Pohakuloa Commander stiffs community
Press Release 10 AM Wed. Jan. 11, 2017 for Immediate Release
further contact: Jim Albertini 966-7622 email ja@maluaina.org Press Release on Pohakuloa Commander LTC Christopher Marquez stiffing community. Last minute cancellation of Community Meeting Monday, Jan. 9, 2017. In essence PTA Commander tells community shut up about DU at Pohakuloa if you want access to pray at Pu'u Ka Pele No response in 24 hrs. from Pohakuloa Commander to 2 follow up phone calls and the email below.* Aloha Commander Marquez, (sent 9 AM Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017) I just left a message on your office phone and cell phone in hope you will return my calls to discuss and clarify your stated reasons for not showing up at last night's 6PM planned community meeting. I only found out you and your team were not coming a little after 5PM, less than an hour before the planned meeting. I was loading my car with fruits from our farm to take to the meeting when I heard the phone ring. There was a voice mail left by your Public Relations officer, Mr. Eric Hamilton, saying he was calling to make sure I received an email you sent around noon. I only check my email in the morning and at night so I hadn't received it. After hearing Mr. Hamilton's voice mail I immediately went to the computer to print out your email (below) to take to the meeting to read to the community group. Your stated reason for not coming appears to be because I talked to a reporter about DU and that you are now focusing on DU prior to discussions about access to cultural/religious and other sites. Let me clarify the sequence of events. 1. myself and approximately 16 others came to PTA on Monday, Dec. 19, 2016, in response to a 9/30/16 request (see request below), to access the ahu built by myself and others more than 10 years ago near Pu'u Ka Pele. We also had hope to visit the PTA drone field, (as PTA provided to the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce) and the range where Davy Crockett DU weapons were fired from more than 50 years ago. When we got to the main gate we were informed by Mr. Hamilton that would not be happening and instead we would be given a briefing by you and others. In that briefing and discussion that lasted more than 2 hours, you stated the need to develop a process --a standard operating procedure (SOP), for site visits. The DU issue was raised and the possibility of balanced forums in Hilo and Kona on DU. We agreed to continue the discussion on Monday Jan. 9th 6PM in a community meeting at the Keaau Community Center. 2. Following our Dec. 19th meeting, either on Dec. 20 or 21st I received a phone call (unsolicited) from Tom Callis of the Hawaii Tribune-Herald asking me for my thoughts on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) plan on DU at Pohakuloa. I returned his call and left a brief message on his voice mail and sent him a short email summarizing my thoughts on the plan. An article appeared in the Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016 Hawaii Tribune-Herald and the same article in West Hawaii Today by Tom Callis. You and I and others were quoted in the article. It appears you are using that article on DU as the basis for denying us religious access to make Ho'okupu at Pu'u Ka Pele during Makahiki season which doesn't seem right. Our group had hoped you were coming to the Jan. 9th meeting with an SOP draft for access to Pu'u Ka Pele and other sites and with proposed dates for DU forums in Hilo and Kona. Our priority is access to Pu'u Ka Pele during Makahiki which ends in late February. Kahu of the Royal Order will be following up with you on that. I hope this helps clarify things. Another member of our group went to a lot of work to prepare you and your team some delicious pupus for the Jan. 9th meeting. Needless to say she, and others, were very disappointed at your last minute cancellation of what we had hoped to be a respectful dialogue. Your cancellation hurts, rather than improves military/community relations. Jim Albertini -- Jim Albertini Malu 'Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Kurtistown, Hawaii 96760 Phone 966-7622 emailja@malu-aina.org visit us on the web atwww.malu-aina.org sign up on our website to automatically receive our posts Subject: RE: [Non-DoD Source] Community meeting Jan. 9, 2017 about PTA issues Date: Mon, 9 Jan 2017 21:26:33 +0000 From: Marquez, Christopher Max (Chris) LTC USARMY USAG (US) <christopher.m.marquez3.mil@mail.mil> To: Jim Albertini <ja@malu-aina.org> CC: Hamilton, Eric M CIV USARMY USAG (US) <eric.m.hamilton6.civ@mail.mil>, Campbell, Thomas E CSM USARMY IMCOM PACIFIC (US) <thomas.e.campbell7.mil@mail.mil>, Fleming, Gregory R CIV USARMY IMCOM PACIFIC (US) <gregory.r.fleming4.civ@mail.mil> Aloha Mr. Albertini, After careful consideration of your request, I regret to inform you and those you represent that we will not be able to attend this evenings community event. The primary reason for this decision is the increase in the scope of the agreed upon terms from our last meeting. Our agreement was focused solely on the process for access to specific sites on PTA. I understand that you met with West Hawaii Today to increase awareness of Depleted Uranium(DU) here in Hawaii. I have fielded numerous requests based on this inquiry and our team is now focused on providing accurate and updated information on DU as it relates specifically to PTA. This is a critical information requirement that must be comprehensively serviced prior to discussions related to access. Please extend my regrets to attend the community event to the Hilo Royal Order. We will continue to focus our efforts on the DU information requirements and inform you on when we can provide an informational event to the community. Mahalo, LTC Christopher M. Marquez Garrison Commander USAG-Pohakuloa Training Area Office: 808.969.2407 Cell: 808.228.6598 Christopher.m.marquez3.mil@mail.mil -----Original Message----- From: Jim Albertini [mailto:ja@malu-aina.org] Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2017 6:44 AM To: Marquez, Christopher Max (Chris) LTC USARMY USAG (US)<christopher.m.marquez3.mil@mail.mil>;ja@malu-aina.org Cc: Hamilton, Eric M CIV USARMY USAG (US)<eric.m.hamilton6.civ@mail.mil>; Campbell, Thomas E CSM USARMY IMCOM PACIFIC (US)<thomas.e.campbell7.mil@mail.mil>; Fleming, Gregory R CIV USARMY IMCOM PACIFIC (US)<gregory.r.fleming4.civ@mail.mil> Subject: [Non-DoD Source] Community meeting Jan. 9, 2017 about PTA issues All active links contained in this email were disabled. Please verify the identity of the sender, and confirm the authenticity of all links contained within the message prior to copying and pasting the address to a Web browser. ---- Aloha LTC Marquez and others, This is to reconfirm our agreed meeting Monday, Jan. 9, 2017 6-8 PM at the Keaau Community Center to discuss procedures to establish access to the ahu at Pu'u Ka Pele and other sites at Pohakuloa. Kahu of the Hilo Royal Order has informed me that the Royal Order would like to facilitate the discussion on this matter of access to religious and cultural sites. I would also like to discuss access to other sites and dates for balanced public forums with your participation in Hilo and Kona on the issue of Depleted Uranium. Other possible issues of concern may be raised by members of the community at the Jan. 9th meeting. I look forward to the constructive dialog. -- Jim Albertini Malu 'Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Kurtistown, Hawaii 96760 email ja@malu-aina.org visit us on the web at Caution-www.malu-aina.org Malu 'Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action Christopher M. Marquez LTC, FA Commanding Officer U.S. Army Garrison Pohakuloa Training Area P.O. Box 4607 Hilo, Hawaii 96720 0607 September 30, 2016 Aloha LTC Marquez, I read the Sunday, July 31, 2016 Hawaii Tribune-Herald, Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce (HICC) Activity Special Report, where there was a photo of a military drone and caption âPohakuloa Advisory Council and MAC (Military Affairs Committee) members tour the Pohakuloa Training Area on page 13. Our organization would like to request a similar briefing and tour to that of the HICC. Among sites we would like to visit besides the drone field, and the launch pads for the Davy Crockett DU spotting rounds, is the ahu at the base of Pu'u Ka Pele to offer ho'okupu during Makahiki that I and many others, including the Kapele family from Kona and members of Royal Order of Kamehameha constructed quite a few years back. We would request a weekend visit during the month of November. Mahalo for your assistance in this matter. With gratitude and aloha, Jim Albertini President P.O. Box 489 Ola'a (Kurtistown), Hawaii 96760 Phone 808-966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org <javascript:return> www.malu-aina.org <http://www.malu-aina.org/> -- Jim Albertini Malu 'Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Kurtistown, Hawaii 96760 emailja@malu-aina.org visit us on the web atwww.malu-aina.org sign up on our website to automatically receive our posts -- Jim Albertini Malu 'Aina Center For Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Ola'a (Kurtistown) Hawai'i 96760 Phone 808-966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org Visit us on the web at www.malu-aina.org
