"Da Mayor" At Work

"Jonathan Goodish" wrote in message
...
AOPA has done some good, and they are a constant lobby in Washington,
without which I suspect many more of us would be grounded due to
restrictions and excessive regulation.

However, AOPA certainly does appear to pick their battles. It seemed
pretty clear to me that Meigs wasn't a battle that they were willing to
spend a huge effort fighting. The battle had raged for years while the
City of Chicago played games and taunted the aviation community with
restrictions and harrassment. The City digs up the runway, and all of a
sudden AOPA is outraged. I was outraged years ago when my wife and I
tried to visit the terminal and were nearly subjected to a strip search
by two of "Chicago's Finest" before being turned away. The Meigs
situation had been deteriorating for years, and I suspect that AOPA was
focused on what they considered to be bigger, more important battles.
In my opinion, whatever AOPA is doing now with regards to Meigs is of
little consequence; the airport is gone and will likely never be
restored.

JKG

AOPA was smart not to spend significant time and money on Meigs. The mayor
owned the airport and had the law on his side. The only thing he did wrong
is he did not notify the FAA the required 30 days (or what ever the required
time is) prior to closing the airport. The penalty for violating that rule
is of little to no consequence. There was nothing legally AOPA or Friends of
Meigs could do. Meigs was a lost cause years before it was finally dug up.
Da Mayor has pulled a number of similar antics in Chicago but always has his
ducks lined up in an immaculate row.