A bill proposed in the current session of the Louisiana Legislature, apparently at the behest of Gov. Mike Foster, should have everyone concerned. Foster has gone on record in support of House Bill 2008, sponsored by Baton Rouge Rep. John Alario, which would establish the Louisiana Airport Development Authority. The sweeping powers of this super-airport board, under the auspices of the state Department of Transportation and Development (and hence under the governor’s office) would take authority away from every other airport board in the state, and boards such as the Louisiana Airport Authority, to command their own destinies. One of the powers this proposed statewide board would wield would be the legal authority to expropriate land for expansion or creation of airport facilities. This immediately rang the alarm bells of St. Charles Parish, where for years the parish government has stood toe-to-toe against further intrusion by the New Orleans International Airport into St. Charles Parish land. Already, after long negotiations, a section of east-west runway was allowed to edge across the parish line. What’s on the books now, though, is a new north-south runway whose air lanes would overfly the present towns of St. Rose and Ama. Imagine, if you will, living almost directly in line with a major airport’s runway, with large planes landing and taking off at all hours. However, the alternative is the wholesale relocation of hundreds of families, uprooted from their neighborhoods and given settlement prices for their hard-earned property. Local, state and federal money, along with pledges of private development money totaling into the millions, have already been directed toward development of a new regional airport which is designed to offer the state a new facility for trade and shipping and relieve other airports of that burden, while allowing them to improve passenger air travel. However, Foster’s plan appears to be aimed at shooting down any other idea than one under his control. The board proposed by Alario’s bill offers not even the courtesy of representation by local governments, but does stack the deck in favor of gubernatiorial appointments and New Orleans representation. Even the city councils of New Orleans and Kenner have gone on record against this high-handed proposal and though such might seem to be enough to take the wings off this idea, officials remain concerned. This naked grab for power and authority represented by House Bill 2008 is unseeming and discourteous, to say the least. Local governments have a right to be concerned, not only for their own political positions, but also for the dangerous precedent this proposal suggests. A bald-faced proposal such as this sets state and local government at odds at a time when they should be working together more than ever.

L’Observateur