Utahns cancel hearing with BRAC panel for now
Instead, BRAC commissioners will be whisked on a daylong tour of Hill Air Force Base on Monday, including a flyover of the Utah Test and Training Range.
"We didn't see that there was anything to gain from having a hearing," said Vickie McCall, executive director of the Utah Defense Alliance.
Former Utah Congressman Jim Hansen and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, called BRAC commission officials Wednesday to ask that the meeting be canceled.
"I called the commission," Hansen said. "We just discussed it. I don't see anything wrong with it. In fact, it will probably be a savings of time for all of us."
Hansen and at least one other BRAC commissioner will tour the base Monday morning and end the day in a helicopter tour of the massive testing range in Utah's West Desert.
Hansen told the Deseret Morning News, however, that the regional hearing could be rescheduled later this summer. The Farmington resident said he is worried that members of the public won't have a chance to voice their concerns about the base closure and realignment process.
Hansen invited Utahns to call him at his Farmington cabin, 801-451-6500, to discuss BRAC matters.
By canceling the meeting, Hill backers won't have to publicly reveal their plans for additional workload.
"Things that may come up during the hearing could make us more vulnerable essentially as other bases are closing, so why would we want to subject ourselves to that?" McCall said. "Why would we want to point out any flaws or potential problems, because there would certainly be questions that we don't want to address in the public forum."
E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com
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