http://m.kdminer.com/news/2017/aug/25/letter-john-conners-obfuscation-kingman-airport/
John Conners, La Jolla, California Resident
Originally published Friday, August 25, 2017 at 05:59a.m.
As a frequent visitor to Kingman for many years, and a resident of La Jolla, California for the other part of the year, I am totally shocked by what I perceive is really going on at this once wonderful airfield.
I have been to several airport board meetings. No one seems to want to give the citizens present any accurate expense or operation costs, or they claim ignorance or not having any current information available.
Mayor Monica Gates seems to play to whichever direction the wind is blowing. You claim this and that, Mayor, but never with any consistency.
There is always a local attorney present at these meetings, too. Why? Looks as though that gentleman is a safety net for the airport authority and its incompetency and mistakes. It is all about billable hours, isn’t it Mr. Lawyer?
Business at the facility is in decline. The fire bomber company has left.
At one meeting recently, someone stated that only a small group of pilots or tenants were unhappy with the Kingman Airport Authority. They are mightily wrong there, especially after Mr. (Vearl) Haynes went viral. There is a huge amount of anger, mistrust and disappointment beyond belief all over town and outside areas.
The KAA had a big increase in charges to all their rental property at the airport. For what? They have virtually no outside employees that maintain the airport property.
There are weeds growing everywhere. If intimidated enough, someone will do some minor weeding or clean up the place on occasion.
There aren’t any trash cans at the airport, nor access to any. There is a huge street sweeper in the administration building and it is driven around, but no one I have ever spoken with has seen it sweep anything.
The facility has seven air conditioning units sitting outside. Sure must get hot in that office, which I think are only filled with a couple people full-time. It is a beautiful building inside with all sorts of very expensive decorations and furniture. Go check it out.
Yet the terminal building, where the restaurant is, is rather rundown. The AC is weak and does not adequately cool the building. Why did the planners not install an industrial AC unit in the administration building? I guess someone had a lot of excess inventory to unload. It’s only taxpayers’ money, right?
The airport must be saved. The administration building has a glass wall running from left to right. In all probability it is there to keep us peasants isolated from the elite aristocracy.
This entire operations is in need of a major audit and investigation as to why they need so much money to operate virtually nothing. Is it misappropriation, greed, theft or arrogance of power?
Other airports are established under the rules of Grant Assurance regulations, which guarantees the facility will have no discrimination and will always be an airport. It also guarantees that the charges and fees will be commensurate in the area of other grant-controlled airports, even if they are not in the same state.
I would advise the users, tenants and all interested parties to get major government involvement from the Justice Department, FBI and Grant Assurance specialists.
From all indications and reactions from certain functionaries, there is something very, very wrong.
On Aug. 11, an article printed on the front page of the Daily Miner states that the KAA bowed out of the latest and future workshop with the public.And, of course, they had to hire their local attorney to write a letter to the city attorney that there was no way the people are going to improve the airport or any area of the industrial park.
Are you kidding? This is all about funding loss, the possibility of missing funds and bad management in all areas.
We have never received a straight or logical answer from anyone in the KAA about any one, or all, of the problems at the airport.
Vearl Haynes literally told all who were present, and those on video, when he lost his temper that there is something terribly wrong that the authority is trying to conceal from the City of Kingman and the public.
The first words out of the so-called treasurer’s mouth was to threaten litigation on everyone who questioned his lack of honesty.
Folks, time has run out for these people in charge. They sure do not want any more meetings, fine. Now is the time to plan and initiate a forensic audit.
Get the federal authorities involved.
Who is John Conners from La Jolla? Why is he involved? Are these allegations true?
It sure would be helpful if the Miner allowed readers to post comments (not the anonymous morons, but real people).
I’ve been reading bits and pieces about the KAA, but have no comprehensive knowledge. Wouldn’t be surprised at all if John Conners is correct.
