Open Letter to the Citizens of Hilton Head Island

Several County Councilmen are pushing for a new Aviation Advisory Board Charter which would include an 11 - 13 member Citizen's Aviation Advisory Board for Beaufort County.    This new charter has been written by Councilman Rick Caporale and is heavily supported by County Council Chairman Weston Newton and County Councilman Steven Baer. These Councilmen's constituents are known airport opponents who have for years fought openly and publicly against the airport. The proposed new charter is said to be for a more "balanced" board which is basically a citizens board rather than a business/technical board advising the County on aviation matters.   The County owns two airports - Hilton Head Island Airport and Beaufort County Airport. Currently, the voluntary AAB members are from both Hilton Head Island and Beaufort and represent both business and technical aviation/business. Most of the members have aviation technical and business background and advanced degrees in their technical area.   What is being proposed is a new board compromised of four members total who leave near each airport (proximity members), as well as one member from each Chamber of Commerce which would become six non-aviation members who could out vote any aviation member. There are only two that are pilots representing each airport and the other three may or may not have aviation experience. In the section of "preferred fields of experience" there is a possibility that no one chosen would have aviation expertise. Not only is the sheer size of this newly proposed board both unwieldy and unnecessary, it would become a Citizens' Advisory Board instead of a business/technical Aviation Advisory Board all in the name of "balance".   Do the residents of Beaufort County and County Council want a citizens' advisory board or an aviation advisory board? It is possible that under this newly proposed charter the AAB could be comprised of 11 - 13 members that have no idea how to manage an airport, interpret FAA Rules and Regulations, or, more importantly, have the interests of the community and the airports at heart. Is this the kind of AAB that the residents of Hilton Head Island and Beaufort deserve and want?   The current board members are from different walks of life, different communities, and the common thread is that they are community minded individuals that believe an airport is an asset to a community. They are knowledgeable and caring volunteers.   We need to remember that airports are a part of our nation's transportation infrastructure and are very important to the economy of the communities that they serve!

 

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