Going Down For The Third Time

I have made a career out of two things: railroading and misjudging people.

The former has been far more lucrative.

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In "Won't Get Fooled Again," I wrote with great confidence that the next agreement between New Haven and East Haven over Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport would not be like the previous two, where East Haven got the lion's share of the benefits while the airport got little more than a handshake and a promise. That the Airport Authority and Avports wouldn't make the same mistakes. (I'm also the same author of "The Experts Speak," wherein I pointed out how certain "experts" on the airport were proven horribly wrong.)

A look back at the previous two agreements.

In 1983, New Haven mayor Ben DiLieto and East Haven mayor Tony Proto came to an agreement over Tweed where the airport would be recognized as a "commuter" (read, "no commercial jet airliners") airport, with a new passenger to be built on the site where the present building stands. So, what happened? Commuter airlines segued away from jet-prop equipment such as DeHavilland Twin Otters and Saab 340s, opting instead for regional jets. And that "new terminal"? Never built. The agreement became obsolete almost instantly. Strike one.

In 2009 New Haven's John DeStefano (who was DiLieto's Economic Development Administrator) and East Haven's April Capone forged a Memorandum of Understanding (brokered by Socialist Charlie Pillsbury). This agreement all but finished what the 1983 agreement started: Runway 2-20 would stay at 5,600 feet. There would be limits on the number of airlines, the number of flights, the number of passenger boardings and the number of parking spaces, with additional East Haveners added to the Airport Authority. Think about it: an airport's two chief sources of revenue are its Passenger Facilities Charges (paid by enplaning passengers) and parking, and the city agreed to limit both of those, while keeping its runway still to short to accommodate wide-body passenger jet aircraft. It was ten years before another New Haven mayor, Toni Harp, exercise the "escape clause" and withdrew New Haven from the 2009 MOU. (No, Harp did not "break the agreement," as the opposition likes to claim.) Strike two.

Both agreements have one thing in common: New Haven mayors who weren't exactly fans of the airport. Ben DiLieto's house overlooked the field. (According to legend, DiLieto also had a fear of flying, which likely explains his ambitious makeover of New Haven's Union Station.) DeStefano had ties to the Morris Cove as well, having grown up there. Indeed, a long-time airport opponent who once declared in the New Haven Register that "Tweed Airport has no business in the Morris Cove!," served on DeStefano's ill-fated campaign for governor.

So, what's changed? The airport is now managed by Avports, a private entity. They don't have to face reelection. They don't have to lobby for funds, being part of financial powerhouse Goldman Sachs.

Now, you would think that Avports would have done a little research and concluded, "You know what? East Haven snookered the airport twice under those agreements. What were they thinking?" But no.

And, just to prove that those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it, we come to 2026.

On April 8th, an announcement was made by the City of New Haven, the Town of East Haven, Avports and the Airport Authority that yet another was reached over the airport's future, one where East Haven would realize millions from state funding and Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT), and the Airport Authority would swell to fifteen members, with seven from East Haven and eight from the other New Haven-area municipalities, with the only requirement from East Haven being to abide by a Federal judge's decision regarding the town's challenge to the airport's Environmental Assessment, the latter being a win-win for the town: If the judge rules East Haven's way, of course they'll abide by it! And if the judge rules in favor of the airport, the town won't have to appeal because an environmental group, Save The Sound, has also challenged the EA, and they'll file an appeal.

But for me, the real sticking point in all this is this: The airport will now be required to present its future development plans to the East Haven Planning & Zoning Commission and any other relevant town agencies (i.e.,Inlands & Wetlands) for approval. Strike three.

I'm thinking of this possible scenario: Somewhere down the road, East Haven elects a hard-line airport opponent for mayor, someone along the lines of a Tony Proto or a Joe Maturo. The new mayor then appoints bitter-ender airport foes such as Lorena Venegas and , Patrick Medusa and Jean Edwards Chieppo to the PZC, among other agencies. (In East Haven, PZC board members are appointed, not elected.) They will then have unchecked power in denying or, at best, significantly scaling back any and all proposals the airport submits.

Imagine this scene when the Airport Authority submits plans for the new terminal to a hostile PZC: "Mmmm, let's see. Your plans call for an 84,000-square-foot building. That's way too big. We'll approve you for 40,000 square feet. And you want six gates? Whaddaya need six for? Two will be just fine. And a 4,000-car parking lot? Nah! Too much traffic. We'll give ya 1,000 parking spaces."

What's the Authority supposed to do? Take them to court? The town's lawyers will waltz into court with the Agreement the Authority and the city signed. Eventually, the airport's tenant airline(s) will get so frustrated with operating conditions not improving at Tweed that it will no longer be worthwhile to stay. Checkmate.

I thought for sure Avports and the Airport Authority were in a much better position to negotiate with the town. That this was a "war of attrition," and East Haven residents would subsequently tire of their tax dollars going to "legal consultants" in what could be a losing cause. Maybe they had some inside information as to how the judge would rule on the Environmental Assessment, I don't know. But hey, they're happy with it.

But it seemed that, for reasons known only to them, they were in a hurry to nail down some time of agreement with the town,particularly in an "off" year for elections. East Haven mayor Joe Carfora comes out of this a hero, securing millions for the town while giving them the "seat at the table" he had been seeking all along. East Haven gets more rights and the airport gets more responsibilities.

Finally, unlike the last agreement, where one party could withdraw after providing 30 days notice, this time both parties must agree. So, somewhere down the road, if Avports or the Authority feels they made a mistake and want to leave, East Haven can tell them, "Ya know what? We like this agreement just as it is, so we're staying in it."

Checkmate.

Once again, New Haven and East Haven have made a deal where the airport becomes the junior partner while East Haven's chief responsibility is little more than just "being there."

No, history doesn't "repeat itself." It rhymes.