| Testimony of Jim Albertini on Stryker at Waikoloa Beach Hotel Nov. 5, 2003 Stop the Stryker Invasion! No More Country Club/Hotel Public Hearings! Tonight I would like to focus on the shamefully flawed military Stryker Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process. Tomorrow night in Hilo I will speak more to the substantive destructive nature of the Stryker invasion. Let me preface my remarks and questions by saying that I want written answers to my questions provided directly to me by the Army and to be included in the final draft of the EIS. Right from the beginning of the EIS the process was flawed. Private, by invitation only, winning and dinning of politicians and business people at the exclusion of the public; conducting tours of Pohakuloa for political and business people while canceling at the last minute a tour by Hawaiians, environmental, and grass root community leaders, saying CERTAIN UNNAMED MEMBERS of the delegation were unacceptable because of their outspoken criticism of the military. Having exclusive private country clubs and luxury hotels as settings to intimidate and distance ordinary people from participating in the process. Using police and hotel security as a military fence to block and arrest citizens from attending public hearings because they peacefully carried protest signs. The banning of signs as a peaceful expression of free speech testimony at the first of six EIS public hearings tainted the entire public hearing process with a chilling effect on expression. Just yesterday I spoke at a University of Hawaii class and scared students asked --will we be arrested if we go to the hearings? What kind of a climate is that for University students to fear arrest by going to a public hearing? Just yesterday, a Hilo police captain called my home and asked a member of my household if "Mr. Albertini was planning on being arrested at the Stryker hearings?" What kind of a message is that? I have been informed by several federal workers that many federal workers are afraid to get involved and speak out on the Stryker issue, or even be seen at public hearings like this. They fear they could lose their jobs just by being here. What kind of working environmental impact is that? Waikoloa Beach Marriott Hotel security left a message on my answering machine that anyone carrying a protest sign should not enter this hotel through the main lobby but go through the loading dock. What kind of an insult is that? Reminds me of blacks not being allowed to enter restaurants to eat but having to go around to the back kitchen door to eat. I left a message on the hotel security message phone that such a request was insulting and demeaning and I would not be a party to it. Even tonight's handout to all coming onto Waikoloa Beach Marriott Hotel property for the hearing told people that "picketing, sign waving, chanting, or any other public displays of protest is NOT allowed on any part of the premises of the hotel -- including, but not limited to the lobby, in front of the property, or the beach front." So what has been accomplished by the Army's attempt to privatize public hearings and ban signs at public hearings? I have a few observations. 1. The Army exposed and demonstrated its contempt for dissent and trampled on the very constitution it has sworn to protect, did it not? 2. The Army exposed and demonstrated its complete lack of understanding and respect for citizen constitutional right of peaceful expression and right to assemble, did it not? Even the Governor told you that the hearings should have been held in schools. 3. The Army provided unintended publicity on free speech issues and the Stryker EIS hearings, did it not? 4. The Army caused a chilling environment of fear in the community for people to even attend these hearings, did it not? 5. The Army, by banning silent peaceful expression of protest by signs, provoked a climate for verbal protest and confrontation, did it not? Through all of the above, the Army, Honolulu Country Club, Helemano Plantation, and Waikoloa Beach Marriott hosting these public hearings so significantly tainted the environment for open public participation that the entire process of public hearings should be redone during the now extended comment period. The climate of duress created by the Army for these hearings is evidenced by several university students and others asking --"will I be arrested if I go to the public hearing." The new round of public hearings should be held in public community centers or school facilities. Four hearings were held on Oahu. Oahu is smaller than the Puna district of this island. There should be at least five hearings on this island. One in Hilo, one in Kailua-Kona, one in Waimea, one in Puna and one in Ka`u. And if the people of Hamakua and North Kohala also want hearings, so be it. Have more hearings. After all, its your job to listen to the people that pay your salaries. That includes all the people not just your invited dinner guests who support your pork barrel project because they get to feed at the trough. |