There has been a lot said about Paine Field lately. An air carrier wants to use the airport for commercial purposes and the county is finding that in exchange for taking federal money to maintain the airport, they cannot exclude users from the facilities. Nevertheless, politicians are compelled to weigh in on the issue to protect their image with the voters. In the end, they may roll over since they can’t give up the money, but they will put on a good show to convince the voters they did all they could to stop commercial use of the airport.
County Executive Aaron Reardon sponsored the group that recommended the airport be used for commercial purposes, yet when a candidate for using the airport steps forward, he back-slides with the political winds that blow in southwest Snohomish County. He says he is in favor of economic development, but it appears that he is only in favor if it doesn’t impact his voter base. Imagine how he would react if the facility in question was in Arlington. He would be apologizing left and right, but he would acknowledge the necessity of commercial air service to county economic development. He would be talking about how the folks in Arlington and Marysville would just have to take the hit for good of the whole. District 1 is not his voter base, so he is not too concerned about them. Sadly for him, there is no suitable facility there or you know where the airport would be.
When the Growth Management Act was passed, it specifically addressed the issue of “siting essential public facilities”. We arm twisted many public entities to accept facilities that benefitted the whole county, even though it may not be in their individual best interests. I think most people would consider a commercial airport an essential public facility.
I can’t remember exactly which of those essential public facilities were sited in Mukilteo, Lynnwood, Edmonds or Woodway. I am sure they took responsibility for some, I just can’t remember which ones. It probably would have been cheaper to build The Brightwater Sewage Treatment Plant in Edmonds, but you have to know that would not happen.
We have a major airport in our county and we can’t use it because it makes airport noises. That makes good sense.
Our county is one of the fastest growing urban counties in the state, yet leadership has been non-existent in confronting politically sensitive issues. Our guy in council district 5, Dave Somers has been chairman of the county council, but I don’t hear any ideas coming from him that address any of the critical issues. Where does Somers stand on the Paine Field issue? Does he have any thoughts about how his constituents feel about having local access to commercial air travel?
Posted on July 23, 2008 at 6:57 am in Snohomish County Political Commentary, Snohomish Washington | RSS feed
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No Loss for Words
Paine is a Pain
by Steve DanaThere has been a lot said about Paine Field lately. An air carrier wants to use the airport for commercial purposes and the county is finding that in exchange for taking federal money to maintain the airport, they cannot exclude users from the facilities. Nevertheless, politicians are compelled to weigh in on the issue to protect their image with the voters. In the end, they may roll over since they can’t give up the money, but they will put on a good show to convince the voters they did all they could to stop commercial use of the airport.
County Executive Aaron Reardon sponsored the group that recommended the airport be used for commercial purposes, yet when a candidate for using the airport steps forward, he back-slides with the political winds that blow in southwest Snohomish County. He says he is in favor of economic development, but it appears that he is only in favor if it doesn’t impact his voter base. Imagine how he would react if the facility in question was in Arlington. He would be apologizing left and right, but he would acknowledge the necessity of commercial air service to county economic development. He would be talking about how the folks in Arlington and Marysville would just have to take the hit for good of the whole. District 1 is not his voter base, so he is not too concerned about them. Sadly for him, there is no suitable facility there or you know where the airport would be.
When the Growth Management Act was passed, it specifically addressed the issue of “siting essential public facilities”. We arm twisted many public entities to accept facilities that benefitted the whole county, even though it may not be in their individual best interests. I think most people would consider a commercial airport an essential public facility.
I can’t remember exactly which of those essential public facilities were sited in Mukilteo, Lynnwood, Edmonds or Woodway. I am sure they took responsibility for some, I just can’t remember which ones. It probably would have been cheaper to build The Brightwater Sewage Treatment Plant in Edmonds, but you have to know that would not happen.
We have a major airport in our county and we can’t use it because it makes airport noises. That makes good sense.
Our county is one of the fastest growing urban counties in the state, yet leadership has been non-existent in confronting politically sensitive issues. Our guy in council district 5, Dave Somers has been chairman of the county council, but I don’t hear any ideas coming from him that address any of the critical issues. Where does Somers stand on the Paine Field issue? Does he have any thoughts about how his constituents feel about having local access to commercial air travel?
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Posted on July 23, 2008 at 6:57 am in Snohomish County Political Commentary, Snohomish Washington | RSS feed | Reply | Trackback URL