Who Are You, Really?

Time and time again, a story will crop up of some entity, be it for-profit or non-profit, that gets into a jam and becomes the target of numerous accusations ranging from mismanagement to misrepresentation to outright fraud. So, they go out of existence...only to resurface elsewhere under another name. When all else fails, change your name and the suspects involved and no one will be the wiser.

The Civil Rights movement of the 1950's was tumultuous; many segregationists formed resistance groups, the White Citizens Council among them. They fought integration at every turn, using whatever tools were at their disposal, from local legislation to outright violence. As the Civil Rights movement continued to gain momentum, the powers that be at the WCC came to a decision somewhere along the way that their name was an impediment to their survival. Presto-change-o, the "Citizens Council" was born. Same drek, new can. (The notorious Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke added a more "creative" touch when, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he formed an organization bearing a name similar to one that had been established to aid Katrina victims in an attempt to attract not only funding but members, too.)

Your endeavor is having a rough going? Nothing that a name change couldn't solve. Sometimes several name changes.

In the nearly sixty years since commercial jet aircraft service visited itself upon New Haven, generation after generation of airport neighbors have formed airport opposition groups. Some such as Stop Tweed come directly to the point. Others exercise some, shall we say, "subtlety" in their group names.

In the early years of airport opposition (the late 1960s/early 1970s), there was the Committee Against Runway Expansion. Pretty direct, with a practical acronym, "C.A.R.E." Subsequently, jet aircraft came along that were able to operate off short runways and, whaddya know? A new group was formed, the Committee For The Protection Of Property Rights. "Property rights"? Were airport personnel were short-cutting across people's backyards to get to work at Tweed?

More recently, new opposition groups formed, eschewing any mention of the airport in their title. One is called Save Our Shoreline ("S.O.S." Clever, eh?) Naturally, one would be led to believe that they would highlight such matters as sewage treatment plant runoff, beach erosion or offshore wind farms. But no. Virtually all the subject matter on their Facebook page concerns itself with---wait for it---Tweed-New Haven Airport! Nothing on wildlife, nothing on the water quality of Long Island Sound.

Another "environmental" group is called the 10,000 Hawks. Ah, you say, they must concern themselves with our avian friends and their survival. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Hawks FB page is dedicated to attacking every bit of minutia as it applies to Tweed's operations, whether it be aircraft, parking, fuel tanks, you name it. They've even gone so far as to berate the Airport Authority's Executive Directors past and present.

I've pondered why they chose the hawk as their "spirit animal." The owl symbolizes wisdom, but they didn't choose that. The eagle represents patriotism, but they didn't choose that. The dove is associated with peace, but they sure as hell didn't choose that. No, they chose the hawk, a bird of prey applied in political circles to a warmonger. Hmmm. There may be some truth to that after all.

Consider the airport opponent who advocated placing baby carriages and strollers on the runway to hamper jet aircraft operations (a possible violation of the Hatch Act). Or the airport opponent from a group called the "Citizens Committee For Environmental Protection" (there's that "name" thing again) who declared that he would "do something to end (then-New Haven mayor Ben) DiLieto's career." (That statement elicited a visit to his home from the New Haven police who were eager for details.) Or the airport opponent who announced, "It's my tree, and it's my gun that will protect my tree." None of those statements were ever repudiated by opposition leadership, I might add. I myself was threatened with physical violence from an airport opponent on the day Air Wisconsin brought their BAE-146 jet to Tweed to demonstrate its quiet operation.

Lastly, and in a tip of the hat to Imperial Wizard Duke, an airport opposition Facebook group called "Fly Tweed Facts" was formed to combat the moderately successful pro-airport group Tweed Facts.

I like to think that the airport's progress toward a longer runway and a larger more modern passenger terminal will eventually force airport opposition to throw in the towel. I like to think that. But something's telling me that somewhere down the road another generation of home buyers turned airport opponents will form organizations with more "colorful" titles, perpetuating the cycle.

Perhaps some future opposition group can employ a basic name like "Foes Against Tweed." In this way, they'll have a working anagram ("F. A. T."), and the leader, whoever he or she may be, can be referred to as the "F. A. T. head."

It was Shakespeare who asked, "What's in a name?"

More than you can begin to imagine.