We do not challenge the fact that the Federal Aviation Administration has an important role to play at the Cape May County Airport. Yet the FAA cannot be used as the latest excuse for why county commissioners won’t share their airport plans or contract details with a new operator. Each time the public asks for information, the commissioners say they can say nothing. The latest reason: They must wait until after presenting the new operator deal to the FAA.
This is getting old. Commissioner Bobby Barr’s claim that he is “chomping at the bit” to share plans is doublespeak. If he is that eager, it is time to talk, not stall.
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Why is it worth $30,000,000 just to transfer
control from the DRBA to the commissioners?
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It has been over a year since the commissioners notified the Delaware River and Bay Authority they wanted to regain control of the 1,000 acres the airport sits on. In June 2024, they formally voted against automatic renewal of the DRBA lease, which had been in place for 25 years, during which the DRBA invested over $30 million.
This year an RFP was issued for a new airside operator. Only one bidder responded and was awarded the contract – at a vote so muddled Commissioner Will Morey accidentally voted yes when he intended to abstain, later changing his vote.
We have had 15 months since the county first moved to take back direct control, and 14 months since the formal lease notice, yet commissioners still say they cannot reveal their plans.
The vote to award the contract to the sole bidder was bundled with other measures, pushed forward by Director Len Desiderio so that even the public, and Morey, barely knew a vote was happening.
At the Aug. 12 meeting, Morey asked for something that summarized the new operator deal. He was told by the county administrator that the information had not yet been distributed. Are we to believe an appointed administrator decides when an elected commissioner can even see basic contract terms? Is the county preparing to seek FAA approval without first informing its own elected board members?
A member of the public asked why commissioners cannot answer basic questions. The response: They cannot speak until after filing with the FAA. So the FAA can know, but not the public.
This board has shown open disregard for the public it serves, and it has done so with hubris. Why? Because they face no challengers within their own party, and the opposing party rarely fields strong candidates.
And let us not forget: $30,000,000 is a lot of the taxpayers’ hard-earned money. We have not been involved, or even informed, why it is worth spending so much just to transfer control from the DRBA to the commissioners. There may be a benefit, but the secrecy makes the whole thing smell like rotten fish.
The county could have involved the public long ago in a discussion of whether to stay with the DRBA lease or change course. Commissioners knew the lease deadline for years.
The public has been left out: no role in discussing airport land use, no information on the RFP, no explanation of the contract with the lone bidder, no clarification of the FAA’s role. And the public is left holding the bag on repayment of over $30 million to the DRBA, a debt the county says it will bond, with no explanation of the impact.
Quotes From the Bible
“Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” – 1 Corinthians 4:2
