WIESBADEN, Germany – The final quarterly town hall of Col. Mario A. Washington's time as the United States Army Garrison Wiesbaden’s commander was recorded June 23, 2022 and is available on the USAG Wiesbaden's Facebook page, DVIDS and installation website.
Joining Col. Washington on the panel were Mitchell Jones, deputy to the Garrison Commander, Don Meyer, Installation Management-Europe's region Housing Chief and Beth Cruz, a Housing Management Specialist in the Garrison's housing division at the Directorate of Public Works.
Questions and issues addressed by the garrison command team and DPW were submitted by service members, family members and members of the civilian workforce through the garrison's public email and Facebook page.
Several questions about housing were addressed by both Col. Washington and Mr. Meyer, who spoke about such issues as the building coordinator program, painting walls in quarters and rabbit hunters in the housing areas.
The commander opened the town hall by acknowledging the efforts of Mr. Meyer, who previously served as DPW’s Director of Housing.
Col. Washington recognized Meyer for the great job he “(...)does on a daily basis,” going on to add, “(…)nobody has more knowledge than he does when it comes to housing and that is why they pulled him up to region."
The first issue addressed by the panelists was about terminating the building coordinator program.
The question asked, was if the program’s responsibility could be terminated or shifted to housing instead of being an additional burden to a service member. The panel agreed that the building coordinators and program overall are valuable assets in the housing areas to ensure a safe living space for residents.
“This is a collaborative and collective effort...we definitely need our housing and area coordinators as our eyes on the ground,” said Washington.
“Garrison runs it, but it is a green-suiter program that is enforced by the [Garrison Command] sergeant major,” added Meyer.
Meyer went on to state that the housing office is there to assist, but housing doesn't have the authority to tell service members what to do. The goal is to make housing safe for the residents as best they can.
Residents asked several questions about painting inside quarters and asked why some residents were charged to have their quarters repainted.
“We pay a contractor a lot of money to paint quarters upon move out,” said Meyer.
Meyer went on to say that the Self-Help (SHIP) store does not stock paint for residents to paint the walls inside their quarters. DPW pays a contractor to paint two coats of white paint when a resident moves out. A resident may be charged if that resident paints their walls a dark color, which a DPW-contracted painter can’t cover.
Hunting within the Clay Kaserne housing areas was another topic posed to the garrison command team and DPW Panel.
Residents submitted questions asking if hunting in the stairwell areas was authorized and why residents were not provided prior notice of hunting taking place in areas where families reside.
“We have been working this personally -- hunters will have to notify us, or we will notify them when they can come hunt,” said Mr. Jones. “We are looking at a two-week window so we can notify the residents when hunters will be on post to eliminate miscommunications."
Additional questions addressed in the quarterly town hall included parking, home based businesses and cleanliness and lawn care of the housing areas.
Before closing out his final town hall and changing command, Col. Washington lauded his time in Wiesbaden and thanked all those who supported the garrison mission.
He went on to the close the town hall by stating that the garrison strives do the right thing but relies on the community to be part of the solution in fixing what leadership misses.
“Feedback is a gift -- you have to hold us accountable,” said Col. Washington.
USAG Wiesbaden is the Army’s premier garrison in Europe committed to excellence in delivering quality services and facilities in support of a strong Europe while enabling the senior commander’s readiness.
USAG Wiesbaden’s mission is to provide efficient and effective infrastructure and services ensuring U.S. Army Europe's readiness while enhancing the quality of lives of Soldiers, Families, civilians, and retirees throughout our community.
In addition to being posted to Facebook and the garrison webpage, the video can be accessed from the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service using the following link.
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