 Threaten Operation of Airport' Not Founded In Fact Says Politically Motivated by Dick Kauffman February 08 , 2003
In his February 6th response letter to R. J. Doll, who is the Director of the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT/PF) Southeast Region, Eckert said "there certainly is room for improvement in the management of the Ketchikan Airport. But to state in your letter that 'The visit revealed sufficient deficiencies to threaten its continued operation' is not, in my opinion, founded in fact." Eckert wrote, "I can only conclude that the State of Alaska wants to take back complete operation, maintenance and control of the Ketchikan Airport." Eckert said in his letter to Doll that he did not apologize for the delay in responding due to the fact that the alleged deficiencies in the Ketchikan airport operations were not well documented. Eckert said he was not given any copies of Mike Binkie's "supposed supporting documents" of deficiencies which resulted in Eckert having to take the time to do his own investigation to determine if there was any basis for Binkie's conclusions. Binkie conducted the 'Technical Assistance Visit' for the DOT/PF for the purpose of assisting the airport in complying with Part 139 of the FAA regulations for airport operations. Eckert wrote that Binkie did not contact him at any time during his visit. Eckert stated that Binkie did not express his findings to either him or to the Airport Director Dave Allen prior to briefing Doll. Eckert said, "I feel that due to the serious nature of the allegations made by Mr. Binkie which resulted in your remarks that, 'The visit revealed sufficient deficiencies to threaten its continued operation', that he should have, at the very least, given me the professional courtesy of a visit while he was here." Borough Manager Eckert wrote, "I am less than impressed with the quality of Mr. Binkie's work and I can only guess as to what prompted his visit in the first place." Eckert stated, "From what I have learned, it appears that Mr. Binkie was here not on a routine inspection,
Referring to Doll's offer that "Mike Binkie would provide excellent assistance to the Ketchikan Airport as he has handled similar issues throughout the southeast region for many years", Eckert responded to Doll's offer by saying, "Please understand that from a Manager's viewpoint, the way this issue has been handled does not give me confidence in Mr. Binkie's ability to work with the Borough." Eckert remarked in his response letter that it had come to his attention that someone from Doll's office forwarded copies of the letters from both Doll and Binkie to the City, which Eckert said, "they conveniently supplied to the press on Monday, after I provided them [the City] a letter on Friday stating that we were not going to pay them the requested $37,000 for ARFF training." Eckert said, "These actions have caused undue harm to the relationship between the Department of Transportation and the Borough, which may very well result in the Borough taking action to give the airport back to the State." The Borough Manager went on to say, "I feel that the 'return of the airport to the State' option is not in the best interest of the Borough or the State. I will personally try to find a workable solution to prevent that from happening, but I have to be honest that it is going to be difficult to prevent, given the political arena that this has fallen into." Referencing Doll's statement that "employee numbers have been reduced to a level that jeopardizes the airport's ability to comply with FAA requirements," Eckert said the Airport does meet the FAA Part 139.303 requirements. Eckert said, "Again, I feel that this concern is politically motivated..." Eckert also discussed in detail several alternatives for airport ownership and operation in his letter of response to Doll. The sufficient deficiencies that would threaten the airport's continued operation reveled by the 'Technical Assistance Visit' and noted by Doll in his November 25, 2002, letter to the Borough Manager were:
Eckert also expressed his concern with the manner in which the 'Technical Assistance Visit' was conducted in another letter dated February 7, 2003, to Governor Frank Murkowski, Senator Robin Taylor, Representative Bill Williams, and Michael Barton the Commissioner of DOT/PF. Eckert said, "To say that this situation has escalated into an untenable situation is an understatement. Not only are these documents being used by our sister municipality to possibly terminate a longstanding mutual aid agreement for fire services, but by the release of Mr. Binkie's memorandum and the letters from Mr. Doll to the Borough, the citizens of Ketchikan have been presented with inflammatory information about our airport which has caused considerable consternation."
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