are in the best interests of all the people of Hawaiʻi.         

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Telescope Doomed by Ige’s Inaction

SA: … Ige needs to use the authority vested to him by Hawaii voters, to enforce the Thirty Meter Telescope permit now, lest all the astronomy work being done at the Mauna Kea summit, which is now suspended, be put entirely at risk.

More than a week after construction of the TMT was to begin, the first trucks to begin the work have not rolled an inch closer to the summit. Instead, the protests against the controversial project have grown and evolved into a movement that is about more than the TMT, more than astronomy in general.

It has morphed into a symbol for all the Native Hawaiian grievances….

The 13 observatories already there were constructed at a time when the anti-telescope viewpoint was considered fringe. That is no longer the case, judging from the past week’s surging activism….

Late last week, the governor traveled to Hawaii island, having declared a state of emergency, an action that broadens the scope of government actions that are possible, including the authority to close more public lands. However, Ige has not moved on that prerogative, leaving the Big Island without even visiting the access road, now blocked by the swelling crowd.

A makeshift blockade has been built. Its occupants have been arrested, many being carried away, but until the blockade is dismantled it will be impossible for the state to keep the access road clear.

Meanwhile, the state’s lieutenant governor, Josh Green, went to talk with the protesters on-site on Monday morning. A Hawaii island physician, he said he was there to check on people’s condition rather than to make “a political statement.”

But then he made one, opining on camera that TMT should “move on” if negotiations don’t result in a deal.

That didn’t help. And if Ige doesn’t want to be undermined by his lieutenant, he is going to have to tell the protesters himself, face-to-face and on camera, what his intentions are. He should say words to this effect: The state of Hawaii has put the TMT through the legal process for 10 years, and now, as governor, I am obligated to fulfill the state’s commitments and allow the project to proceed, in a way that’s respectful of culture and mindful of safety.

If the protesters say no, they will have to say it directly to the governor. Notice will be given, and the governor should delay no further. More delay will only harden the impasse, which is happening with each passing day….

read … Ige needs to act on building TMT

Coverage:

SA: Gov. Ige asks Mayor Kim to lead effort for peaceful resolution on Mauna Kea

HTH:UPDATE: Ige asks Mayor Kim to negotiate with protesters

CB: Ige Asks Hawaii County Mayor To Take Over TMT Talks

CB: Putting Harry Kim In Charge May Be Ige’s Best Move In TMT Standoff

SciAm: “I honestly don’t know how this is going to end,” says Doug Simons, an astronomer and executive director of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope