Jay, I'm the AOPA rep for our local airport (KDXR), and frankly your
problems are nothing compared to ours. The airport commission here is
appointed by the mayor, and it's members vary with the political
leanings of whatever mayor is in office. Very few are pilots, none are
willing to over-ride the airport commissioner.
I would act on the assumption that the structure of your commission is
going to change, and make damn sure that the commission includes a heavy
representation of airport users, and folks whose livelihood depends on
the airport (local businesses, pilots, mechanics, etc).
These battles get vicious. The recommendation to publicly post the
"curriculum vita" of those positively affected by the airport is an
excellent one. Locally, our current battle is with noise-nazis, a
situation which would never have happened if the airport commission and
local politicians had been doing the job they have been elected, or
appointed, to do. I point this out to the media at every chance I get,
and sometimes I have to create the chance. The response
is...fascinating. The political cockroaches run for cover ASAP.
These battles can be a full time job, or a small amount of time
thrusting the sword at the appropriate point as needed.

Good Luck,
Rip
PS: Feel free to call me. My phone number can be found at
http://www.navioneer.org/riprelay

Jay Honeck wrote:
JAY I COULD GO AND ON ALL DAY.

Welcome to marketing 101.


Thanks, Shiv. Good points, all.

Sadly, while our opposition is made up of university types, all enjoying
their summers off, the rest of us have to work for a living. Since Mary and
I work from 100 to 120 hours per week between us, plus trying to spend as
much time with the kids as possible, it's safe to say that our time
allotment devoted to the schmoozing of local officials and media types is
virtually non-existent.

I need to clone myself.