My god no, do not allow city officials, or any new body they may create, take over administration of our airport. Let an investigation take as long as the ten years it has operated in the red but do not allow the current distaff "leaders" any where near such a power grab. Their attention has obviously not been focused on the airport or the hapless situation Kent Marshall has been forced to endure. Is there no way to determine why the airport pens contain only red ink. There have been, over those years, personnel changes in the commission with a few internal arguments but scant improvements. It appeared for years that our Council did not realize we had an airport. There have been a few changes but up until recently the main effort has been to keep progress even for blacks and whites. Perhaps Duman, a businessman can breathe some life into the airport. Perhaps Council will allow the airport manager to speak his mind. Roger Leonard tried his best to make a difference but found a stone wall in his path. There are no chapters in the books read by our City Manager and Mayor about how to run an airport. City officials dilly dallying allowed us to lose an airplane museum to Va.Beach. And the Fighter Factory.
9 comments:
Duman breathing life into the Suffolk Executive Airport is like Parr breathing life to the dead. Next subject please.
I took Flying lessons from Roger's company years ago and he did know how to run a good operation while making next to nothing for his efforts. The huge egos on the airport board were always the problem and they wanted to claim all the credit of everything. This group of idiots always gound a way to spoil any idea put forward and stood in the way all the time. Then Mr. Marshall was just so unplugged all the time, he was afraid to say boo, about any thing or any inprovements. Just seat quietly and collected his check. It was worst when the Public Works guy ran the airport since everyhting was about politics all the time. He said one thing and always did just the opposite. That is why the airport is dead.
I say lrt the city staff run it and at least they will not have the egos in the way. But they do need to make it pay by getting rents and gas prices up to market levels. The other idea is to let someone like Roger run it and make a lease payment and cover all costs so the city does not loose money. The best thing is to raise prices and let the fur fly, so to say!
Interesting how Bredemeyer, the Chair of the Airport Committee wasn't told in advance that it was going to come up in the meeting.
Bredemeyer is (or was at one time) also the chair of the Suffolk Democratic Committee now that I think about it. I wonder if November's results have the folks downtown staying far away from the dems now. Or maybe it isn't protocol for him to have been informed of such a decision.
Are there any announced candidates for Clerk of Court, Senate, or House of Delegates? The school board too has members up in 2011, right?
Art is just another one of the problem people at the airport, but not as huge an ego as some. A few on there can hardly get in the room because their head is so huge.
Art has not been on the inside for much. As I remember it, he ran counter to the approval for the airport out on Route 58 that wanted to expand and needed approval because an easement came into Suffolk. He said "Disaprove this because will compete with the Suffolk Airport". What a reason to manipulate the zoning process Art!
Don't you just love this. Disband the airport commission, undertake an "independent" study, then establish an authority with the power to borrow and spend just like city council. Sell it or lease it. Our local government hasn't a clue about how airports are operated and managed. Their short attention span should be focused on more urgent matters.
Spend the few dollars we have left on more important projects like the Phoenix Bank-Suffolk African American History Museum to appease the non-contributory masses. It will be another hole where our local government will pour millions of dollars for no purposeful gain. The airport, SCCA, Garden Hilton, Marina, city executive retirement program, tourism office, the list goes on and on.
Why expect anything else when the hacks downtown want to control all even that which they know nothing about it. The reason that the airport has not and will not make a dime is because they charge too low rates for gas and rent. My neighbor had an airplane there for years and always braged that he could never rent space or get gas as cheap as these idiots wanted. So I can only believe that the rest of us have to pay for such policies and it must stop. I say that I agree, raise prices and just let the city run it and make it pay for itself. I am unsure if letting someone run it under a lease would work. I really don't want to have another group being allowed to run up debt! that would be terrible and must not happen!
If the Suffolk Airport is an entity that the Suffolk governing body feels necessary to have and be paid for with tax money then it seems to be working as intended. If it is an entity that should pay for itself thru various fees and charges, and if it is not paying for itself then the next thing to consider is raising all charges and fees to make to pay for itself or to consider if it is truly a need for this city to have an airport.
Any official comments from the Suffolk Tea Party? Knock, knock hello are you guys still around or do you only appear at Glenn Beck functions.
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