In a letter dated 4/11/2006,
PDK Watch writes:
Dear Commissioners,
Last night
the PDK Airport Advisory Board was unable--once again--to
conduct official business because of lack of a quorum.
ABSENT from the meeting last night were Commissioner Stokes's representative
(Charles E. Johnson), Commissioner Ellis's representative (Jacqueline
Anthony Bryant), and CEO Jones's representative (Derric Lee)--all of
whom have missed between one-half and two-thirds of the AAB meetings
since they were first appointed. Also absent was Commissioner Walldorff's
new appointee to the AAB (Robert H. Hollis), who attended his first
AAB meeting last month, and the At-Large representative, who apparently
has still not been appointed by the Commissioners.
Also absent was Commissioner Walldorff's new appointee to the AAB (Robert
H. Hollis), who attended his first AAB meeting
last month [but had notified the AAB that he could not attend the April
meeting]*, and the At-Large representative, who apparently has still
not been appointed by the Commissioners.
[With the exception of Mr. Hollis,]* NONE of the AAB members who failed
to attend last night's meeting had apparently notified
the Airport or the AAB Chairman that they would be unable to attend,
even though it had been stressed to them at the last meeting that the
April meeting would be an important one for the Board and that regular
attendance of AAB members was expected.
Despite the poor showing of AAB members, nearly a DOZEN concerned representatives
from the community were present last night, and were quite frustrated
at the failure of the AAB--once again--to even secure a bare quorum
of its members to conduct official deliberations and business.
There has been NO quorum at nearly HALF of the AAB meetings during
the past year, and most of the meetings that HAVE secured a quorum have
only secured a bare quorum of five members.
How can a group that routinely fails to secure a quorum of its members
or that barely secures a quorum of its members be entrusted with an
important advisory capacity to the DeKalb County Commissioners with
regard to the operations of the second busiest airport in Georgia?
How are the Commissioners--and the at least 80,000 citizens of DeKalb
County who are adversely impacted by PDK noise and pollution (according
to the 1998 Cost-Benefit study)--expect serious consideration of the
issues that affect them, especially at a time when work on an important
PDK Master Plan is underway that is supposed to guide the future development
of PDK Airport for at least the next decade?
Perhaps it is time for the Commissioners to appoint representatives
to the AAB who genuinely care about PDK Airport and are prepared to
inform themselves about the complex issues faced by PDK Airport and
the surrounding residential and business community.
I would be happy to suggest qualified individuals to the Commissioners
if you are having difficulty finding such representatives.
Thank you for your careful consideration of this concern.
Larry Foster
* [The bracketed additions to this letter correct
an inadvertent error in the original.]
