HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The Guam Veterans Cemetery has about four years left before it runs out of room, with the countdown having begun back in September 2023, according to Guam Office of Veterans Affairs Director Jose San Agustin. Guam VA is expecting about $8.2 million in grant funding for expansion of the cemetery, but that money isn’t anticipated to be handed over until October, despite the grant being announced back in 2022.
“Based on the cemetery data that I submitted to the National Cemetery Administration, they decided to move us from priority one a year ago to priority three because we still have about four more years remaining of life down at the cemetery to be able to bury our veterans and their loved ones,” San Agustin said Monday during an oversight hearing on the Guam veterans affairs office, which went over the cemetery’s status, the office’s budget and staffing, concerns and comments from the island’s veterans, and other matters related to veterans affairs.
The $8.2 million grant award for the Guam Veterans Cemetery in Piti was announced by the governor’s administration in late 2022. San Agustin’s predecessor, Pierre Tim Aguon, said at the time that the funding could probably add eight to 10 years worth of capacity for the cemetery.
Speaking Monday, San Agustin said they haven’t received the funding yet from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration but added that they haven’t lost the grant.
According to San Agustin, his predecessor actually requested $14 million in grant funding, to include mitigation projects, but was told that there was only enough funding for the expansion.
“I will be leaving on the 15th of this month to Kentucky to continue to negotiate and talk about more veterans cemetery grants to Guam to help with the mitigation needs,” San Agustin said Monday.
Guam VA needs about a half million dollars or more to remove a hill about an acre and a half in size so that 1,200 more burial grounds can be put in place at the cemetery, according to San Agustin. He added that mitigation projects are going to cost several million dollars.
Funding and staff
Five Guam VA employees currently work at the cemetery site, while eight work in administration. However, to comply with requirements in its enabling law, the office would need about 30 employees to comfortably operate, according to Monday’s discussion. That includes at least 12 employees for the cemetery and 10 total veteran service representatives versus the four representatives today.
That staffing need led to questions about the office’s budget request, which remains status quo from this fiscal year, at about $1.2 million.
“How do you justify, on one hand, underlining the need in this hearing for more employees while, on the other hand, submit a budget to request without any employees as you say you need?” Vice Speaker Tina Muña Barnes asked Monday.
Joseph Meno, administrative officer at the Guam VA office, said his instruction to his budget analyst was to keep the budget request at status quo despite needing more. He said he will provide the vice speaker’s office with information on their additional needs.
“I hope you understand why that doesn’t make sense to us if you’re asking for the same amount, yet you’re saying you’re short,” Speaker Therese Terlaje said later in the hearing.
“Then there’s a disconnect between you, (the Bureau of Budget and Management Research) and the governor in the request. We can do what we can, … but it’s very hard for us to go and say what you’re requesting and what the governor’s requesting is not legitimate,” Terlaje added.
The speaker also noted that a grant was announced in 2021 to increase the number of veteran service representatives to 15, and she questioned what happened to that initiative.
Meno said 10 individuals did undergo initial training under the previous Guam VA director. The individuals trained were only on a volunteer basis, he added. An on-the-job training plan was supposed to be implemented but fell through, according to Meno.
“A year later now, they still have not done the on-the-job training,” Meno said, adding that this issue occurred before he came on board to the Guam VA.
Tanya Eubanks, a veterans service representative at the Guam VA, said she had been at the office and her understanding was “there is no excuse, and it just never happened.”
“It’s not my decision. You know, obviously, I’m one of the tentågo’, I just do as I’m told. But I do also have to focus on the clients that I’m serving currently, so it was out of my hands. It just never happened,” Eubanks said.
“Well, that’s a shame,” the speaker responded. “I don’t really like the answer (that) it was the previous director because you’re now there, and we have to follow up and do whatever we can.”
Hundreds of people attend the All Souls’ Day Mass on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, at Guam Veterans Cemetery in Piti.
