From left: New board Chairman Jim Egan, Ben Williams, Don Drayton, Don Dickerson, Tim Lynch and Steve Nelson speak during the Airport Authority meeting at the Sumner County Regional Airport in Gallatin Monday, March 25.
Dessislava Yankova/Gallatin News Examiner
Sumner County now has not one but two Sumner County Regional Airport Authority boards, and both convened Monday under police supervision.
Both boards claim legitimacy as creations of the Sumner County Commission. A determination of which board actually has authority might be decided in court as early as April 1.
“I am excited about the eight new board members that are going to join the three existing members,” County Executive Anthony Holt said Wednesday. “They are going to make some changes, and that is going to be a positive thing and move the airport into a positive direction.”
The Airport Authority administers millions of dollars in taxpayer funds, primarily federal and state grants. Both the authority’s and county’s annual reports reflect that the authority is now repaying a $300,000 loan from the county that the authority at one time contended was a grant it would not repay to county taxpayers.
The County Commission and airport board have been embroiled in a long-running struggle over money and power. The current dispute over board control began in 2010. A lawsuit was filed in March 2011, when the authority board refused to seat two members appointed by the commission. Chancellor Tom Gray ruled in December 2012 that the county had the power of appointment but had failed to follow its own rules in its previous attempt to appoint replacement members to the authority. The commission then changed its rules in January and appointed eight new members in February.
Monday was the first scheduled monthly meeting of that new board. However, the old board members, who have refused to step down, held their own meeting, resulting in separate, simultaneous board meetings in different parts of the building.
Two meetings
A Sumner County Sheriff’s Office deputy was posted in the airport lobby by 4:30 p.m. as seven of the eight new board members (one member was absent) appointed in February by the Sumner County Commission took seats on the new 11-member board. The quorum of seven sat around the meeting room table where the authority board normally convenes.
The deputy was on hand at the request of county officials. Airport board meetings in the past have not had an officer present.
In the hallway, a few members of the old board stood with the old board’s attorney, Art McClellan. Eventually, the old board decided not to take over its usual space, with members commenting about law enforcement being present in the room.
“Is there anybody else from our board?” asked old board chairman David Hunter, just before that meeting’s 5:30 start. Three members from the old board whose terms had not expired met with replaced members in the pilot training room at the opposite end of the small building.
The two separate board meetings then convened: one closed to the public, the other open.
Old board meets in private
The old board met with a quorum of six old board members huddled with McClellan in the training room. A reporter’s attempts to gain entry to the closed-door meeting resulted in old board chairman Hunter blocking the door, which had glass on the top half and vents at the bottom through which the board’s discussions could be heard.
“We are in executive session. Can we have some privacy, please?” Hunter said.
The door remained blocked throughout most or all of the meeting. The old board adjourned after meeting in closed session for about 40 minutes.
McClellan and Hunter refused to comment. Shortly afterward, Hunter returned and stood in the doorway of the meeting room where he had chaired authority board meetings for years.
After the meeting, members discussed that the executive session resulted in the retention of McClellan as the old board’s attorney, but Hunter refused to confirm that Wednesday. None of the old members would grant interviews to the Gallatin News Examiner.
Egan elected chair of new board
The new board, with seven of eight newly appointed members present, took roll, declared a quorum, and conducted the meeting with a court reporter present. The board unanimously elected Jim Egan new chairman, Don Drayton vice chairman, and Steve Nelson secretary. The treasurer, Wayne Hooper, whose term has not expired from the old board, was not present.
The new board unanimously fired McClellan as Sumner County Regional Airport Authority attorney.
Newly appointed board member Tim Lynch said the legal representation “needs to change” and moved to replace McClellan. After two amendments, the motion passed to have Egan, Drayton, and Bill Taylor form a subcommittee and return with a recommendation for a new attorney. McClellan will have 30 days to submit a final bill and justify fees since January 2011.
County Attorney Leah Dennen said Wednesday she would provide interim legal support to the new airport board.
The new board also discussed replacing airport management. However, it was decided that because the old board had given Airport Administrator Steve Sudbury a raise from $30,000 to $45,000 in February, with unknown terms, it needed a legal review of that contract before making a decision.
Transparency
There was discussion of how the new board was to give notice of meetings and how to improve openness of records, as well as its own access to bank accounts and contracts. The subcommittee is aiming to work with the previous auditor to obtain records and determine who to recommend as the new auditor, and whether the board needs to conduct a routine change-in-control transition or forensic audit of the books.
Taylor, who is named in a lawsuit brought by the old board, raised the issue of withdrawing from five to seven legal actions.
“Most of them could have been solved with a phone call and a cup of coffee,” he said.
Chris Nickens and Frank Kessler Jr., both involved in current or past legal actions involving the airport, were among several pilots and supporters present at the new board’s Monday meeting. Members addressed the need to change the public perception of the airport, which Lynch said “can be a huge, huge, huge economic driver for this community.”
With Hunter in the doorway, Drayton, the new vice chairman, brought up transparency issues and how the authority board needed to change its image. He suggested new board members, all of whom wore nametags, should attend breakfasts and airport events wearing nametags and listen to complaints to improve services at the airport.
“It’s my hope that this board will be successful in encouraging the operators here to come and speak with us without fear or intimidation. I would hope that we would operate in a transparent manner,” Egan, the new chairman, said during the meeting. “I hope we can change the atmosphere out here.”
Taylor asked about improving the board’s relationship with the County Commission, which Egan said would be “high” on his priority list
After the new board meeting adjourned, Hunter again refused comment.
McClellan has requested Chancellor Tom Gray to rule April 1 on his latest motion that County Commission appointments of board members are illegal and that the old board still rules.
Contributing writer Jesse Hughes lives in Gallatin.
Story and Photo: http://www.tennessean.com
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