We’re hearing from news reporters that the mayors praised the work of the people charged with managing the airport at today’s Airport Authority meeting.
In response to requests: “There has been a pattern of poor decisions and cozy relationships at the Airport that led to the creation of the fortress hub and produced the crisis that exists today. It’s why new thinking, mayoral leadership, business involvement, and a real plan of action are needed and have been advocated assertively by the nearly 6,000 people on Delta Does Memphis. Most of all, it’s about being honest with the public and it’s not about seeing the car in the ditch, and not acknowledging how it got there.”
That said, the mayors’ involvement is a major breakthrough. It’s clear that they, not the Airport Authority, are now in charge of dealing with this issue and developing the plan of action for addressing it. That’s a good sign. There’s always the political things to be done but as long as they take control of this situation from the Airport Authority, it’s progress.
But as many of you have emailed, it’s time to hold people accountable and it’s time for the mayors to call for change in leadership. It’s not saying that these are bad people. It’s just saying that it’s time to give someone else a chance. In the end, it’s hard to imagine that the mayors will hitch their political stars to the Airport Authority and the current mess that it has enabled.
Mr. Perl exuded that today’s meeting was the first time in 30 years that both mayors have attended an Airport Authority meeting. #1 – it’s unbelievable that we have a public board where people remain for 30 years, #2 – the mayors’ presence directly acknowledges the depth of the problem caused by the Airport Authority, and #3 – the message from the mayors, when all the niceties are stripped away, is unmistakable and we’re sure most Airport Authority members got it: this isn’t working and something has got to change.
If you are not already a member of Delta Does Memphis, it seems a great day to sign up. Click here to join.
Memphis suffers from a local good ole boy network that has woven its fingers into many of our quasi-public institutions. But if the mayor won’t change the make-up of our Airport Authority, Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Chamber then where is the local press? Where is the press in detailing how long the same positions have been held in Atlanta, Nashville, Louisville, and New Orleans? Lets compare and contrast our insular city – where all the positions are held by friends who appoint each other to boards, are all from Memphis and have severed in the same crony positions for decades. Why would a young well-educated person move to a city where the same old white men hold positions of power for decades?
Does the Memphis press not have a role to play? Or are they also afraid of rocking the entrenched slow moving barge that is sometimes Memphis….
Dear Anonymous,
I think you have hit the nail on the head. Go read Kelley Ertler’s coverage of this on DDM. She has done the research and linked most of the members of what is a “daisy chain” of cronyism at the airport authority.
And maybe Mr. Perl can find the missing bus depot in FedEx forum. Why has no one held him accountable? Cox and Perl – too long with airport.
OK, so where is the Memphis Flyer cover story? If the Mayor won’t act (keep in mind his wife is on the board) then lets lobby what is suposed to be our “alternative” press to expose, inform and quite frankly lobby on behalf of the citizens of Memphis…..we need term limits on the boards …and I think that the C&VB is right up there in terms of being stale, old guard , been in power forever leadership.
How about a public protest with signs in front of the airport? or at City Hall? Keep the pressure up, I say. Keep the “demand for leadership change” in the news. A protest would do that.
Anon 8:01,
It know it’s picky, but if we are going to heap charges on public officials let’s make sure if have our facts straight. FedEx Forum was never meant to hold a “bus depot”. The bus routes and stops are in place. What is missing is the portion of the garage that was to serve as a park and ride facility when events were are taking place at the Forum.
Anon 12:05
Can you explain the need for a park and ride facility at FedEx Forum “when events .. are taking place at the Forum”? How would it work?
If I am not mistaken, there was to be both a park-and-ride facility and an internal bus station/stop in the first floor of the garage. You can see the street-level space where it was supposed to be on the south side of the garage on Linden/MLK.
I should have mentioned, both of those features were included in the original plan so that the city could use federal or state transportation funds in the construction of the garage.
Sorry, meant to say “…park and ride facility when events were are taking place at the Forum”.
As for the buses, they were never meant to actually enter the facility. In fact George W Lee was improved under the idea it would serve as part of the bus circulator route. Anyway, the point is that for the garage to serve as a park-and-ride facility all they would need to do is open one level of parking for public use during weekday working hours and be sure that the adjoining bus stop had a map and schedule of the buses that serve that location. Basically a couple of signs, open the garage door, a map or two and presto: park and ride facility.
All of this is really off topic.
I am hoping that the interest of both mayors is enough to ignite a fire under the bellies of the board. Air service is no longer driven by purely free market interests. Subsidies either via the feds or via financial support for airport improvement projects have seen to that. Perhaps the board, which was largely responsible for guiding MEM through deregulation, is not equipped to consider their role in forging a new direction that involves both the private market and a far more active public interest and participation role.