BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Telegraph-Times-Monitor General Manager
The most vocal proponent of changing the governing model of the Keystone Heights Airport told his colleagues he has changed his mind and now supports keeping the facility’s board intact and functioning as is.
Council member Tony Brown had advocated for bringing the facility’s management closer to city government, making the airport a city department under the city manager.
However, during the September 11 council meeting, Brown said that he supported the status quo after getting more comfortable with how the airport’s current board was operating.
“The one thing that still scares me about doing this is there’s not a dang thing any one of us up here knows about airplanes,” he said.
Brown also said Councilman Steve Hart’s arguments about legal liability swayed him. In previous meetings, Hart said that more direct oversight of the airport by the council would expose Keystone Heights taxpayers to more liability should property damage, injuries, or fatalities occur at the airport.
Brown also conceded another point to Hart, agreeing that if the council became dissatisfied with the board’s performance, council members could remove or replace any airport board member at any time.
Before Brown’s announcement, Hart had persuaded his colleagues to put the issue on a referendum, allowing voters to decide the airport board’s fate. After Brown’s statement, Hart tried to reverse the earlier vote. However, Mayor Nina Rodenroth and Council Member Chris Thompson voted to continue moving forward with the referendum, and Hart’s attempt failed 2-2.
Council member Bobby Brown was not at the meeting.
