Big Island mayoral candidates Billy Kenoi and Angel Pilago agreed on the need to protect the environment and improve infrastructure during yesterday's televised debate, but clashed over enforcement of marijuana laws and plans to build a 30-meter telescope.

Kenoi, 39, and Pilago, 63, sparred for half an hour on stage at the Hawaii Theatre in Honolulu in a debate sponsored by The Honolulu Advertiser and KGMB9.

Kenoi said he is opposed to an amendment to the county code on the Nov. 4 ballot that would instruct police to make enforcement of marijuana laws their lowest priority.

"I do not believe we should direct police on what they should or should not prioritize," Kenoi said.

Pilago said he will vote for the amendment. He said he does not use marijuana or condone its use, but favors the amendment because enforcement of marijuana laws has led to civil rights violations and has not been proven effective.

The candidates also differed on the proposal to build a new 30-meter telescope on Mauna Kea.

Pilago said he does not support the telescope because there is no comprehensive plan to guarantee the community would benefit from the telescope.

Kenoi said, "I'm open-minded about the positive potential for the 30-meter telescope." He added that Native Hawaiians consider astronomy to be a sacred science and, as such, it is appropriate to place the telescope on Mauna Kea, which some Hawaiians regard as sacred.

Kenoi challenged Pilago about his plan to cut 10 percent from the county budget, asking him to name programs he would slash.

Pilago did not list specific programs, but said all government workers need to be more frugal.

Kenoi was by far the highest vote getter in the Sept. 20 primary, pulling in more than twice the votes of Pilago, his nearest competitor. Kenoi also enjoyed the support of business groups such as the Hawai'i Island Chamber of Commerce, and an array of construction trades and government worker unions.

In addition to those advantages, Kenoi holds an edge in fundraising. He raised nearly $346,000 as of his most recent filing with the state Campaign Spending Commission, compared with $85,000 raised by Pilago.

CANDIDATES' RESUMES

The ailing economy has dominated the general election debate in the mayor's race, and Pilago has stressed his ability to guide the county through difficult economic times.

Pilago has said that if elected, he plans to impose a 10 percent budget cut in county spending for the second half of this fiscal year, saying it is "critically important" to trim the cost of county government.

He cites his maturity and four years of experience on the County Council representing North Kona, and in the general election he has particularly emphasized his credentials as a decorated war hero who received a Silver Star and two Bronze Stars as a paratrooper in Vietnam.

Pilago worked as an employment counselor for the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations for 18 years, but is better known for his role in the opposition to a coastal development at Kohanaiki that led to the 1995 Public Access Shoreline Hawai'i, or PASH, court decision.

That decision affirmed Native Hawaiian gathering and cultural rights on private property, and that lawsuit and his other work as a community activist helped make Pilago a favorite among environmentalists on the Big Island.

He has promised a shift away from the status quo and "old boy politics." As Pilago put it recently, "I care for minorities. I care for the people who have no voice in government."

Kenoi, a former Honolulu deputy public defender, stresses his "message of hope and opportunity." He acknowledges there will be a decline in property tax and hotel room tax money flowing to the county in the tough times ahead, but stresses his ability to form partnerships he says will help weather those problems.

Kenoi cites his experience as executive assistant in Big Island Mayor Harry Kim's administration, in which Kenoi was responsible for securing federal money through Hawai'i's congressional delegation to advance Big Island projects.

He is probably best known for his high-profile role in Kim's so-called "War on Ice" on the Big Island, which resulted in more than $9 million in federal funds being pumped into the Big Island to supplement state and county funding.

That effort more than doubled the size of the police vice division, established new treatment programs around the island, and launched youth activity programs.

The centerpiece of Kenoi's campaign is creating a comprehensive Big Island bus mass-transit system, which he says can be done for $25 million. If he fails to create such a system after he is elected, Kenoi has promised not to seek re-election.