HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0377.370 2024-2026o�
From: marsha.schweitzer c � C:
Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2025 10:43 AM c� -
To: Council Testimony N o
Subject: Pohakuloa - Support Res. 2354-25
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Aloha Hawaii County Council: 10
I am writing to express my strong opposition to the U.S. Army's use and proposed retention of Leased lands at
Pohakuloa Training Area. I live on Oahu, but Hawa!'! Island is dearto me, esp. the area in the saddle between
Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. Manyyears ago I spent a beautiful week in a cabin at Mauna Kea State Park, next door
to the military installation there. At the time, access to the military area was not so limited, and I accidentally
wandered into a training exercise in progress. No harm came to me; that was before bombing took.place there.
One of my dear kumu, Nona Beamer, is buried in the Imiloa Church graveyard in Waimea; I once owned a
timeshare in Kona; I have relatives in Captain Cook, friends in Hilo and Puako; as a professional musician I have
played dozens of concerts in and around Hilo, Ka'u, Kona, and Waimea; I have been to the summit of Mauna Kea
and placed a memorial pu'oto there; and I still make regular pilgrimages to Kilauea to visit my tutu Pete ... E Pete o
ka lua a .... I tell you this so you will know that I am writing not just as an intellectual or political exercise, but from
the heart, as someone with a deep spiritual connection to the'aina that you are charged to protect.
I'm sure others more knowledgeable than me have made the important points about the specific cultural,
environmental, and social problems regarding Pohakuloa. I will not reiterate them. I will, however, address the
generic problems with the military in Hawaii, as I stated to Gov. Green in a letter I wrote to him in January
2024.Here is an excerpt:
MILITARY. De -militarize Hawai'i. Do not renew leases and close at least half of the military installations in Hawaii,
starting with the ticking time bomb at Red Hill. I concede that our strategic location warrants a Navy, Air Force, and
Coast Guard presence, maybe Barking Sands missile tracking station, but what do we need an Army base for? It
might have made sense in the WWII era, but not now. It was a huge insult to Hawaii for the U.S. military to give
back Kaho'olawe (without cleaning up the island and restoring its forest ecosystem) but then take an area of equal
size at Pohakuloa. Auwe!
Kalakaua gave the Navy access to Pearl Harbor (under duress) thinking that the U.S. military would protect
Hawai'i. The opposite has happened. The military is the most destructive force now active in Hawai'!. Virtually
every problem we face -- homelessness, pollution, environmental degradation, public health and safety,
preservation of natural resources -- could be solved or mitigated by reducing the military presence. For those
military bases that remain, the land Lease cost should be huge. No dollar -a -year leases; the federal government
should be paying the State billions for the privilege of trashing our precious and fragile place. (Same goes for
Mauna Kea and other public lands put to private use.) Workwith the Congressional delegation to divert military
pork barrel into arts and education pork barrel. (I have made this point with Senator Schatz, whose father was a
doctor, teacher, and patron of the arts; it wouldn't hurt to remind Brian of that.)
Abandoned military barracks could become homeless shelters: Already industrialized and polluted military bases
could be converted to recycling centers, H-power plants, sewage treatment, or other unpleasant but necessary
industries. No NIMBY problem here. Current civilian employees of the military could find more altruistic and
ethicatjobs in these industries.
Comm. o , V
Ref. To:
Ref. Date
I know these goals cannot be achieved instantly. But they CAN be realized overtime if drastic action is taken now.
The history of Hawai'i post -contact has been one of flagrant abuse, theft, and exploitation. The situation has only
gotten worse in the 21 s` century, and the U.S. military is the biggest offender.
For years / labored with the idea of reforming the existing institutions of society, a little change there, a little change
there. Nowl feel quite differently. I think you've got to have a reconstruction of the entire society, a revolution of
values —Martin Luther KingJr., Harper's Magazine, August 1967
The time for acquiescence and accommodation is over. Time now for a revolution of values.
Marsha Schweitzer
Treasurer, Live Music Awareness www.livemusicawareness.com
Publisher, "Music For Winds" www.musieforwinds.net
Lecturer in Bassoon, University of Hawaii at Manoa www.hawaii.edu
Management Consultant, Chamber Music Hawai'i www.chambermusichawaii.ore
Bassoonist, retired, Honolulu/Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra www.hawaiisvmphonvorchestra.org
Bassoonist, retired, Spring Wind Quintet www.sl)ringwindquintet.com
Secretary -Treasurer, retired, Musicians' Association of Hawai'i, Local 677 AFM www.musicianshawaii.com
Author, The Arts from the Bottom Up htips://www.archwavpublishing.com
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