F-35 OUTRAGES SOME IN VERMONT, BUT CITY COUNCILS WAFFLE
By William Boardman Email address removed"> Email address removed
BURLINGTON -- Despite overwhelming public turnout against having nuclear-capable F-35 stealth fighters based at the Burlington International Airport, city councils in the nearby cities of Burlington and Winooski failed to decide for or against the escalation and voted instead to seek more information.
The Air Force announced plans months ago to base its most advanced warplane here when and if it becomes operational. It is currently about a decade behind schedule and 100 per cent over budget. The issue gathered intensity here in April when the Air Force issued its environmental impact statement (EIS) that concluded that the new fighter jets would be four times louder than current jets, and that the noise increase would put 1,366 relatively quiet homes into a zone "incompatible with residential use."
In the course of a three-hour meeting, the Burlington City Council first tried to accept the F-35 basing plan, but the motion failed 9-4 on Monday night, with two Democrats and two Republicans voting with the Air Force. Then the council tried to reject the F-35 basing plan, and again the motion failed, this time by 8-5, with one Democrat, three Progressives, and one independent voting against the Air Force.
Finally the council voted unanimously for the motion by council president Joan Shannon, a Democrat, to seek further study of the proposal. Before voting, the council heard from dozens of citizens, all but three of whom spoke against having a locally-based F-35 squadron. The three uniformed Air Force officers present did not speak. http://7d.blogs.com/blurt/2012/06/burlington-city-council-neither-supports-nor-opposes-f-35s.html#more
Mayor Miro Weinberger, who had previously expressed full support for the F-35s, calling noise "a limited impact" and dismissing housing concerns, found himself repositioning his stance, commenting that "I do find it troubling we don't have greater clarity on the impact on housing markets."
Also on Monday night, in Winooski, which abuts the airport, the city council there also called for further study despite unanimous public opposition at the meeting, where no one spoke in favor of increased militarization.
Like Mayor Weinberger, Winooski Mayor Michael O'Brien defended the council's moderate position, noting that "We understand the statement is not strong enough for some, and too strong for others. http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20120619/NEWS/306190010/Winooski-wants-F-35-noise-protection
In any event, the comment period for the Air Force EIS ends on Wednesday (June 20), leaving Burlington and Winooski as officially wishy-washy, whereas South Burlington city council voted in May to reject the new, noisy fighter jets. South Burlington also abuts the airport and the city council is led by retired Air Force Col. Rosanne Greco was formerly a Pentagon planner with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington. She has written a 17-page analysis of the F-35 in Vermont http://www.sburl.com/vertical/sites/%7BD1A8A14E-F9A2-40BE-A701-417111F9426B%7D/uploads/City_Council_F-35A_Basing_Response_signed_letter_June_11.2012.pdf and published an op-ed in opposition to the plan. http://www.stopthef35.com/node/94
Also Monday night, a citizen delivered a petition to the council in support of the F-35, saying there were 1,600 signatures from people in the region. The council took no action on the petition. click here;
Vermont's congressional delegation issued a joint statement that said, in part, "Senators [Patrick] Leahy and [Bernie] Sanders and Representative [Peter] Welch have not changed their position supporting the basing of F-35s in Vermont." Sanders is an independent, the other two are Democrats. http://www.7dvt.com/2012plane-spoken
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