Coalition for Responsible Airport
Management and Policy (CRAMP)

I had intended to post this later in the week, but since people are starting to inquire it makes sense to do it now.

You can find out what County and City district you are in by going to
http://www.smartvoter.org/ca/scl/
and entering your address/zip code on the right side of the screen and clicking “Find Ballot and Polling Place.”

County Supervisor Races:

District 2
This is the single most important race for the fate of RHV. This is the seat currently held by Supervisor Blanca Alvarado and is the district in which RHV is located. As a matter of professional courtesy, the other Supervisors will always look to this Supervisor to initiate any policies dealing specifically with RHV. This is why Supervisor Alvarado has had so much power over RHV for the past 13 years. Thank god for term limits.

There are six candidates running for District 2. As a result, there will almost certainly be a runoff in November. (If a candidate gathers more than 50% of the votes cast in the primary, s/he wins outright. Otherwise the two top vote-getters run against each other in November.)

CRAMP-PAC’s strong recommendation and endorsement is for George Shirakawa. We spoke with George last week at the airport. George is personal friends with Supervisor Alvarado, but he disagrees with her on the issue of RHV. He demonstrated this in 1996 when he was on the San Jose City Council. CRAMP met with George several times during this lead-up to the County’s 1996 vote to close RHV. Despite heavy direct appeals and lobbying by Supervisor Alvarado, George voted in favor of the City’s resolution declaring RHV “an irreplaceable asset” and calling on the County to cease all efforts to close the airport. If elected, George will immediately see what can be done to reverse the years of active neglect that Supervisor Alvarado has imposed upon the airport. CRAMP-PAC has donated generously to George’s campaign and we encourage the aviation community to do the same. You can contribute at George’s website:
http://www.georgeshirakawa.com/contribute.html

District 3
This is the district currently held by Supervisor McHugh who is leaving due to term limits. There are only three candidates so it is possible that a winner can be decided at the primary.

CRAMP-PAC’s strong recommendation and endorsement is for Dave Cortese. As many of you are aware, the aviation community held a very successful fund-raiser for Dave at RHV this past Saturday. Thanks to all who came and contributed. At the fund-raiser Dave strongly supported the continued operation of RHV and maintaining its critical support role for SJC. CRAMP-PAC has donated generously to Dave’s campaign and we encourage the aviation community to do the same. You can contribute at Dave’s website:
http://www.cortese4supervisor.com/RemitForm.php

District 5
This is the district currently held by by Supervisor Liz Kniss who is running unopposed for reelection. PAO is in her district. In March 2008, when Supervisor McHugh proposed studying the legal requirements for closing RHV, Supervisor Kniss stated that she would not vote for any referral which included closure language.

San Jose City Council Races:
In addition to the County races, there are several elections for the San Jose City Council. This is very important for RHV because, even though the airport is owned by the County, all of the zoning and land use decisions for property surrounding the airport are made by the City. Urban encroachment is the single greatest threat to GA airports today.

CRAMP-PAC has not yet had time to interview candidates for the San Jose City Council. Our intent is to do this after the primary when the runoff candidates are known. However, we did meet Rose Herrera, candidate for the City’s 8th District (currently held by Dave Cortese) at a recent Chamber of Commerce mixer. The Chamber’s PAC has endorsed Rose (as well as Dave and George). Dave knows several of the candidates for his City district seat personally and has said that he will not make any endorsements until the runoff. In our informal discussion Rose did say that she was very supportive of RHV.

Democracy only works if you cast an informed vote. Please learn the issues and cast your ballot.

John Blair, Treasurer
Coalition for Responsible Airport Management & Policy
Political Action Committee (CRAMP-PAC)

On April 1, 2008, Supervisor Pete McHugh spoke to the County Airports Commission to explain why he wanted to investigate closing RHV and using the money as a solution to the County’s financial problems. About 20 members of the aviation community attended and had the opportunity to ask questions of Supervisor McHugh after he finished speaking with the Commissioners. Since many of you were not able to be at the meeting, I requested a copy of the audio tape that the clerk made of the meeting and converted it to mp3. The total tape covers around 66 minutes which I have broken into three files.

1. Supervisor McHugh’s comments to the Commisioners (9:14, 1.4MB)
2. Supervisor McHugh’s Q&A with the Commisioners (28:24, 4.2MB)
3. Supervisor McHugh’s Q&A with the public (29:20, 4.3MB)

You may click on the link to play the sound file in your browser or right-click on the link to download the mp3 file to your computer and play it from there.

About 20 pilots attended yesterday’s County Airports Commission meeting and were treated with the opportunity to a frank and candid discussion with Supervisor Pete McHugh. Not only did he present his reasons for wanting to close Reid-Hillview Airport (RHV) to the commission, but he also agreed to answer questions directly from the members of the public. It was a very good meeting and the questions (and Pete’s answers) were honest and to the point. The aviation community helped its cause quite a bit by being respectful and thoughtful.

The short summary of Pete’s position is that the County has a $200M deficit and, while he has always been an airport supporter, he is not sure that the airport is the best use of the County’s land asset. He does not appear to have any other hidden agenda other than doing what he thinks is best for the County.

This is good. All we have to do is convince him that the airport is an important, irreplaceable asset, not just a convenient place for pilots to park their airplanes. I believe that the aviation community can easily make that case by working together and with other key organizations such as the City of San Jose, San Jose International Airport, the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, and the Santa Clara Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

When the referral on legal options comes back to the Board on June 3, Pete said that he will ask that it go to the Airports Commission for their comments before the Board takes further action.

Regards.
John Blair
Vice President
Coalition for Responsible Airport Management & Policy
(CRAMP)

Supervisor Pete McHugh has asked to speak before the County Airports Commission this Tuesday, April 1 (no fooling) to explain why he asked staff to look into closing the airport.

Pete has always been a very strong supporter of Reid-Hillview Airport (RHV) and general aviation in the past, so this will be a great opportunity to hear why he has made this request.

I strongly encourage you to come to the meeting to hear what he has to say as well as to make your own comments to the Commission. However, please note the following:

• Pete has always been a pretty straight-up guy. The purpose here is for us to understand where he is coming from on this issue, not to criticize him. Please remain polite and respectful at all times.
• Pete will be discussing this with the Commission in the setting of a formal meeting. We (the public) may listen, and make our own statements to the Commission, but can not discuss this directly with Pete unless he does so voluntarily. Airport Commission meetings are often very informal because few people are in attendance, however the chair can always follow or revert to Robert’s Rules of Order in the interest of keeping the meeting in order.

This should be an interesting and informative meeting and I again encourage you to attend.

County Airports Commission Meeting
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
6:00 pm, Room 157
County Government Center
70 West Hedding Street
San Jose, CA 95110
(Located at 1st and Hedding. Park on Hedding)

Regards.
John Blair
Vice President
Coalition for Responsible Airport Management & Policy (CRAMP)

Note: Also posted the Airport commission meeting at Meetup.com…
http://aviation.meetup.com/79/calendar/7643335/

Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:54:37 -0700
Subject: Amended Airports Commission April 1, 2008 Agenda
From: Roy Stone <roy.stone@cob.sccgov.org>
To: Roy Stone <roy.stone@cob.sccgov.org>

Agenda Recipients:

An amended agenda for the April 1, 2008 regular meeting of the Airports Commission and supporting documents are attached.

Please note that Item No. 4 has been added and relates to a verbal report to be received from Chairperson McHugh regarding his original referral to Administration to request information associated with phasing out airport operations at Reid Hillview and developing the site for other uses.

Please respond via email if you have any difficulty in accessing the
documents.

—
Roy Stone
Deputy Clerk
(408) 299-5082