Like the TSA, we should assign a colored threat level for every airport in the country, based upon the current level of threat posed to the airport. If we did, San Jose's Reid-Hillview Airport would have been operating all year at a Level 4, Orange, High Threat of Airport Closure. As we reported earlier, that's because the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted to study the legal issues and potential financial benefits associated with closing the airport and developing the land. It's the third time in 25 years that the airport has been in danger of closing.
Yesterday, pilots in Silicon Valley…
breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted 4 to 1 to accept a report from the County Counsel on legal options related to Reid-Hillview Airport, but also voted that staff and County Counsel should take no action on the report. This effectively puts to rest the current call for the closure of Reid-Hillview Airport. It's also good news for AOPA, which will use the airport when AOPA Expo comes to San Jose, CA in November, 2008.
There are a lot of lessons that came out of this that pilots everywhere should consider with regard to their own local airport. The first is complacency. Although local pilots were heavily mobilized in the 1980’s and again in the 1990’s to defend the airport, the latest closing attempt caught us by surprise. We accepted our victory in the 1990’s as permanent, even though we knew that one of the five supervisors was an ardent foe of the airport. The lesson is clear to me now. Every few years, this airport will face another threat of closure, though the excuse will be different each time. The 180 acres of land on which the airport sits is too big of a prize for developers to ignore. Today airport opponents are licking their wounds; tomorrow they’ll be plotting new strategies.
Saving an airport is a group effort. All pro-airport groups have to work together to develop a joint strategy for defeating a threat. There’s no room for egos and turf wars. In our case two local airport associations, the FAA and AOPA all went to bat for the airport.
Relationships with elected officials are paramount and they need to be developed before the airport is threatened. Airports must be promoted to the surrounding community with “Airport Days” and other activities like EAA Young Eagle flights. Elected officials must be invited to cut ribbons and speak at these events and the media needs to be there as well. Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a community to support an airport.
One way to build relationships with elected officials is to support them when they’re running for office. This could be by holding a fund raiser for them at the airport so that they can mingle with pilots, or volunteering to make calls for them from a phone bank. If you’re not actively involved in helping to get intelligent and open-minded people elected to public office, you may find it hard to get through to them when you need to save your airport.
I met with the Chair of the Board of Supervisors 24 hours after the vote that ended the latest closing attempt. He apparently was swayed most by the recommendations of his staff, not by any outside parties, so it’s important to have relationships with staff as well.
Here's the text of an email that I sent to pilots in the County yesterday.
In a 4 to 1 vote this afternoon, members of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted to accept a report from the County Counsel on legal options related to Reid-Hillview Airport, but also voted that staff and County Counsel should take no action on the report. This effectively puts to rest the current call for the closure of Reid-Hillview Airport.
The latest closure attempt began early this year as part of an attempt to find ways to close the County’s $215M budget gap. In March, the board voted for studies of the potential net financial benefits of developing the airport and the potential legal issues with closing the airport. The County Counsel’s report, released today, offered several actions that the County could take to attempt to close the airport. The report concluded “Should the Board determine that it wishes to pursue the sale or lease of the Reid-Hillview Airport, the legal procedures would be extremely complex and lengthy."
In accepting the report, Board of Supervisors Chair Pete McHugh said that a major portion of funds realized from any potential sale would have to be shared with the FAA, and that it was uncertain that the County could be successful in any attempt to close the airport.
Approximately ten of us spoke to the Supervisors, split roughly between pro and con positions, as did a member of the FAA’s Airport’s division, before the final vote. People speaking in favor of the airport pointed out that a previous County funded consulting report from SRI concluded that the airport was the safest possible use of the land, that RHV is designated as a reliever airport to San Jose International, and that flight training currently conducted at RHV would move to the other three airports in the County, increasing the number of operations and noise at those airports.
If past is prologue, this issue will come up again in the future. The Palo Alto Airport has a Joint Community Relations Committee that has improved the dialogue between airport users and nearby residents, and it appears there may be an opportunity to get one established for RHV early next year when new members come onto the Board of Supervisors.
Let's continue to work to make Reid-Hillview Airport a model in the way it works with the community. This past Saturday’s activity, which brought out over 100 organizations and flew over 500 children, was a great example and resulted in favorable publicity. The next RHV Airport Day, on September 20, will be another great opportunity to showcase the airport, so please support RHVAA in this annual event.
Keep in mind that aviation continues to come under fire elsewhere. Watsonville pilots were successful in suing the city, which was found in violation of State Aeronautics law. However the city is appealing and the group is raising money to fight the appeal.
Contributions should be sent to:
Watsonville Pilots Association
P.O. Box 2074
Freedom, CA 95019-2074
Please make checks payable to “WPA” and in the check memo section write “legal fund."
Most of all, please fly responsibly by following all noise abatement procedures. Also, the next time you go flying, take along a friend who has an interest in flying and the means to pursue flight training. We all need to get actively involved in growing the pilot population if we’re to continue to have the clout we need to defend airports.
Best regards,
Max Trescott
President, SiliconValleyGA
This is fantastic news for ALL Bay Area pilots. Thanks for all of your hard work on this!
Thank you Brad! I was a bit player in the latest effort, but I learned a lot which will be helpful for the next time I get involved with an airport closure. There are plenty of threats and opportunities for GA, and as pilots we all need to get actively involved in fighting the threats and maximizing the opportunities.