Decision Time Is Upon Us....
Decision time for the proposed FIS faciltiy for Jet Blue will be before the council in mid-December. It had been scheduled for November 15th, but last week the public was notified that it has been changed to December 13th.
Our concern for this date change, with no apparent reason, is that it falls in the middle of the holiday season. This was exactly what 4th District Council member Daryl Supernaw asked not to happen. We are hopeful that the city manager will realize that such an important decision deserves not only to be scheduled so that the public can attend, but also to begin this council decision with a study session so that all 9 council members will receive the same information from the 697 page report. We are aware that only 3 council members did attend the two commission meetings; 4th district Daryl Supernaw, the 7th district representative, Roberto Uranga and the 8th district, Al Austin who attended the second meeting.
If you will remember, several of the council supporters for this $350,000.00 study stated it was important to gather as much input as possible before making their decision. Any wagers on how many actually read the 697 page report? Another story for another time. The council also approved an additional $20,000.00 to pay for Jacobs to present the study to these two bodies, the AAC and the Economic Development Commission.
Why were the commissions and the public not simply invited to a council study session where all concerns could be flushed out? Where questions could be answered and the council members could understand the concerns from all interested parties. Instead the AAC members discussed why they even exist. The public was told their questions would not be answered, until the uproar and vacating the room resulted in a change of heart. Too late for true public participation.
Now this Thursday at 4:00 the AAC will vote to approve their annual report to the city council. In that report, they manage to insult the HUSH2 group for the years of community advocacy and agendize approval for the FIS facility without AAC full discussion. Who wrote this report? What authority was given to speak for the entire body?
Your HUSH2 team will be there to speak on behalf of all airport impacted neighborhoods. Your presence is not critical, but may be of interest. They will also receive a presentation from the FAA on the new Metroplex (GenX) system that is being introduced to southern California airways. This system is being challenged in court by several cities nationwide on increased noise disturbances. Our own airport director, Bryant Francis expressed his concern for several areas within the new departure flight path that will now be impacted.
We ask that you mark your calendars for the December 13th council meeting. This will be the final chapter in this long, arduous discussion on the pros and cons for supporting the Jet Blue FIS request. All other carriers stated they are not interested in international flights out of Long Beach.
So, the question remains, should the elected city council stand by the concerns of their residents, their constituents, or should they support a corporate request for a business to expand; a business that is here on a month to month basis.
We strongly urge you to email or call your mayor, city manager and all 9 city council members asking that they move this very important decision slated for December 13th to the other side of the holiday season. This is the right thing to do..........
Stay Involved!!!!
Our concern for this date change, with no apparent reason, is that it falls in the middle of the holiday season. This was exactly what 4th District Council member Daryl Supernaw asked not to happen. We are hopeful that the city manager will realize that such an important decision deserves not only to be scheduled so that the public can attend, but also to begin this council decision with a study session so that all 9 council members will receive the same information from the 697 page report. We are aware that only 3 council members did attend the two commission meetings; 4th district Daryl Supernaw, the 7th district representative, Roberto Uranga and the 8th district, Al Austin who attended the second meeting.
If you will remember, several of the council supporters for this $350,000.00 study stated it was important to gather as much input as possible before making their decision. Any wagers on how many actually read the 697 page report? Another story for another time. The council also approved an additional $20,000.00 to pay for Jacobs to present the study to these two bodies, the AAC and the Economic Development Commission.
Why were the commissions and the public not simply invited to a council study session where all concerns could be flushed out? Where questions could be answered and the council members could understand the concerns from all interested parties. Instead the AAC members discussed why they even exist. The public was told their questions would not be answered, until the uproar and vacating the room resulted in a change of heart. Too late for true public participation.
Now this Thursday at 4:00 the AAC will vote to approve their annual report to the city council. In that report, they manage to insult the HUSH2 group for the years of community advocacy and agendize approval for the FIS facility without AAC full discussion. Who wrote this report? What authority was given to speak for the entire body?
Your HUSH2 team will be there to speak on behalf of all airport impacted neighborhoods. Your presence is not critical, but may be of interest. They will also receive a presentation from the FAA on the new Metroplex (GenX) system that is being introduced to southern California airways. This system is being challenged in court by several cities nationwide on increased noise disturbances. Our own airport director, Bryant Francis expressed his concern for several areas within the new departure flight path that will now be impacted.
We ask that you mark your calendars for the December 13th council meeting. This will be the final chapter in this long, arduous discussion on the pros and cons for supporting the Jet Blue FIS request. All other carriers stated they are not interested in international flights out of Long Beach.
So, the question remains, should the elected city council stand by the concerns of their residents, their constituents, or should they support a corporate request for a business to expand; a business that is here on a month to month basis.
We strongly urge you to email or call your mayor, city manager and all 9 city council members asking that they move this very important decision slated for December 13th to the other side of the holiday season. This is the right thing to do..........
Stay Involved!!!!
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