A meeting to discuss the removal of a member of the New Hanover County Airport Authority has been cancelled just hours before the meeting was to be held.
The authority board had scheduled a special meeting today at 6 p.m. to consider a resolution requesting that the county board of commissioners remove authority member Al Roseman, according to a notice that was posted Wednesday on the website for Wilmington International Airport.
The meeting was cancelled this morning at the request of Chairman Tom Barber, who said he called the meeting to address issues with Roseman, who has voted against a majority of the board on several business items in recent months.
Barber said the intent was to do what was best for the airport and the community, but he said that same thinking led him to change his mind on holding the special meeting.
“Our responsibility is to do the best things that we can do for the airport and the community. That’s why we’re there; that’s why all of us got appointed,” Barber said. “As we went through the last few months, the majority of the board felt that we needed to address some issues with one of the members.
“As we got deeper and deeper into this, it just seemed like our charge is to do the right thing for the airport and the community, which means we as a group need to work together, not against one another,” he said. “I just decided the right thing to do for our charge, our community and the airport is to not have that meeting and to redouble our efforts to work together.”
Barber declined to specify the issues that prompted the meeting to be scheduled, reiterating his stance of wanting the board to work together.
“I don’t think it serves any purpose to start giving opinions, and I don’t know what everyone would say—we haven’t had the meeting,” Barber said. “So it would be speculation on my part, and I don’t think that’s fair to anybody.
“I just decided as chairman that it makes sense to sit down as a board and continue on. I looked back over a number of the votes that we’ve taken, and by far the majority of those were unanimous,” he said, “and I thought we were—and are—working as an effective authority, so let’s just keep going.”
The board has been at odds in recent months over issues relating to general aviation services, specifically a change in fixed base operators allowed to do business on the airfield, according to meeting minutes. The board voted in April to enter into negotiations with a new service provider, but Roseman and fellow member Carter Lambeth opposed the motion.
Reached this morning, Roseman likewise declined to get into specifics regarding the meeting, describing the issue as a personality conflict.
“All I can say is hopefully, as a result of what’s happened, there’ll be better communication between us all,” Roseman said. “There was a breakdown in communication, and I think that the public approves.
“I have some issues that I promote a lot of times, and everybody knows what they think they want is best for the airport,” he said. “I guarantee that I’ve never done anything that I wouldn’t see as a gain for this region, southeastern North Carolina, and our airport. And I certainly would never do anything to harm the airport.”
Roseman said board votes have been split 3-2 several times in recent months, with Lambeth often voting with him. Roseman did not specify what those items of business were, but he shared Barber’s goal of working toward consensus.
“This is a regional airport, and I want it to be the best regional airport in the southeast,” he said. “What things I promote sometimes other people might disagree [with]. Unfortunately it’s been a 3-2 split for a long time, but let’s hope that changes with better communication.
“It’s not every issue; it’s just some issues,” he added. “Hopefully, we all came out the better for it.”
The board is scheduled to hold its regular monthly meeting next Wednesday, June 4.
Source: http://portcitydaily.com
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