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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01 26 1989 Airport Backers, Users UniteAirport Backers, Users Unite in Sebastian By PATRICIA DILALLA Sebastian Bureau Chief A - political action committee, concerned that,a move to restrict activity -at the Sebastian Airport might be successful, has formed to fight the effort along with the sup-_ port of several national aviation groups — even if it means taking. the issue to court. Peoples Action Committee regis- tered Tuesday in Sebastian to par- ticipate in the election debate over the airport referendum, said Chairman Steven C. Johnson. Organizations such as the Air- craft Owners and Pilots Associa- tion, General Aviation Manufacturers Association, Experi- Airport mental Aircraft Association, FlightSafety. International and Air- port Managers Association will join local fixed base operators in .law- suits against the city if the refer- endum passes, Johnson said. "There will.be so many lawsuits and .the entanglement, legally, will be such that I don't think the city could pay the legal tab to defend itself," he said. "The costs of de- fending them all could be cata- strophic." Johnson said he has instructed his attorney to file a lawsuit within two weeks, if the referendum passes. See Airport, Next Page The airport :-eferendum will. appear on the March 14 ballot and, if approved, %v ;uld severely limit hoW the city can raise money to op- erate and maintain the airport and would impose a • landing fee and maximum noise level of 65 deci- bels at the airport. Johnson said that the Peoples Action Committee was formed to counter inaccurate statements being made by members.of the Cit- izens Airport . Watch, the force behind the petition.drive to put the referendum on the ballot. "The CAW has not presented to the public one hard fact about what it would cost Sebastian taxpayers if they were successful in their efforts," Johnson said of the CAW campaign to have the airport re- placed by a north county high school. P`ess'J%r 61g89- Veto 9ea6h= F1a•�_ �— Jan°ate 2 ' ZAP �hUrsdaV' From .fig. 1 A ir He described the CAW as a "spe- cial interest group" and "well-oiled political machine" that is manipu- Iating the community and City Council through "innuendo and scare tactics." "Under the charter, the city is to be governed by elected representa- tives, not by petition and refer- endum as generated by the CAW," Johnson said. "The -council cannot be depended on to provide you with these facts because they don't know or don't care. They are looking at votes when they should be looking out for the best interest of the city," he said. "Does anyone_ realize what this is going to cost and who will have to pay for this? That is the key," he said. Johnson said he questioned the political motives behind the CAW position against the airport and the role of. th -- Kashi Ranch. "In our 'opinion, the continual raising Iof the 'airport issue' is not the real issue at hand. What is the CAW's bottom line reason for po litical_'activity? What_ will they gain? What will they lose?" he asked. In response, CAW attorney John Evans said Johnson's statements are a red herring to divert atten- tion away from the real issue. "(The CAW) has been scrupu- lously careful not to misinform the public," Evans said. "Kashi Ranch has no role in CAW. A couple of people who live at Kashi Ranch exercise their indi- vidual rights in this country, to par- ticipate in that. Period," he said. "The community is at a cross- roads where it could most easily -choose the direction of the airport. If it were to put it to a higher and better use like a school complex, that is something we are suggest- ing should be evaluated. That is all we are saying. - "We have different mechanisms hpw that might take place each with different . consequences,". Evans continued. If the city were to get the prop- erty free under the Surplus Prop- erty Act, "that would save taxpayers an enormous amount of money," he said.