Please help -- It's down to the wire

Sorry for the cross-posting, Guys and Gals, but I'm appealing for your
help -- NOW.

Our City Council will be deciding THIS WEEK whether or not to put the
dissolution of our independent airport commission on the ballot this fall.
If this goes to the ballot, the damage done to our airport may be
irreversible.

The Issue
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Our Airport Commission was set up after World War II specifically to
insulate the airport from the winds of politics. Our grandfathers knew that
one day our airport -- once so far from town -- would become surrounded by
development, and that airport land would be almost irresistible to
developers.

They knew that no future city council, during some future budget crunch,
would be able to resist a wealthy land developer's offer to buy that land.
Thus, they entrusted management of the airport to a band of volunteer,
unpaid commissioners, who were given the sole mission of running and
protecting the airport well and properly.

Our current city council, for a myriad of reasons, has decided that the
commission has outgrown its usefulness. Budgetary problems (the city's
annual subsidy has grown from $40K to $180K in the past decade), management
issues (previous commissions did not keep a tight lid on paperwork),
communication issues (the city manager doesn't get along with the airport
manager and some previous commissioners), and our newspaper's rabid
anti-airport slant have all conspired to make the airport a BIG issue in the
city government.

The Reasons Why We Oppose This Change in Governance
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Now, of course, we all know it's not the money. Ankeny, Iowa, with it's
slightly smaller airport, happily spends over $300K per year subsidizing
their airport. Our $180K subsidy would not buy a single city bus, nor would
it fund our city manager's salary for even one year.

To put this in perspective, $180K is LESS than Iowa City spent last year on
"cemetery beautification" in fiscal 2003.

Further, our airport brings something over $5 million per year into the
local economy -- not a bad return on a $180K investment!

And we all know it's not an issue with the management of the airport. Our
airport remains the best G.A.airport in the Midwest, and everything is
running smoothly.

And it can no longer be a personal struggle between commissioners and the
city manager -- all of the current airport commissioners have come on board
in the last six months. The entire previous commission resigned, some for
personal reasons, others in frustration. And this new crop of
commissioners are the best I've ever seen, with representatives from every
walk of life -- including a couple of heavy hitters from the biggest show in
town, the University of Iowa.

So what is it? A power struggle, plain and simple. If the City Manager can
convince the City Council to go down this path (and he, as full-time city
manager, is the guy who truly controls our part-time Mayor and councilors),
he will have achieved control of the one area of city government that he
could not directly control.

And, if you follow the money, this change will set the city up to be in a
position to close and sell the airport land down the road. If I were a
betting man, I'd wager that there are already wealthy land developers
steering this debate, behind the scenes.

WE NEED YOUR HELP.
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City Councilors aren't schooled in airport management, or the needs of the
pilot community -- they are being led down this path by a City Manager who
has convinced them that this referendum is for the "good of the city and the
airport." It is our job to show them the error of this logic, and the only
way to do this is with letters, emails and phone calls!

PLEASE don't wait, as time is extremely short. Send your emails opposing a
referendum for the dissolution of our independent airport commission to
. (These letters become part of the public record,
viewable by all, so please keep them clean, brief, and professional.
Please don't just forward this post to them, as the "delete" key is simply
too easy to use. We need many voices!)

The best approach is to keep it simple. Mention the reasons for the
commission's existence. Mention the money saved by having a volunteer
commission running the show, versus a paid staff of city employees. Perhaps
even mention the wealthy land developers who are salivating over the thought
of developing this land. (Iowa City is a very left-wing, liberal town.
Calling someone around here a "wealthy land developer" is tantamount to
calling them a cockroach...)

If you have the time, a phone call is even more effective. Here are the
phone numbers of the "swing voting" councilors:

Reginia Bailey 319-351-2068
Dee Vanderhoef 319-351-6872
Bob Elliott 319-351-4056
Connie Champion 319-337-6608

(I have omitted the city councilors who are already vocally supporting the
referendum.)

All we need is FOUR councilors on our side (and we think we've already got
2) to make this issue go away -- for now.

Thanks in advance.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"