Tannehill Rebuts Palm Beach Post

On Friday, August 24, The Palm Beach Post printed another attack on our airport relocation project. This has becoming a recurring attack from Palm Beach, and you have to wonder what's at work here? It's got to be more than "good journalism." Particularly since the Post printed so many utter falsehoods in their attack.

Airport Authority Chairman Joe Tannehill responded strongly with a letter to the editor:

Editor
Palm Beach Post
August 24, 2007

Dear Editor:

The Palm Beach Post editorial board has ably demonstrated it knows nothing about the relocation of the Panama City airport. It attacked the project, claiming it would damage a body of water called “South Bay.” There is no South Bay near Panama City.

If the Post were truly interested in understanding the essential need for relocating the airport, it could have contacted the local Airport Authority to ask a few questions. Instead, the Post regurgitated inaccurate talking points compiled by a discredited opponent of the project.

For the record, Bay County citizens, myself included, have been working on addressing serious deficiencies at our existing airport for more than ten years. The Panama City airport does not meet federal safety and design standards, and the existing site is constrained by residential neighborhoods on three sides and water on the fourth.

The local Airport Authority has worked with the FAA for the past seven years on the potential relocation of the airport. The FAA spent the last five years engaged in a detailed analysis of two-dozen alternatives for addressing the deficiencies at our airport. In September 2006, the FAA issued its Record of Decision, recommending and approving relocation to a new site in northwestern Bay County.

Earlier this year the FAA announced it would invest a minimum of $90 million from dedicated federal aviation dollars generated by aviation user fees. The state of Florida has committed investing a similar amount from dedicated transportation funds. The final third of the relocation project budget will come from the sale of the existing airport property. The money being used to pay for relocation is raised specifically for and dedicated to transportation projects. It is not property tax dollars taken from schools or other social services.

In addition to addressing safety, design and constraint issues, the new airport will give Bay County and the Panhandle the opportunity to attract more competitive air service. Last week an AirTran spokesperson was quoted as saying that the Atlanta-based airline would never serve the existing airport because of its inadequate runways; it would consider serving the new airport. This is significant because Northwest Florida is currently encumbered with the highest airfares in the state.

But perhaps most importantly, the new airport anchors the West Bay Sector Plan, a visionary 75,000-acre long-term land use plan for northwestern Bay County. The sector plan establishes the West Bay Preservation Area, a 41,000-acre conservation area designed to protect West Bay forever, including 33 miles of undeveloped shoreline and an additional 44 miles of creeks and tributaries. If the airport is not built, this amazing environmental opportunity is lost and the property reverts to its previous status which would allow it to be developed. What a loss that would be.

Last week former Governor, U.S. Senator and environmental advocate Bob Graham said: “The West Bay Sector Plan is the kind of long-term planning combined with environmental protection that we need more of in Florida.” Republicans and Democrats – including Governor Crist, Senators Nelson and Martinez, and Representative Boyd – also issued statements of support for the new airport. All agree it is an extraordinary opportunity for the state.

But instead of talking to any of the dozens of sources who could have provided accurate information about the relocation project, the Post relied on one disgruntled opponent and a handful of wildly inaccurate statements. Your readers where poorly served by the Post’s “hit and run” editorial.
Sincerely,

Joseph K. Tannehill, Sr.
Chairman,
Panama City – Bay County
Airport Authority and Industrial District