Letter to DeKalb County Commissioner
Kathie Gannon
This letter answers Commissioner Gannon's request that PDK Watch identify
items omitted from the seven-item policy statement submitted bt the PDK Airport
Advisory Board to the Commissioners in June 2005
3 July 2005
Dear Commissioner Kathie Gannon,
Let me respond briefly to your request about what has been OMITTED from
the draft PDK Master Plan & Policy Statement that was prepared by Mr.
Richard Ossoff, approved with modifications by the PDK Airport Advisory
Board at its June 8, 2005 meeting, and then forwarded to the Board of Commissioners
for your consideration.
The following summarizes what is found in the three documents:
DOCUMENT #1: Read
Document 1 full version (.pdf)
PDK Policy Proposals Presented by the Public to be considered
at the June 8, 2005 AAB Meeting, and the extent to which they were reflected
in the PDK Airport Advisory Board document sent to the Board of Commissioners
in June 2005.
None of the nine policy provisions recommended by the public (Items 9-17)
were adopted by the AAB, and only one of the nine provisions (#10) was
even allowed substantive discussion by PDK Airport Advisory Board Chair,
Mr. Richard Ossoff. None of the AAB members present was even willing
to support the public's right to have these proposals discussed. Instead,
only the eight (eventually seven) Ossoff/AAB proposals (Items 1-8) were
approved to be sent to the Board of Commissioners for your consideration.
When the public criticized this refusal to even discuss the provisions
proposed by the public, some members of the AAB argued that all nine of
the provisions were already adequately addressed by the other seven of
the Ossoff/AAB policy proposals that were approved and forwarded to the
Board of Commissioners in June 2005.
Even a cursory glance at the nine public proposals, however, will show
that substantively they are NOT covered in the seven draft
policy proposals that have been forwarded to the BOC by the
AAB. Procedurally,
the Public Involvement Process that was recommended by the
FAA regulations and specifically mandated and funded by the
Board of Commissioners was ignored--and indeed flagrantly violated--when
the AAB refused even to allow discussion of eight of the nine
proposed policy provisions recommended by the public. Read
Document 1 full version (.pdf)
DOCUMENT #2: Read
Document 2 full version (.pdf)
Policy Proposals Adopted by the PDK Airport Advisory Board
at its June 8, 2005 Meeting (these have been forwarded to the BOC for its
consideration), and the extent to which they reflect the Consultants' Report
Proposals:
This document shows which of the seven Ossoff/AAB policy proposals reflect
the policy recommendations presented by the County's PDK Master
Plan consultants. As you can see, the Ossoff/AAB policy proposals differ
radically from those proposed by the Consultants and omit numerous key
recommendations made by the Consultants in their six-page Report that was
based on more than six months of work and funded thus far by approximately
$80,000 in public funds. Read
Document 2 full version (.pdf)
DOCUMENT #3: Read
Document 3 full version (.pdf)
PDK Policy Proposals Prepared by the PDK Master Plan Consultants
Funded and Provided to the AAB prior to its April 13, 2005 Meeting (hopefully
the full document has been provided to the BOC for its consideration),
and the extent to which they are reflected in the AAB Proposals:
As you can see, these policy proposals provided by the County-funded PDK
Master Plan Consultants are much more fully developed and carefully
nuanced than the Ossoff/AAB proposals, and they contain many substantive
differences. There are also several worthy items recommended in the Ossoff/AAB
document that are NOT found in the Consultant recommendations. Read
Document 3 full version (.pdf)
*** The lack of any serious discussion of the PDK Policy Recommendations
recommended by the Consultants and the Public by the PDK Airport Advisory
Board at its April 13, May 11, and June 8, 2005 meetings suggests a highly
dysfunctional Airport Advisory Board that fails to meet even the MINIMUM
requirements for the PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT recommended by the FAA regulations
and MANDATED and FUNDED by the Board of Commissioners when this PDK Master
Plan Study was approved in August 2004. ***
Thank you very much for carefully considering these important issues and
taking whatever steps may be necessary to help restore the public's trust
in the integrity of the PDK Master Plan process.
Larry Foster
Vice President, Hawthorne Civic Association
Read Master Plan related items:
Vision and Policy
Document- April 2005
Public Participation in
PDK Master Plan Derailed by PDK Airport Advisory Board
PDK
Policy Omissions Document 1 (pdf)
PDK
Policy Omissions Document 2 (pdf)
PDK
Policy Omissions Document 3 (pdf)
Letter
to DeKalb County Commissioner Kathie Gannon -discusses
Master Plan concerns.
Concerns Regarding Public
Involvement with the PDK Master Plan Process (6/15/05)
Master Plan home
