HomeMy WebLinkAbout12 27 1987 Sebastian Airport14A, Sunday, December 27, 1987 ,Vero Beach, Fla., Press -Journal
Opinion
Sebastian Airport
A petition drive in Sebastian last weekend appears
to have generated enough signatures to place a pro-
posed city charter change on the city's March 8 ballot.
The charter change would require a public vote for
certain capital projects at the airport.
Launched by a group called Citizens Against Air-
port Expansion, the petition drive sterns from an emo-
tionally charged public controversy over the future of
the Sebastian Municipal Airport.
Even the language of the issue stirs lively debate.
Those who want the airport to remain basically as it
is today frequently use the word "expansion" to refer
to almost any capital projects being discussed for the
airport's future.
Those who want to see some changes at the airport
refer to capital projects as "improvements."
As with most debates, the truth probably lies some-
where in between.
We have already stated our opinion of the move for
a charter change and we have not changed our posi-
tion. Voters don't vote on whether to "expand" or
"improve" landfills or jails, so why should we vote on
airports?
It was City Councilman Robert McCarthy who origi-
nally proposed the charter change. He failed to per-
suade a majority of the City Council to act on his
proposal. Instead, council voted 3-2 to delay consid-
eration of the proposal for six months.
Having lost that battle, McCarthy took to the
streets, volunteering his time to the petition drive.
We view McCarthy's actions last weekend as a con-
flict of interest. Voters elected him to make decisions
in the city's best interest, not to become active in spe-
cial interest groups.
It is one thing for a politician to align himself with a
special interest group and quite another to become a
participant in the group's activities.
If McCarthy felt there was overwhelming public
support for a city charter change, then why did he go
out and solicit signatures for a petition? Why not let
the special interest group do its own work and let citi-
zens speak for themselves?
We might also point out here that some of the
founding members of the Citizens Against Airport
Expansion are not residents of Sebastian. Granted,
they do live near the airport and thus, have a stake in
what happens there. But the airport was there before
tPey purchased the property and no government can
guarantee anyone a risk -free rtal estate investment.
It• should also be pointed out that some members of
the city's airport advisory board also do not live in the
city.
We don't feel non-residents, be they members of an
advisory board or a special interest group, should be
directly involved in making decisions about the future
of the city's airport.