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Hello List,
Thought I'd post a Mpls centered version of what we
recently posted to ROAR's mailing list. There is a lot of airport stuff
going on right now, especially in this election year for Minneapolis . . .
. It would be nice to see some candidate reactions to some of this
information. Here goes:
RYBAK AND BENSON TO RUN FOR OFFICE ROAR founding members RT RYBAK and SCOTT BENSON have each announced that they will be running for elected office in the city of Minneapolis this year. Pajama-wearing founding member RT RYBAK announced his candidacy for mayor on January 11. In addition to airport noise and other environmental issues, Rybak's campaign emphasizes affordable housing, city services, tax fairness and campaign finance reform. For more information on RT's candidacy, see his website at www.rtformayor.com, or you can meet him at one of his upcoming listening stops, at either Mell-o-Glaze Bakery 6 p.m. Jan. 24 or Lynnhurst Community Center at 7 p.m. Jan 29. You may remember SCOTT BENSON'S great work for ROAR last summer concerning the dewatering issue at the Mpls/St. Paul airport. Scott is running for the 11th ward city council seat being vacated by retiring council member Dore Mead. You can learn more about Scott's campaign at his website, www.scottbenson.org. Both RT and Scott plan to remain active in ROAR, but WILL NOT use this group for campaign purposes. Both would appreciate your support. ROAR plans to host candidate forums during the election year in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and hopes to get ALL city candidates on the record as far as their positions on airport issues. Vote for the candidateS of your choice -- we hope you choose to hold them accountable on quality of life issues! GLEASON INTRODUCES NIGHT FLIGHT BILL AT LEGISLATURE: DFL Rep. Mark Gleason (Richfield & south Minneapolis) has introduced a bill which would bar government employees traveling at public expense from taking late night flights into or out of the airport. This bill is similar to the night flight resolution passed by the Minneapolis city council last year. While Gleason and his co-sponsors (Reps. Jim Davnie, Scott Dibble, Jean Wagenius, and Neva Walker) acknowledge that the bill is mainly symbolic, they do point out that "at least we won't have government contributing to the problem." Many thanks to our veteran AND new legislators for working together to bring this problem to state attention once again! It's really great to see Minneapolis folks in the legislature working together on this issue . . . we're hoping to bring metro legislators on board this year, too. GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS FROM NORTHWEST AIRLINES: First the bad news: late last year, NWA led a mass industry resignation from the Metropolitan Aircraft Sound Abatement Council (MASAC), a 31 year old group Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton had nationally praised as a model of community and aviation cooperation. Northwest complained that the group had become "too much of a community advocacy group," and followed that up with complaints about the MAC's ambitious new noise mitigation plan. Officials for the airline stated that they think that further noise mitigaton is "scientifically unsound and not worth the price." Some industry observers suggest that Northwest's recent bluster is an attempt to keep the MAC's noise mitigation plan from becoming a national standard. In better news, Northwest announced that they plan to buy 52 new aircraft to replace the aging, noisy parts of its fleet. The 24 Airbus A330-300s, 20 Boeing 757-300s, six A319s and two B747-400s will cost the airline approximately $5 billion, and will replace the older McDonnell Douglas DC-10. This is welcome news, as Northwest currently operates the oldest, noisiest fleet of any major airline. Most of these planes will be in the air by 2006. Hopefully, we'll hear the effects of this fleet rehab in south Minneapolis . . . RELIEF FROM ROCHESTER PROPOSED:
The MAC and MN DOT are both looking south for relief from congestion at MSP. Both agencies have expressed interest in a high speed rail link between Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport, and the Rochester Airport. Rochester airport officials have long pointed out that their facility operates under capacity, and without the urban gridlock suffered by MSP. Concern about the long term capacity of terminals and runways at MSP prompted the MAC to vote to allocate funds to study the plan. The rail line could carry passengers and cargo, and could possibly be the first link in a high speed rail connection to other upper midwestern cities. The Twin Cities Aiport Task Force, a group of metro area business and civic leaders, have applauded the plan as an opportunity to expand international cargo capacity in the region. We're happy to see the MAC finally facing up to the fact that airport operations are outpacing the ability to expand at MSP, and hope that this is the beginning of a statewide dialogue on our regional aviation needs. More from ROAR as the weather warms up, and noise season begins anew! If you know of anyone who would be interested in joining our email news list, please have them contact me directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sara Strzok, ROAR and Ward 11, home of impending 35W/62 construction
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