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	Airport Agony, Scandal Fatigue By Robert Z. Nemeth Telegram & Gazette April 27, 2008 http://www.telegram.com/article/20080427/COLUMN22/804270349/1020 SOME WORCESTER CITY COUNCILORS can't miss an opportunity to grandstand when it comes to Worcester Regional Airport while revealing surprising ignorance about issues related to it. Case in point is the council's decision to hold two recommendations by the city manager to expedite crucial safety improvements mandated and paid for by federal and state authorities. The council balked at the request to apply for nearly $11 million in grants made available by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission. One grant of $5.3 million would be used for the installation of an enhanced runway safety area to meet safety standards mandated by the FAA. Another grant of $5.5 million would pay for the reconstruction of a 30-year-old runway, which requires frequent patching, and to replace outdated airfield lighting systems. The FAA absorbs 90 percent of the cost, and MAC pays 10 percent. Truth be told, the issue is a no-brainer. The recommended improvements are not only lifesaving safety measures but they enable Worcester to stay in compliance with the operating agreement the city has with the Massachusetts Port Authority that has been managing the airport since 2000. Even though the airport currently has no regularly scheduled commercial service, it supports vigorous general aviation business — including corporate and charter services — with more than 60,000 flight operations taking place annually. None of this seemed to impress District 5 Councilor William J. Eddy, who said accepting the grants would increase the city's burden if it wanted to close the airport and was forced to repay the grants. "I'm having trouble generating a lot of enthusiasm for this," he declared. "We are in need of options at the airport, and by accepting these grants we could be closing the door on those options by increasing the debt level." What options? The only option for Worcester is Massport taking title of the facility — lock, stock and barrel. And Massport, which has spent nearly $15 million on deficit subsidies and operating expenses while managing the place, is unlikely to take ownership unless the mandated upgrades are made. The suggestion by District 3 Councilor Paul P. Clancy Jr. that Massport should apply for the grants and make the improvements is off target — Massport cannot make capital investments unless it owns the airport. It is about 20 years too late to worry about how much public money has been spent on upgrading the airport. In 2005, a consultant pegged that figure at close to $30 million. It has never been clear how much of that is expected to be repaid should the airport be closed to aviation, and under what conditions. Abandoning a fully equipped regional airport is virtually unprecedented. The city manager has been negotiating a takeover with Massport, and it will happen. In the meantime Worcester has no choice but to maintain the facility within FAA regulations, regardless of whether Mr. Eddy can generate much excitement for it, or not. THE AMERICAN VISIT of Pope Benedict XVI brought out an assortment of "disaffected" Catholics (and Catholic-haters) who tried to use the occasion to seek attention. Groups such as the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, DignityUSA, Voice of the Faithful and others staged press conferences and demonstrations to protest the Vatican's position on sexual abuse by clergy, homosexuality, birth control, abortion, divorce, celibacy for priests, the role of women in the church, test-tube conception, genetics research and more. When the pope surprised the detractors by meeting with abuse sufferers, they challenged his sincerity, calling the meeting a "dog and pony show" and announcing that dozens of new people were coming forward to say they were molested when they were children. The pope has shown genuine regret about an issue that has concerned many American Catholics in recent years. Evidently, the organized victim movement has taken the pontiff's gesture as a cause for keeping the scandal alive and to make more demands. While the scope of the abuse has never been legally determined, the church has paid dearly for the sins of a few rotten apples, making certain those sins will never be repeated. It's time to put this ugly chapter behind us and move ahead. Hundreds of thousands of American Catholics turned out to cheer Pope Benedict XVI during his historic visit. A tiny and increasingly tiresome minority used the occasion to protest. They deserve to be ignored. MAYOR KONSTANTINA B. LUKES should feel vindicated after she was subjected to criticism for her courageous move to request scrutiny of disability pension arrangements for firefighters. In Boston, federal authorities initiated a massive investigation of apparent disability abuse by firefighters after a report in The Boston Globe revealed that 102 firefighters claimed career-ending injuries while they were filling in for superiors at higher pay grades, enhancing their tax-free disability pensions by an average of $10,300 a year. Boston has paid out more than $43 million in tax-free injured-leave pay to firefighters between 2003 and 2006. The scandal in the Hub should be a wake-up call for Worcester. WHILE WATCHING THE DEBATE between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on ABC the other night, a chilling thought kept flashing through my mind: If the voters are not careful, one of them might end up as our next president. Robert Z. Nemeth's column appears regularly in the Sunday Telegram.
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