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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES for 05-22-2018 FINALVETERANS ADVISORY COMMITTEE Tuesday, May 22, 2018, 2:00 p.m. Office of the Prosecuting Attorney (Hilo) and Kona Mayor's Office (Via Videoconferencing) Present Members Emile Wery Michael Doolittle George Sheridan Debra Lewis Isaac Nahakuelua Dale Wilson Kona Mayor's Office (Via Videoconferencing) Members Antonio Gaspar Marcia Brinkley Kona (Via Teleconference) Carolle Brulee-Wilson Guests (Kona) None Ex -Officio (Kona) None Ex -Officio (Hilo) Maurice Messina, Deputy Director P&R Roddy Sueoka, Office of Veterans Services Counselor Also Present (Hilo) Brittany Kaleohano, Secretary J Yoshimoto, Deputy Corporation Counsel Absent Minoru Hanato Call to Order Deputy Corporation Counsel, J Yoshimoto called the meeting to order at 2:02 pm. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC None. ELECTION OF OFFICERS — CHAIR & VICE -CHAIR Deputy Corporation Counsel, J Yoshimoto announced that we will begin with the election of Officers, would anyone like to nominate another member? Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes May 22, 2018 Page 2 Emile Wery nominated Antonio Gaspar. George Sheridan seconded the motion. Antonio Gaspar declined to be nominated. Michael Doolittle nominated self. Emile Wery nominated Carolle Brulee-Wilson. Debra Lewis seconded both motions for the nomination of Michael Doolittle and Carolle Brulee-Wilson as Chair. Discussion regarding nomination of Michael Doolittle as Chair. Michael Doolittle stated he is serious about helping Veterans. He is Vice -Chair of the Hawaii Island Veterans Memorial. He is dedicated to helping Veterans. Debra Lewis spoke in support of Michael Doolittle as Chair. Stating he is more than capable to do it (Chair), he has the interest to do it and he has worked very hard in a short amount of time to gain the connections to do it. He has the energy and time for which this is going to require of us. Which is not a huge amount but he is already involved in other things that are dealing with the issues. Marcia Brinkley spoke in support of Michael Doolittle as Chair. Stating that he is more than capable. Deputy Corporation Counsel, J Yoshimoto confirmed no more discussion regarding the nomination of Michael Doolittle. Since there are two nominations for Chair, we will discuss the nomination of Carolle Brulee-Wilson as Chair. Carolle Brulee-Wilson is honored to be nominated. She has been in numerous Veteran organizations in the past and even after she left all the organizations she still has a yearning in herself to want to help Veterans. She will do the best she can. Debra Lewis spoke in support of Carolle Brulee-Wilson as Chair. She has worked with Carolle for a long time. When Debra first arrived in Hawaii Carolle was the person Debra went to get a lot of help about what they are now doing and how they are doing it. Distance will be her greatest challenge as she lives in Waikoloa. Carolle is more than capable to do the job. Carolle is a wealth of information and we need her on the team. If she doesn't get this, maybe she can be the Vice -Chair. Debra appreciates Carolle's willingness to be on this board. Dale Wilson stated that because Michael Doolittle is in Hilo, Dale would like to make a motion that we nominate Michael Doolittle as Chair and Carolle Brulee-Wilson as Vice - Chair. Deputy Corporation Counsel, J Yoshimoto confirmed that the motion has been amended. Can we get a second? Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes May 22, 2018 Page 3 Debra Lewis seconded the motion to nominate Michael Doolittle as Chair and Carolle Brulee-Wilson as Vice -Chair. Would Carolle be willing to do that, be the Vice -Chair? Carolle Brulee-Wilson is willing to be the Vice -Chair for the committee. Deputy Corporation Counsel J Yoshimoto confirms the motion on the floor is to nominate Michael Doolittle as Chair and Carolle Brulee-Wilson as Vice -Chair. No other discussion. Members voted nine ayes and none opposed. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE MEETINGS Chair, Michael Doolittle confirmed that at the last (unofficial meeting) the consensus was to schedule meetings once a quarter starting in May. We will continue with the fourth Tuesday of the month. Debra Lewis made a motion to schedule meetings for the next year on the fourth Tuesday at 2:00 pm starting in August (8/28/18), then, November (11/27/18), February (2/26/19) and May (5/28/19) with the location to be determined. Dale Wilson seconded the motion. Nine ayes, none opposed. Motion carried. OLD BUSINESS West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery — Gate Hours Secretary, Brittany Kaleohano explained that we spoke to P&R District Superintendent, Dennis Riordan who explained that we are not able to extend the gate hours because the cemetery is out of town and far away from all our other parks in that district that we would have to pay the employee overtime to closed the gate at a later time. Chair Doolittle agreed that the cemetery is far out of town and away from all other parks. Secretary, Brittany Kaleohano reiterated that last meeting it was discussed to put a sign up with an employee's phone number to call to get the gate code. One restriction to having an employee's phone number is that every time the employee has to answer the phone to give the gate code, it would be considered "call out" and that employee would get paid overtime. The District Superintendent, Dennis Riordan asked if maybe one of the committee members would be willing to put their phone number on the sign and give out the gate code to public. Debra Lewis asked if any of the West Hawaii members would be willing to take that on? Vice -Chair Brulee-Wilson announced that she is willing to take that on. She would like her cell phone number to be on the sign 756-0852. Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes May 22, 2018 Page 4 Debra Lewis made a motion that Carolle Brulee-Wilson be the coordinator for the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery and her number 808-756-0852 be put on the gate for people to call for the code. George Sheridan seconded the motion. Chair Doolittle called for a vote. Motion passed with nine ayes and none opposed. Vice -Chair, Carolle Brulee-Wilson asked what the code is. Secretary, Brittany Kaleohano answered with 3552. Vice -Chair Brulee-Wilson asked for clarification on her duties as giving out the code, can she keep a log, can she ask the reasons for requesting the code, is she accepting calls during any time. Secretary, Brittany Kaleohano suggested giving the code during reasonable times. East Hawaii Veterans Cemeteries are open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. All members agreed that it is okay to ask for name, phone number and reason for requesting the gate code and keep of log of the phone calls. Debra Lewis stated as far as the times to call Carolle for the gate code, whatever is reasonable for Carolle is what will be advertised. Secretary, Brittany Kaleohano confirmed that whatever is agreed upon at the meeting is what P&R staff will put on the sign and hang on the front gate. Vice -Chair Brulee-Wilson stated 7:00 am to 7:00 pm is fine during the spring and summer months but once it starts to get to fall and winter months, it gets darker out and people shouldn't be accessing the cemetery when it's dark out. Debra Lewis suggested we advertised for the most constrained time and since the phone number will be on the sign people can call and say "hey, it's still light out," and you can determine if you'd like to give the code out. Vice -Chair Brulee-Wilson said she'd like to do 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. Secretary, Brittany Kaleohano mentioned that the office is open until 4:30 pm and typically has given out the code as long as we are in the office. Debra Lewis suggested that we take advantage of P&R staff while they are available and only include Carolle's contact number for after hours. The sign should state that during Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes May 22, 2018 Page 5 normal business hours call this number and after hours please call this number. The point is that Carolle is willing to take this on but only by exception. Vice -Chair Brulee-Wilson asked that we not include her name but only the phone number. Chair, Doolittle confirmed that was the conclusion of the old business. NEW BUSINESS Veterans Treatment Court Chair, Doolittle would like to bring up the topic of Veterans Court. He understands that it has lost some funding and we are trying to find some funding. P&R Deputy Director, Maurice Messina states that they tried to put in a new bill to Hawaii State Legislature that didn't go through. The funding aspect of it has been encumbered by Drug Court. So Drug Court is actually funding the program, using the same probation officers, same staff, same judge, and same defense, same prosecutors. Right now they are working with Tulsi Gabbard on a Federal funding of the Veterans Treatment Court so that's what they are working on. I've been reaching out to her to make sure they don't forget about Hawaii. Chair Doolittle asked if this was a national program. Deputy Director, Maurice stated yes, it was originally started by a Judge and Prosecutor in New York City. They saw that there was a bunch of Veterans coming through. They started it there and there's maybe 57 or 58 Veterans Treatment Courts across the country. The funding from the bill was going to bring in one specific person for Veterans to improve the services. Chair Doolittle stated that he would like to expand the scope of the committee to try to assist with other Veterans issues as well. He would like to try to help Veterans who are living and try to promote as much advocacy as we can to the issues that Veterans suffer with today. Deputy Corporation Counsel, J Yoshimoto explained that in this point in time, the committee only has powers authorized by the code one of the provisions we talked about last time, by the request of the Mayor or the Council, the committee shall discuss recommendations of other Veterans issues. So as the Chair, Mr. Doolittle can contact the Mayor's office and say this is your ideas as far as the scope and you want the authority to be able to explore whatever issues you are interested in or the committee is interested in. Chair Doolittle asked if we have to go through Council to get the approval. Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes May 22, 2018 Page 6 Deputy Corporation Counsel, J Yoshimoto explained no, at the request of the Mayor or the Council. If it goes through Council, it will have to be a Council action. It can simply be a letter from the Mayor asking Mr. Chairman to explore other issues. Dale Wilson expressed that all Veterans issues are interrelated. Debra Lewis suggested Chair Doolittle draft a letter to the Mayor and the committee can look at it before submitting to the Mayor. Veterans ID Cards Debra Lewis brought up Carolle's frustration with getting a Veteran ID card because Roddy Sueoka from Office of Veterans Services is here at the meeting. Vice -Chair Brulee-Wilson explained that she had a comrade who needed to get a new ID card because she got divorced and changed her name. She lived in Kona and needed to go to Hilo three times and still was not successful in getting a new ID card. She ended up getting a new ID card at the airport in Nevada when she went to visit family. It was extremely inconvenient for her to drive from Kona three times and still not be able to get the ID. OVS Counselor Roddy Sueoka expressed that this is not the first time he's heard this. They are trying to work on that. In Kealakekua, the Armory out there, the Sergeant out there can run the machine in hilo, but they're trying to get another machine out there. But he's unsure if civilian computers can get on to the rapids to make appointments. He tries to make appointments for Veterans and the Veterans are traveling from Waimea and Kona. Debra Lewis asked Roddy if he can find out who the boss is in the office and all the Veterans groups can help to come up with a standard. Emile Wery stated their boss is Major General Logan, it's the National Guard. Debra Lewis stated she can get a note to General Logan. But we need to get the details of what's happening. Antonio Gaspar interjected to share his experience. Last year October his spouse had an expired ID card. He made an appointment and when they got to Hilo, they were told the office was closed because the computer was not working. So they set up another appointment two weeks later. When they went back two weeks later they took care of them and were able to get the ID card. Emile Wery stated that if you're retired from the National Guard, they take care of National Guard. If you're retired from the Army or any other and you go there, they might not accommodate you. They have the equipment over there. You have to Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes May 22, 2018 Page 7 understand that's a National Guard facility. If you're National Guard they'll take care of you. George Sheridan stated I think they have to take care of everybody. Emile Wery agreed yes, but they do it reluctantly. OVS Counselor Roddy Sueoka explained that he tried to talk to Colonel Han because Roddy's adjudication expired in 2017 and that's all he needs. He is willing to do ID's for Veterans because he's heard of so many issues. All he needs is the clearance to do so. Debra Lewis joked, if Roddy starts doing ID's maybe they'll assign him a person. Chair Doolittle suggested if Roddy is able to do that, maybe he can set up one day a week or one day a month to do IDs. Debra Lewis questioned is the problem the equipment? She didn't think so, she thinks it's more of a staffing issue, are ID cards are the staff's primary function? Emile Wery disagreed, no it is not their primary function. OVS Counselor Roddy Sueoka asked Carolle to give the Veteran his contact information and she can call Roddy directly to give him more details. Chair Doolittle stated we need to establish a process by where we can make it easier for everyone. Dale Wilson stated that the last ID card he got was in 1998 and it says indefinite on the bottom. But when he looked in the back it says it expired in 2016. Vice -Chair Brulee-Wilson stated the point she wants to bring up is with the airports and ID cards and we need to clarify and clean up the process. Veterans Affected by Lava Eruption Debra Lewis brought up with the recent lava eruption in the lower Puna area. She is tracking and made contact with Puna Neighborhood and they have a database where they are tracking Veterans with Red Cross. The Veterans who are most recently affected by the lava are losing everything. She inquired to National Headquarters fro Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and they are giving $25,000 in the unmet needs account which means approximately $300 per Veteran. But they need to have a DD214 and they show the need. The Veteran will need to fill out the forms and they can be provided with those monies. This will be happening next week. They've already contacted about 45 people. Jamal is checking another list. OVS Counselor Roddy Sueoka confirmed Jamal is checking the homeless list. Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes May 22, 2018 Page 8 Debra Lewis went on to state that Jamal also has access to vet those people. Because if they don't have a DD214, he can't help them for certain things. She is also working with the Puna Neighborhood. As new cases are coming in, need someone to assist the Veteran cases alone. Someone to do the interview along with Puna Neighborhood. Isaac Nahakuelua added that Maricar Souza has been going down there and he has been going down to Puna as well to assist with Adult Mental Health as a Social Worker with the State. He worked to get one Veteran into Yukio Okutsu Veteran Home. But there's only Maricar that is representing Veterans Affairs there. Is there some kind of intake sheet that VFW has that will qualify Veterans for certain funds? Debra Lewis states there are two levels, there is one account where they need to have a DD214 and demostarte some kind of displacement, that they've been affected by the lava. Then there are other donations that are coming in from another source. Isaac added that if you need a list of Veterans or roster of some sort in that area, Maricar has that. Vice -Chair Brulee-Wilson, talked to Del Franky (?) on Facebook and he said Maricar knows that he is displaced, I don't know what degree of displacement. But he said they are working on trying to find him housing. I don't know who they are. Isaac Nahakuelua stated that is the guy he helped get into Yukio Okutsu Veterans Homes. He was in the shelter and a Red Cross nurse came to get Isaac and he believed he was too depressed to take care of his basic needs. Isaac coordinated with his boss who is a Psychiatrist with State and he said to call the ambulance and get him into the hospoital and try to get him into the Veterans home. Isaac heard yesterday and Donna the Red Cross worker told Isaac's co-worker that Del Franky got into the Veterans Home. Debra Lewis there are so many coming up and we are trying to track. Right now, VFW has the funds, Deb can add them to the list, she just needs their contact information and any details that can be provided. OVS Counselor Roddy Sueoka asked if they have to be VFW? Debra Lewis answered no, they just have to have the DD214. Isaac Nahakuelua stated he could try to take that on indirectly. Because Adult Mental Health is making shift rotations at the Pahoa Community Rec Center. Debra Lewis stated Puna Neighborhood has the form too. When they come up they fill out forms on "Streak" online. And they've asked Debra to vet some of them, Veterans. There are a lot of people in need. We really are here to help Veterans. How do we make this as easy as possible to provide the care that we can that the standard, Red Cross and others help them get into the shelter but not necessarily taking it further. Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes May 22, 2018 Page 9 Emile Wery said there's got to be a way to verify they are a veteran in fairness to veterans and that's the DD214 or Veterans ID card if they're retired. There's got to be some kind of means to identify them otherwise you'll go nuts. Debra Lewis confirms they may have no documentation because they may have lost everything. But they may have their wallet with their Veteran Card. Emile Wery stated in reality not that many have lost their home. He lives in Leilani, there's 1000 homes in Leilani and maybe 30 have been lost. A lot of what their saying that burned are sheds. Debra Lewis said the gardens have been pretty much burnt. A whole wall is going down to the ocean now. Emile Wery confirmed there's only about 30 homes in Lanipuna Gardens. It's a real small subdivision. The total amount of homes lost now is about 40. Debra Lewis confirmed but they did displace the rest and it's the evacuees that are out of their homes. But it is good to know who are the one's that've lost everything; like Joe West (?) who lost their homes and their business. Emile Wery stated, there are other factors as well. If they have insurance, the insurance will cover the home the contents and they'll relocate them and he thinks they'll give them up to 12 months' rent to rebuild their home. Debra Lewis stated, depending on the insurance, one of the veterans lost their business and lost their house and it is not covered. They had house insurance but it's like you say it's not usable. If it's not usable you can get it. If you say fire they don't cover. But a different insurance company, the insurance did exactly what Emile said. Emile Wery stated if you have a mortgage on your house, you need to have fire insurance. So anyone that has a mortgage on their house has to have insurance and the coverage's are fire, replacement, contents as well as rebuilding. Debra Lewis noted that because of the vog, if their business is growing plants, the air quality is affecting their business. Either directly or indirectly and some are suffering more than others but right now is a time of great generosity and a lot of resources leaning forward. They have a meeting once a week on Monday's with like 50 agencies coming in. But the idea is we need to get the word out and track, if you find someone affected please try to pass the word with contact information and as much detail as you can offer that way we can try to give them some relief. This group is coming May 29, 30 and 31St VFW State headquarters are coming to our facility but she's already found Veterans who are quadriplegic who can't leave their location, some that don't have transportation from the rec enter and so their looking at the third day to try to go out to remote locations and identify so you save those funds and say they are designated. Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes May 22, 2018 Page 10 OVS Counselor Roddy Sueoka stated tonight they have the community meeting would the group like OVS to put it out and try to identify veterans who are at the community meeting? Debra Lewis would like to put it out that we're trying and there are other things that are being triggered that can be resources for veterans and veteran families and to try and identify those who have been affected. They may be getting housing and other things but there is another tiny pot of money that maybe we can give them a little relief. DAV was offering up to $500 per person, so that's another source of funds. But if we don't know who the people are, we can't help them. Vice -Chair Brulee-Wilson asked if she goes on her personal Facebook page and she is connected by liking a page, if she puts on her page to get in touch with her if anyone has been affected by the lava, then what does she do with that. Debra Lewis answered, please provide contact information such as phone number, email and a tiny bit of information. Isaac Nahakuelua added and proof that they are a veteran. Debra Lewis reinforced, yes, veteran service. The highest criteria is they need to have their DD214. If we know they were a significant other of a veteran, we'll try to find funds for them. For some of the funds there are some latitude. Other funds from headquarters are more restrictive. The basic things are, do they have a roof over their head, do they have food, are they in distress. I know between this committee we can figure out if we know a little bit more we can connect them. I know we have the resources, I just haven't figured out how we make it easy. If you don't attend these meetings the information is not being filtered down and we all know a lot of veterans don't want to ask for help. Deb is tracking and charting and although she can't be the do-er she can connect them. Chair Doolittle asked if there was any motion from the committee to move forward with action. Emile Wery commented that this is all relative to the veterans roganizations. Debra Lewis finished that this is an age old problem were trying to get a handle on the 18,000 Veteans on the iland and if they're in need how do we really use that network to help veterans. Isaac Nahakuelua proposed that this is where we need to get the Mayor to approve of this issue as an important one and get it on to the agenda. Debra Lewis stated it leads to looking at other issues affecting Veterans besides the cemeteries. That's a huge reinforcer of that piece. There are resources that can help the community and citizens of this county and it's extremely difficult right now to do that. Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes May 22, 2018 Page 11 Chair Doolittle agreed, he is all for maintaining the cemeteries but veterans have a lot of issues that really need advocacy for. And that's where he would like the committee to push that interest into the community and maybe advocate for it. Chair Doolittle stated he believes that's the end of new business. None opposed. Reports on Cemeteries OVS Counselor Roddy Sueoka stated they started working on the maintenance shed at Veterans Cemetery II. Emile Wery questioned, did they? VFW 3875 and Korean War Veterans were up at Cemeteries 1 and 2 Thursday and Friday they power washed all the headstones and nothing had been done yet. He was told that now they have to have a fire hydrant up there. They don't have a fire hydrant and they don't have one. They are requiring them to have a fire hydrant so they have to go back to the planning stage to engineer this whole thing. OVS Counselor Roddy Sueoka stated he got a message recently that they were going start the construction about extending the maintenance shed. He will follow up on that. Emile Wery confirmed that the hold up now is that they need to have a fire hydrant there so they have to go through engineering to get all the plumbing and everything else. There is another hitch there, the three flag poles can't go in because there's a big monument there where the flag poles need to go, the Purple Heart monument. Everything was set to go last February, they were going to extend the maintenance shed, change all the roofs so they are all the same color and the fencing and nothing has been done. OVS Counselor Roddy Sueoka stated he asked in an email that they were also support to line up the gravestones in the cemetery. Emile Wery stated they aren't going to do that anymore. They are not going to touch the headstones. What he was told, cemeteries here are not VA cemeteries, and they are State cemeteries. The State cut a verbal deal with the Counties that they would assume the responsibilities of the Cemeteries and the State was supposed to provide the money for the maintenance. Well the State cut back on the monies and their comment was that everything was verbal, there's nothing in writing so the Counties are liable for the cemeteries but they don't have all the funds. According to the VA they will only provide money to realign the headstones and put them in the ground if the cemeteries are dead or it's filled. They'll do it one time and then it's done. Veterans I is not filled, Veterans II is about half filled. The reality is that it won't get done. The VA gives the State the money for the cemeteries and they allocate out or bulk of the money goes to Kaneohe because it's a mess there. Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes May 22, 2018 Page 12 Emile added that the County needs to give VFW Post 3875 and Korean War Veterans Chapter 231, organizations a certificate for what they did. The organizations power washed all the headstones at the two cemeteries. The County only provided fuel for the power washer. Secretary, Brittany Kaleohano asked Emile to email her names of those involved and mailing addresses, that's the least we can do. Chair Doolittle confirmed conclusion of report on cemeteries. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chair Doolittle asked if there were any announcements. Antonio Gaspar requested an update on the new columbarium niches as they are running out. He thinks there are less than 20 niches available. Secretary, Brittany Kaleohano stated the P&R Park Planner is working with VA to get some new niches installed. We can get a status update for the next meeting. We would be adding more niches to the existing area. Chair Doolittle asked if there are any more announcements. Antonio Gaspar wanted to announce that the West Hawai`i Veterans Cemetery will have a Memorial Day Ceremony starting at 11:00 am and finishing by 12:00 pm. Debra Lewis thanked Antonio for bringing that up because Hilo will be having one as well starting at 10:00 am. Chair Doolittle asked for a motion to adjourn. Dale Wilson made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Debra Lewis seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 3:22 pm with unanimous vote in favor. NEXT MEETING The next meeting is scheduled for August 28, 2018. Respectfully submitted, Brittc rty K Secretary