Defender of downsizing slams city effort

A group in favor of Army downsizing on Oahu is objecting to satellite city halls offering petitions that support keeping the soldiers here.

The Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, meanwhile, is trying to boost those signatures to retain the troops as the state’s public support lags the efforts of some communities on the mainland that also want to keep their Army populations.

The Army said it is pursuing a postwar reduction in its ranks that in a worst-case scenario would mean the removal of 19,800 soldiers and civilian workers on Oahu and $1.3 billion in annual soldier-related sales.

"There are differing opinions, and the differing opinion is that there are costs to the Army being here and that the mayor shouldn’t be allowed to represent one opinion with public facilities and public personnel," said Makaha resident Al Frenzel, director of the Oahu Council for Army Downsizing.

Frenzel is a retired Army colonel who taught force structuring at the U.S. Army War College. The council, a nonprofit group, supports the turnover of Army facilities and land to the state.

Jesse Broder Van Dyke, a spokesman for Mayor Kirk Caldwell, said the petitions in support of the Army — part of a campaign called "Keep Hawaii’s Heroes" — are available at satellite city halls and other locations.

The administration received approval from corporation counsel and the Honolulu Ethics Commission to offer the petitions, he said.

"Mayor Caldwell is a co-sponsor of the ‘Keep Hawaii’s Heroes’ campaign with (entertainer) Carole Kai Onouye," Broder Van Dyke said. "He strongly supports Oahu’s military community and believes there would be a major negative impact to Honolulu’s economy and jobs if the U.S. military were to downsize as has been proposed by the federal government."

Laurie Wong, associate legal counsel with the Hono­lulu Ethics Commission, said in an email to Frenzel that "Keep Hawaii’s Heroes" falls into a "project with community-wide benefit" exception that allows for the use of city resources.

The Chamber of Commerce, which helped organize the "Keep Hawaii’s Heroes" campaign, said the loss of the soldiers, civilians and 30,000 family members would mean the exodus of roughly 5 percent of Hono­lulu’s population.

Schofield Barracks could see the loss of 16,000 soldiers and civilian workers, and Fort Shafter could lose 3,800. Wahiawa, Waialua, Schofield, Mililani and Kunia would lose 38 percent of their populations and 20,000 jobs would be affected, the chamber said.

"The Chamber of Commerce Hawaii supports the right to petition and believes that the impact of Army downsizing in Hawaii would have a profound effect on our state’s economy across the board to include small businesses and service, scientific, agricultural and energy sectors," said President and CEO Sherry Menor-McNamara.

The goal of the campaign is to build awareness of the Army’s importance in Hawaii, secure 40,000 supporters by Jan. 20, and "demonstrate Hawaii’s commitment to the Army" during a "listening session" the service will hold from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Hale Koa Hotel.

A petition at Change.org had gathered 3,515 supporters as of Wednesday.

In addition to the people who have signed the online petition, paper signatures have been collected. To date, more than 8,000 people have signed the petition, Menor-McNamara said.

The Army overall is proposing to reduce its ranks from about 510,000 active-duty soldiers today to between 440,000 and 450,000.

But in the potential cuts it analyzed in Hawaii and dozens of other locations, it weighed reductions down to 420,000 in the event sequestration budget cuts are restored in fiscal 2016.

The U.S. Army Environmental Command reported that it received 111,297 submission, including letters and signatures, relating to the possible cuts at 30 installations.

Most were letters of support seeking to keep the Army presence.

The top submission was 34,618 form letters and signatures received for Fort Polk, La., followed by 21,950 for Fort Benning, Ga.

Frenzel, the downsizing advocate, noted that just 30 letters, some in favor of cuts, were sent in for U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii.

The Oahu Council for Army Downsizing has its own petition on Change.org, with 219 people calling for fewer soldiers. The group is seeking 20,000 supporters.

Army headquarters noted Hawaii’s conflicted feelings about the troop stationing in a Dec. 22 Army news story.

The majority of public comments were directed at keeping soldiers, but some were not, the service noted.

"Some comments received suggesting even more troops should leave were from Hawaii, Colorado and a few other places," the Army said.

Any cuts that occur as a result of the analysis won’t happen until October 2015, the Army said.

Frenzel’s group maintains the Army’s downsizing provides a "once in a century opportunity" to return to the state Schofield Barracks, Wheeler Army Airfield, Makua Valley, Dillingham Military Reservation and Kolekole Pass.

The Oahu Council for Army downsizing "does not consider the bulk of the Army’s forces on Oahu to be strategically located since these forces do not have readily available airlift or sealift to support their transport to anywhere in the Pacific as quickly as may be needed."