Public Officials Duck Public Meetings
No one from the Air Force came to the board of health hearing, nor did anyone from the Pentagon or the plane's maker, Lockheed Martin. None of the Vermont congressional delegation appeared or sent representatives -- not Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy who says he wants the F-35 in Burlington, not independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Democratic Rep. Peter Welch, who say the same thing. Outspoken supporter Governor Peter Shumlin was absent and so was more tepid supporter Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, both Democrats.
Chris Hurd, a local real estate agent who attended the hearing, published his observations afterward:
"And
what of our elected officials? Not a single public hearing to allow those most
affected by the basing to shine a spotlight upon grievances and health concerns
has been held by Senators Leahy, Sanders, Rep. Welch, or our Governor.
"No
official calls for transparency, no inquiries into the stunning lack of data
and no one from the delegation willing to even QUESTION this basing. Shame upon
all of you."
Lacking any high-ranking profiles in courage, someone in authority apparently decided that a Vermont National Guard (VTANG) Lt. Colonel would be a sufficient stand-in for the AWOL leaders. That's how the board ended up hearing often unreliable information from Col. Luke "Torch" Ahmann, whose most relevant experience had been piloting F-16s for the past dozen years.
Costumed in his flight suit for his ground appearance before a civilian audience, Col. Ahmann tried reassuring the group that the F-35 noise level "is probably going to be quite similar" to the already objectionable noise of the F-16 -- even though the Air Force impact statement says the F-35 is twice as loud as the F-16. Some object to this assessment, but the Air Force refuses to release documentation that might resolve it.
Air
Force Case Flawed, Data Withheld
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