{"id":9597,"date":"2017-04-01T19:22:05","date_gmt":"2017-04-01T19:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.environment-hawaii.org\/?p=9597"},"modified":"2019-08-14T19:05:11","modified_gmt":"2019-08-14T19:05:11","slug":"environment-hawaii-article-used-to-show-apparent-rift-among-opponents-of-tmt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=9597","title":{"rendered":"Environment Hawai`i Article Used to Show\u00a0Apparent Rift Among Opponents of TMT"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mililani<\/a>
Mililani Trask<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the contested case hearing over a permit to build the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea drew to a close, one of the last witnesses to testify was Mililani Trask, a practicing attorney well known for her involvement in Hawaiian sovereignty movements. Trask testifed on behalf of Joseph Camara, one of the challengers in the contested case.<\/p>\n

For years, Trask was the leader \u2013 the kia `aina \u2013 of Ka Lahui Hawai`i, a movement to build a Hawaiian nation. She was also involved in the Pele Defense Fund when it was protesting the development of geothermal energy on the Big Island in the 1980s and 1990s. Trask has lobbied for years to gain recognition and rights for indigenous people worldwide.<\/p>\n

During cross examination, Ian Sandison, one of three attorneys representing the University of Hawai`i in the contested case, explored Trask\u2019s relationship with the Sierra Club in efforts that began in the 1990s to oppose further telescope development. He asked whether Trask knew Marti Townsend, the current executive director of the group\u2019s Hawai`i chapter.<\/p>\n

Camara objected, but hearing officer Riki May Amano overruled him, agreeing with Sandison that the questioning was \u201cfoundation for impeachment and goes to bias.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trask acknowledged that she knew Townsend.<\/p>\n

Sandison then showed Trask what he had marked as the university\u2019s exhibit A 151, a copy of an article Environment Hawai`i <\/i>published on its website in February regarding Townsend\u2019s testimony during the contested case hearing and Trask\u2019s own comments on the article.<\/p>\n

When presented with the exhibit, Trask told Sandison she hadn\u2019t actually ever seen the article.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve never seen this article before?\u201d Sandison asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d Trask said. \u201cYou\u2019re saying I was interviewed for this?\u201d<\/p>\n

Pressed again by Sandison about her familiarity with the exhibit, she said, \u201cI don\u2019t think I saw the article. I just talked to Pat. Because this, Environment Hawai`i<\/i>, isn\u2019t this Pat Tummons\u2019s? \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah. I remember having a talk with her. It could have been this. Not Marti. But Pat. She was looking at this. She was questioning some of the statements that had been made by Sierra.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandison called Trask\u2019s attention again to the portion of the exhibit that appeared to be a response to the article made on February 7. \u201cYou see that?\u201d he asked her. \u201cIt says Mililani B. Trask. Is that you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Trask: \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandison: \u201cDoes it say, \u2018Aloha, Pat\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

Trask didn\u2019t answer, but proceeded instead to read from the comment: \u201c \u2018This is not the first time that Marti Townsend hasn\u2019t been honest and truthful about issues of critical import to Hawaiians and our culture.\u2019 Yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yuklin Aluli, the attorney representing KaHEA and on whose behalf Townsend had testified as a witness in January, interrupted the questioning. \u201cThis is being offered to denigrate the testimony of a witness we offered,\u201d she said. \u201cWe object to its introduction in terms of its attempt to impeach someone who\u2019s not here \u2013 our witness, Marti Townsend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because Trask was not testifying on behalf of KaHEA, Amano told her that her objection \u201cis out of place at this time\u2026 The question is whether or not this witness wrote this statement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once again, Sandison asked Trask, \u201cDid you review this article and did you write these comments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no,\u201d Trask protested. \u201cI didn\u2019t review the article. I didn\u2019t see it. But I did have a conversation with Pat a while back about some of the statements that she was getting in terms of Mauna Kea. She was questioning whether or not they were accurate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amano pressed Trask for a straight answer: \u201cVery specifically, is that comment, which is indicated as a reply and that appears to bear your typewritten name, did that come from you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Trask said. \u201cBut it wasn\u2019t in response to the article, because I never saw it. I had a call from Pat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI got it,\u201d Amano said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in it do you question the truthfulness and honesty of Ms. Townsend and also the Sierra Club?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The following day, Camara asked Trask about the article during his redirect questioning \u2013 the opportunity given to those who present witnesses to repair damage done during cross examination.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou mentioned that you didn\u2019t particularly remember that article?\u201d Camara asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is my recollection,\u201d Trask replied. \u201cI used to subscribe to Environment Hawai`i <\/i>for many years. I got it at my office. And then I stopped. Then they went out of publication. But I guess they were on the internet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I recall, and this was just recently, there was a big brouhaha about comments [of] Marti Townsend. Someone called me about it and I gave them a comment. When I looked in my computer \u2013 because I just saw the exhibit yesterday \u2013 I have contact information for Pat. I don\u2019t have any emails or graphics of the environment today. But I did have a really bad computer hacking crash a little while ago. When I looked at the comment, the truth is, it pretty much reflects my mana`o [thinking].<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not Sierra Club. It\u2019s incorrect to attribute my comments and sentiments to Sierra Club. But Marti Townsend \u2013 I hold her in very little esteem.\u201d<\/p>\n

— Patricia Tummons<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Statement from the Editor<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

Following the testimony of Marti Townsend, the executive director of the Sierra Club, Hawai`i Chapter, in the TMT contested case hearing, I wrote a short article about several of the more dubious statements Townsend had made. Townsend was asked for comment on each of the points mentioned in the article but she chose not to respond.<\/p>\n

This write-up was posted in the online EH-Xtra column of our website home page, https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Within a few days of posting the article, Mililani Trask wrote a comment, in which she made several unflattering statements about Townsend and the Sierra Club. The EH-Xtra article and Trask\u2019s comment on it were introduced during the questioning of Trask by Ian Sandison on February 28.<\/p>\n

Trask\u2019s description of the manner in which her comments to the article were generated does not comport with the facts.<\/p>\n

At no point did I or anyone associated with Environment Hawai`i <\/i>call Trask to ask for her comments. I did not email her about this, nor did anyone else associated with the publication. I have had no interactions with her for several years. Her statements stating that I did approach her, whether by phone, email, or any other means, in relation to the EH-Xtra article are simply not true.<\/p>\n

It may be the case that someone called her about the Townsend article and she gave them a comment. But I have absolutely no reason to believe that anyone other than Trask posted the comment that was made on the article.<\/p>\n

Finally, her statement that Environment Hawai`i <\/i>stopped publishing is altogether false. We have been published continuously, every month, since July 1990.<\/p>\n

— Patricia Tummons<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the contested case hearing over a permit to build the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea drew to a close, one of the last witnesses to testify was Mililani Trask, a practicing attorney well known for her involvement in … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[416],"tags":[7],"class_list":["post-9597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-april-2017","tag-patricia-tummons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}