Potrero residents question Blackwater
intimidation tactics

By Miriam Raftery
The Alpine Sun

     POTRERO — The battle over whether a private military training camp will be built in Potrero is heating up, with both sides slinging accusations of high-pressure tactics and misrepresentation at their opponents.
     Citizens against Blackwater USA’s proposed training camp contend that they have been targeted for harassment for exercising their rights to free speech.
     “We just got a letter from a lawyer for Gordon Hammers notifying all the opponents that he wants us to cease all ‘libelous and defamatory’ comments about him,” said Carl Meyer, a former Potrero planner who has helped organize efforts to recall seven members of the Potrero Planning Group who voted for the Blackwater project.
     Hammers, chair of the Potrero Planning Group, has irked opponents with his own outspoken criticisms.
     In an article titled “Potrero NIMBYs become pawns for far left activists” published in the Potrero Hotline, Hammers accused “radicals and extremists” of using “slander and outright lies” to discredit “people who have worked hard to keep large scale housing developments out of Potrero.”
     He contends that the town’s residents have been used as “pawns to defeat a project that is actually good for Potrero.”
     The Potrero Planning Group’s advisory vote will be among the factors considered by the County Planning Commission and ultimately, the County Board of Supervisors when considering the project. The Planning Group has agreed to reconsider its vote, Hammers noted, adding that Blackwater must comply with a live-fire noise test requirement to retain approval.
     A letter, on Hammers’ behalf, was sent by the Huston & McEwen law firm to all 10 Potrero residents who signed a notice of intent to recall Hammers and six other planners.
     A copy of the letter states Hammers is, “deeply concerned that untrue, libelous and/or defamatory comments have been made about him, which are neither legal nor constitutionally protected.”
     As a 35-year resident of Potrero and charter member of Potrero’s Planning Group, Rural Fire Protection District board, and Volunteer Fire Department Hammers has “demonstrated his desire to see the Potrero Community thrive and prosper,” the letter notes.
     Meyer said he is not worried by the legal threat.
     “My lawyer said, ‘Forget it,’” Meyer said. “I have not engaged in any libelous or defamatory comments.”
     Confident that he can back up all statements made in the recall notice, Meyer believes that his comments are “constitutional and protected.”
     The Registrar of Voters has approved the recall notice of intent. Recall supporters now have until mid-July to obtain signatures from 30 percent of the town’s registered voters in order to place the recall election on the ballot.
     The recall election would ask voters to also choose candidates to replace any recalled planners. So far, six candidates have advised Meyer of plans to run. All oppose the Blackwater project. Meyer has thrown his own hat into the ring — and hopes to replace Hammers as chairman.
     Asked why he accused those who signed a recall petition of libel and slander, Hammers replied, “I don’t think libelous or slanderous is the right term. Misinformation is better… They made certain allegations that were untrue.”
     Asked what specific allegations he believes are false, he responded, “That we did not give the community adequate notice of the December meeting.” Hammers contends that notices in bold print were posted and that the board did “everything within [its] power” to inform Potrero residents of the meeting, at which the board voted in favor of the Blackwater project.
     Meanwhile, Jan Hedlun, the lone Potrero planner opposed to the Blackwater project, has been contacted by San Diego County regarding a complaint alleging a zoning issue involving her residence.
     “I’m dealing with it,” said Hedlun, adding that she has responded to an inquiry from a County official.
     Hedlun said she has lived on the property for 10 years, serving as a caretaker. She and her husband were saving to build a home on the property before his death.
     “I’ve been struggling like crazy to make ends meet,” she said, adding that Hammers once offered her a trailer to live in, but later provided the trailer to survivors of the Cedar Fire.
     She believes the complaint was filed in retaliation for her stance against Blackwater.
     “The level of harassment is increasing against me,” she said, adding that she received a previous veiled threat shortly after her election to the planning group. “I thought that I had a right to my own opinions.”
     Hammers denies lodging the complaint against Hedlun. He contends that a letter she read in a public meeting from another Potrero resident drew the attention of County officials.
     He admitted that he has known about Hedlun’s living arrangements “for years” and added, “I told her that little girls who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, or sooner or later it would catch up with her.”
     Hedlun has been given adequate leeway after her husband’s death, he said, adding that her definition of herself as a caretaker is a “loose description.”

Blackwater launches PR campaign to boost image
     Growing criticism from Potrero residents and outside groups including the Sierra Club, veterans’ and peace organizations have contended that the Blackwater project, situated adjacent to national forest and wilderness lands, would pose environmental, traffic and noise problems, among other issues. Some also object to the expansion of Blackwater because of the private contractor’s activities in Iraq, citing concerns over the privatization of military and other government services.
     In response, Blackwater has gone on the offensive with efforts to boost its public image locally.
     The June issue of the Potrero Hotline includes a piece titled “Blackwater West: Fact vs. Fiction” written by Blackwater Vice President Brian Bonfiglio. Bonfiglio’s article contends that opponents “distort the truth” and pledges that the piece will be the first of many to come over the next year or more.
     “There is a compelling need for this campus because San Diego is one of the largest centers in the country for the military and federal, state and local law enforcement,” the article says. “There is a shortage of training areas and qualified trainers to satisfy the emerging requirements.”
     Bonfiglio contends that the project will not adversely impact botanical or wildlife resources and that other concerns are based on misinformation. The company disputes the “mercenary” label used by critics and insists that Blackwater has never provided security services for any country other than the United States.
     Blackwater has joined the East County Chamber of Commerce and invited some public officials to visit an emergency services boat docked in San Diego Bay, confirmed Hammers, who said he has visited the vessel. Hammers also spoke at a La Mesa Kiwanis Club meeting regarding the Blackwater project, which he believes will provide an economic boost and jobs for the community.

Worldwide news stories heighten controversies
     Blackwater’s efforts to improve its image have not been helped by several recent news stories.
     On June 12, the Daily Mail published an article linking Blackwater to a plane reportedly used by the C.I.A. for “torture flights.”
     According to the newspaper report, “Its registration number, clearly visible on the fuselage, identifies it as a plane which the European Parliament says has been involved in ‘ghost flights’ to smuggle terrorist suspects to shadowy interrogation centers abroad. Records show the plane is owned by Blackwater USA, a CIA contractor…”
     In November, a European Parliament committee placed the plane – registration number N964BW – on a list of “companies and aircraft used by the CIA for extraordinary rendition flights.”
     According to the American Federal Aviation Authority, the plane is operated by Aviation World Wide Services and a sister company, Presidential Airways. Both are shell companies operating as subsidiaries of Blackwater USA, “an important contractor for the CIA and the U.S. military,” according to the European Parliament report.
     In other news, families of four Blackwater employees slain by a mob in Iraq have issued a public plea for funds to support a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Blackwater.
     The suit filed by the families, claims that Blackwater failed to provide essential equipment and other protections for its employees. Blackwater countered by filing a $10 million countersuit, hiring former Whitewater prosecutor Ken Starr to represent the company.
     “Blackwater might quite possibly crush the family members if they don’t have a way to defend themselves,” attorney Marc Miles told the Associated Press (AP).
     Anne Tyrrell, spokesperson for Blackwater, contended that the families’ attorneys are attempting to “litigate in the media with outrageous tactics, which above all discredit the honor of these fallen men and victimize their families,” the Associated Press reported.
     Also this month, Blackwater employees under contract with the U.S. State Department reportedly opened fire in the streets of Baghdad twice in one week, resulting in several deaths and provoking a stand-off between the security contractors and Iraqi forces, according to published news reports.
     Blackwater and State Department officials defended the company’s actions as necessary to defend U.S. personnel under assault by insurgents. But the incidents highlight concerns over accountability and the use of deadly force by armed private contractors.
     Perhaps most significantly, a federal judge has ordered the U.S. military to halt the awarding of a $475 million security and reconstruction contract in Iraq to a private military contractor, the Washington Post reported on June 2.
U.S. Army veteran Brian Scott filed a complaint arguing that the military’s use of private security contractors is “against America’s core values” and violates the Anti-Pinkerton Act, an 1893 law prohibiting the government from hiring quasi-military forces. His challenge led the Government Accountability Office to dismiss protests brought by two private security contractors that the Army had removed as potential bidders on the project – including Blackwater USA.
     According to the Washington Post, “the case puts on trial one of the most controversial and least understood aspects of the Iraq war: the outsourcing of military security to an estimated 20,000 armed contractors who operate with little oversight.”
     If the U.S. Court of Federal Claims upholds Scott’s arguments and orders the federal government to cease outsourcing military or security functions, the case could ultimately have a chilling effect on all private military and security contractors – including Blackwater.

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