1) AOPA's job never has been to show up at every community meeting in
which an airport is threatened. When I had dinner with Phil Boyer a few
years ago we talked about this. They simply don't have the staff to do
that. What they do do is provide material and legal assistance to the
ASN volunteer.
2) A "stern letter" is actually a very impactful thing. Communities
read them. Its better than psycho people showing up at the meeting,
yelling, and complaining. I would suggest reading the book "How to win
friends and influence people" for more information on this technique.

If you still think AOPA is useless, go through the yellow pages and
call an attorney and ask them to draft the same type of impactful
"stern letter" and report back to us what it cost you.

-Robert