Fireworks Erupt As CLT Bill Passes Committee | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Publisher's note: The author of this fine report, Dan Way, is an associate editor of the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

City, county officials question whether regional airport authority wise

    RALEIGH     Who gets to run Charlotte Douglas International Airport has become a prickly, billion-dollar turf battle. City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County officials want to ground what they see as an unnecessary power grab orchestrated by Republican lawmakers to end longstanding city control in favor of a new regional authority.

    The proposed legislation, Senate Bill 81, ostensibly is being considered as a way to protect investments in what all agree is a giant economic engine for the Charlotte region and the state.

    As the airport continues to grow and plans coalesce for a future intermodal transportation park, backers of a regional authority say full-time administration that is expert in a variety of disciplines is needed.

    Under the legislation, all assets of the airport would be transferred to a 13-member board, whose members would serve no more than two four-year staggered terms.

    The measure was reported favorably Wednesday out of the Rules and Operations of the Senate Committee. It was then assigned to the Senate Finance Committee to determine whether transferring the governance of the airport might create legal and financial concerns related to outstanding bond issues.

    Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, said Charlotte Douglas is a "very cherished asset" with "remarkable success" as a "huge attraction for business" due to decades of management by aviation director Jerry Orr.

    But at 71, Orr may retire soon. "We can never depend on one individual to be the architect, implementer of the design and vision that is so critical," Rucho said.

    According to The Charlotte Observer, Orr has suggested the airport would operate better under an authority instead of the city.

    Orr has sparred with city officials over bond issue accounting miscues that drew attention from the IRS a few years ago, and complained when airport security was transferred from his supervision to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department after a teen stowaway died in the wheel well of a jet, the Charlotte newspaper reported.

    "There are a number of airports within the state of North Carolina and across the country that have moved to this authority [format], and what the authority is designed to do is actually to provide experience, expertise, and a clear focus" that goes beyond a part-time job for an assistant city manager, Rucho said.

    The authority would do a better job providing "a vision and a strategic plan for the advancement and growth of that airport," Rucho said.

    Over the past few years, efforts have been made to make the airport and a proposed surrounding intermodal transportation park into a "huge economic engine and driver" for the state, Rucho said.

    "It is critical that the authority provides the dedicated and knowledgeable experience to continue moving it down that pathway of continued success," Rucho said. "It is very critical for the region, the city and the state ... to have knowledgeable people in place."

    "It is not broken," state Sen. Malcolm Graham, D-Mecklenburg, told committee members. "We're about to break it" if the Charlotte-run airport is remade into a regional authority with state involvement.

    Graham, chairman of the Mecklenburg County legislative delegation, said the airport is "a billion-dollar asset," and called the rush to approve S.B. 81 without proper study "an act of political malpractice."

    "We, too, are just now learning about the particulars of this bill," which was put on the committee calendar Tuesday, said Graham, a former Charlotte City Council member. "Let's be prudent about this" and perform due diligence to be sure there are no unintended consequences.

    He said there is bipartisan support on the Charlotte council "to put the brakes on this."

    "Quite frankly I think it's being pushed" towards approval too fast, Charlotte Councilman Andy Dulin told the committee.

    "Talk and conversation is a healthy thing. We don't mind having a study done," Dulin said. "We'll pay for it."

    Charlotte Douglas International Airport, operated by the city since 1936, is the sixth busiest airport in the nation. It runs nearly 700 daily flights and has the lowest boarding costs of any airport in the U.S., Dulin said.

    Dulin said Doug Parker, CEO of US Airlines, which recently merged with American Airlines, promised Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx that Charlotte Douglas will be the combined airlines' second-largest hub. It currently is USAir's largest hub.

    "We have a very able-bodied airport authority" that the city elects, Dulin said. "I know that it's not broken."

    Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, chairman of the Rules Committee, took exception to the characterization of the legislation being rushed.

    "In an effort not to have malpractice I will send this bill to Finance for them to have a look," Apodaca said. "We are a deliberative body. We will take a look at this. Nobody's putting it on the skids. I'm sure the House will give it an adequate hearing."

    Under S.B. 81, Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, and Union county commissions each would appoint one member to the authority's board. Charlotte City Council and the Charlotte mayor would appoint one member each.

    The Senate Pro Tempore and House Speaker would recommend one member each to the General Assembly for approval. The governor would have one appointment. All three of those appointments must be residents of Mecklenburg County. The board itself would appoint two at-large members.

    "It just seems odd to me" that there are more appointments from Raleigh than from Charlotte, said Sen. Josh Stein, D-Wake. That "sounds like a power grab from Raleigh."

    Stein, a member of the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority that runs RDU International Airport, noted that none of its members is appointed by the governor or General Assembly.

    But Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, noted that six of the 11 board members who would select the two at-large members would be from either Charlotte or Mecklenburg counties, so they would be able to keep control of the authority through those at-large appointments.

    Stein also prompted the decision to refer the bill to the Senate Finance Committee after remarking the state treasurer's office is concerned about legal considerations of moving more than $800 million in bonds backed by Charlotte's AAA bond rating into a new authority with no history or rating.

    "There is an issue of whether all of the bonds are going to have to be bought back" and reissued by the city at a potentially higher cost, Stein said.

    "I'm actually agnostic" between having an authority-run or city-operated airport, Stein said. "My concern is the speed and lack of deliberation with which we are proceeding."

    Stein said "the wiser course is to study this," have bond counsel meet with the appropriate parties, and "talk through these issues."

    Rucho said the $800 million in bonds are all supported through the airport's revenue stream, not taxes. No assets from Charlotte can be used to pay the bonds, he said, so he believes the revenue bonds stand on their own merit.