Pinocchio Chronicles, Why won’t the County Vote on PAAC Nominations?

County's Conduct Code

You can’t run for county office, bind yourself to the County Conduct Code (See Board Policy A-74), and then twiddle your thumbs when simple decisions come your way. But that is precisely what the county is doing now. County is ignoring the Carlsbad and Vista requests to seat their designated Palomar Airport Advisory Committee (PAAC) representatives Shirley Anderson and Tazheen Nizam to fill PAAC vacancies.

The Carlsbad Council voted unanimously for Shirley Anderson on July 11, 2023 to fill the Carlsbad seat vacant since January 2023. The Vista City Council voted unanimously for Tazheen Nizam on May 9, 2023 to fill the Vista seat vacant since May 2022.

County told Carlsbad and Vista in early August that the PAAC appointments would be on the Agenda for the August 29, 2023, Board of Supervisor Meeting. When the Meeting agenda was posted, the PAAC appointments had been pulled.

Apparently, the county feels that it is no big deal for Carlsbad to go unrepresented on the PAAC for 9 months and for Vista to go unrepresented for 17 months.

PAAC? The Theory

The 9-member PAAC meets with the public 6 times yearly. In theory, PAAC makes county airport staff tell the public “the good, the bad, and the ugly.” How McClellan-Palomar Airport (Palomar) helps and hurts Carlsbad, Vista, and other Palomar-impacted-communities. How economic development both helps and hurts businesses near the airport and how increased safety risks, noise, traffic gridlock, Palomar landfill ozone emissions, Palomar landfill contaminant migration, and general aviation lead emissions over schools impact Carlsbad, Vista, and other cities.

In theory, the PAAC gathers info for the supervisors so they know how about 150,000 annual Palomar flights, many long distance corporate flights that could use San Diego International Airport, affect San Diego communities.

County Board of Supervisor Policy A-74 tells the 5 Supervisors to appoint PAAC members (and other county committee members) to broadly represent the business community, Palomar users, the cities benefited but also burdened by Palomar operations, and the public.

The Conduct Code.

When assuming office, supervisors accept the Couty A-74 Attachment A Code of Conduct (paraphrased):

• We are here to serve the public interest and to promote the greatest public good.
• We commit to act with honesty and integrity.
• We commit to fairness, impartiality, active listening, and consideration of all points of view by setting aside our personal agendas.
• We are committed to transparency and broad public engagement.
• We will comply with Board of Supervisors’ Policy A-74 related to public participation in County Commissions.

The Reality

No vote on Shirley Anderson and Tazheen Nizam has yet been scheduled. County simply twiddles away. Next week in PAAC Part II, thoughts on county twiddling.