The Dukes County Commission met Wednesday and voted to expand the
size of the Martha’s Vineyard Airport Commission from seven to nine
members. The commissioners then immediately appointed two new members,
both frequent critics of airport management.
By a ballot vote, the commissioners appointed Myron Garfinkle of West
Tisbury, a former businessman and a local representative for the
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and Robert Rosenbaum, a seasonal
resident of Chilmark, former businessman and pilot.
The county commissioners, who have been embroiled in a battle with
their appointed airport commission, said the move was warranted because a
large number of qualified candidates had expressed interest in filling
the seat left vacant by the recent departure of Peter Bettencourt.
“I had a tough choice between three candidates for one slot,”
chairman Leonard Jason, Jr., of Chilmark said. “If we can get good
candidates on there sooner rather than later, it’s a benefit to the
entire community.”
“I think an injection of new people with fresh ideas, for me that’s
important,” said commissioner Tristan Israel of Tisbury. “It seems to be
within our rights as an appointing authority.”
Former airport commissioner and county commissioner John Alley of
West Tisbury was the only dissenting vote. Mr. Alley questioned whether
the expansion would violate grant assurances, documents signed by the
commissioners in exchange for state and federal funding that prohibit
the county commissioners from interfering with airport operations or
diminishing the authority of the airport commission.
County manager Martina Thornton cited two other publicly owned
airports governed by similar grant assurances, which recently expanded
airport commissions. She said she consulted with the authorities at the
Massachusetts Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division, and was
assured that the expansion did not violate the grant assurances.
The county commission and the airport commission have been embroiled
in controversy for much of 2014. The two sides recently went to court
over control of the county-owned Martha’s Vineyard Airport and its
operations.
On August 7, Dukes County Superior Court Associate Justice Richard J. Chin handed the airport commission a significant victory in its legal battle. In
an 11-page decision, Judge Chin ruled in favor of the airport
commission on every point in its request for a preliminary injunction
against the County Commission, county treasurer Noreen Mavro Flanders,
and county manager Martina Thornton. That lawsuit is still pending.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the airport commission is Friday, September 26th.
- Source: http://www.mvtimes.com
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