Four BRAC members recuse themselves on state bases
Panel members decline to deliberate on decisions about states with which they are associated.
Four members of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission announced Thursday that they would recuse themselves from decisions involving bases in states with which they are associated.
Retired Adm. Harold Gehman said he would exempt himself from decisions involving any Virginia base because he had served briefly as an unpaid adviser on BRAC to Virginia Democratic Gov. Mark Warner.
Phillip Coyle said he would not participate in substantial decisions involving California because he had played an advisory role for GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Former Reps. James Bilbray, D-Nev., and James Hansen, R-Utah, recused themselves from deliberations involving the states they represented.
The announcements came as the commission ended four days of hearings on the Pentagon's base closing and realignment recommendations by announcing plans for holding about 16 regional hearings, beginning June 7 in Salt Lake City and St. Louis, and visiting approximately 65 affected bases.
After four days of hearing from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the officials who prepared and approved the sweeping list of 837 separate closures or realignments, several commissioners said they thought the Pentagon had done a good job making its decisions.
But Gehman, Coyle and retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Sue Turner said they needed to see the mountain of detailed data supporting those decisions. And they said they were looking forward to hearing the other side, from the representatives of the facilities slated for closure or reduction and the communities that would be affected.
"We want to hear from the people in the communities. We need to hear from them," Coyle said.
Although past commissions have added dozens of bases to the Pentagon's recommendations, Gehman indicated this panel would be less likely to do so. If during the public hearings the community officials challenge the Pentagon's decisions, "we would have to go back and compare the numbers" of military value between what the department said and what the community presented, Gehman said.