Meigs 2.0?

I hate politics and how government has gotten into the development business.
 
Salty said:
Mayor wants to get rid of the airport.

https://stpetecatalyst.com/is-there-turbulence-ahead-for-albert-whitted-airport-property/

It's a historical site as well; home of the first scheduled airline flight. https://www.awaps.org/page-992219
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I thought that was pic of Meigs at first glance. Cool airport. Hope they save it. But then I hope for all kinds of things that ain’t got a snowballs chance in hell of happening. I think this is probably just going to be a case of when, not if.
 
Welch explained this would be “a clean slate” and he does not foresee hi-rise condos and similar development taking shape there.
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I think he foresees whatever use will produce the most tax revenue and the biggest under the table benefits for local politicians. They always lead with the feel-good public space thing, but in the end...
 
I'll bet they took Fed money for the recent improvements, so have to keep it open as an airport for 20 years.
 
Cricket1 said:
I'll bet they took Fed money for the recent improvements, so have to keep it open as an airport for 20 years.
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That only works when the government enforces it's own rules. Developers will pay whatever fine and do what they want.
 
I can't see the culture being similar enough to have the mayor and his goons grab a bunch of construction outfits that were in his pocket to destroy an airport... That culture is more Chicago than Al Capone.
 
Jeff Oslick said:
You reversed that, development got into the government business.
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Government has always been evil... development is more of a recent thing (and not all developers are evil - I know plenty who are pilots and good guys)
 
County Supervisors in the pockets of developers are closing airports in California.

We see an airport…. They see a graded field ready for buildings.

In the case of KRHV Reid Hillview it’s for the health of the children. No kidding. They hired a guy named Murder who has a “close KRHV website” to write the study to kill the airport. He was hired by the county.

Can’t make this stuff up.
 
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RudyP said:
Government has always been evil... development is more of a recent thing (and not all developers are evil - I know plenty who are pilots and good guys)
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I’d disagree that development is new. In the vein of condos, hotels etc yeah. And like a few weasel cops and lawyers can cast a cloud over the profession, so can some developers with big piggy banks who buy politicians via uncontrolled political donations, cast a cloud over that profession.
 
That one's gonna be interesting to follow. Judging from their Master Plan, they've got some pretty sharp people running that airport. It's booking profits. And, it brings business into the city.
 
I’ve flown in there as a passenger, it is a true bucket list airport. Hopefully I’ll get a landing there soon. SPG is a cool airport! How many airports have as much history (home of the world’s first airline) and home to an IndyCar race? It’s the Tampa Bay area airport I don’t have in my logbook. How’s the restaurant?
 
Domenick said:
It is an unintended consequence of being forced to rent property from the government rather than own it outright. If my comment is unclear, try NOT paying your property tax.
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There was a comment a few years back from a Washington State politician that flat out said property owners didn't own anything, they leased it from the state. Trying to remain apolitical, my comment ends there.
 
Shuckers86 said:
I’ve flown in there as a passenger, it is a true bucket list airport. Hopefully I’ll get a landing there soon. SPG is a cool airport! How many airports have as much history (home of the world’s first airline) and home to an IndyCar race? It’s the Tampa Bay area airport I don’t have in my logbook. How’s the restaurant?
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Restaurant is pretty good, but a bit pricey. It caters as much to external downtown customers as airport customers.
 
I have flown there twice in the last couple weeks. It's a great airport for short sightseeing flights around Tampa Bay. Food isn't the best but it is good.
 
Is this the airport that had a C-17 land there?
 
That was at Peter O Knight, other side of the bay.
 
red4golf said:
There was a comment a few years back from a Washington State politician that flat out said property owners didn't own anything, they leased it from the state. Trying to remain apolitical, my comment ends there.
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Just one of the many reasons this state will be in my rear view mirror as soon as I retire…
 
Omalley1537 said:
Just one of the many reasons this state will be in my rear view mirror as soon as I retire…
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Is there any state or local government in the USA that doesn't "lease" everyone their property?
If so, what do they take in lieu of this lease?
 
It would be interesting if they did a forensic deep dive on that mayor, moneys, contacts, emails, if level of background investigation was a stipulation he probably would bow out

It is unlikely it was the mayors idea
 
Shuckers86 said:
I’ve flown in there as a passenger, it is a true bucket list airport. Hopefully I’ll get a landing there soon. SPG is a cool airport! How many airports have as much history (home of the world’s first airline) and home to an IndyCar race? It’s the Tampa Bay area airport I don’t have in my logbook. How’s the restaurant?
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Good, at least the shrimp tacos, they have a plane hanging up, a balcony that overlooks the airport. My information is a year or two dated however.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
Is there any state or local government in the USA that doesn't "lease" everyone their property?
If so, what do they take in lieu of this lease?
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unfortunately not. My post was more in reference to Washington’s “leaders” belief that we succeed DUE to the government, rather than IN SPITE OF it…
 
Omalley1537 said:
unfortunately not. My post was more in reference to Washington’s “leaders” belief that we succeed DUE to the government, rather than IN SPITE OF it…
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How successful do you think we would be if law enforcement were ended?
 
Palmpilot said:
Relying exclusively on private law enforcement does not sound to me like a recipe for success.
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Difference between urban/coastal and rural/**** you thought process.
 
Palmpilot said:
:confused2:
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Urban areas are less personal. You just can't possibly really know everyone that lives on your block. And when the personal connection goes bye bye, the amount that people give a **** about you goes down. Out in the sticks where we have our own well and septic system, a closet full of home defense, and a 1 mile stretch of road all gets invited to the Christmas party, we don't even worry if we left the doors unlocked. A private law enforcement wouldn't be necessary, and if it was it would all be just what we are doing anyway - looking out for each other. I'm fairly certain our township would get by on a part-time volunteer basis. We don't even have our own law enforcement as it is right now besides the county.
 
Palmpilot said:
How successful do you think we would be if law enforcement were ended?
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Don't talk silly-talk.

It is both healthy and wise to routinely challenge the scope and scale of governmental power; raising the issue is hardly the equivalent of advocating for the utter absence of governance.

The countervailing argument one might posit would be that we should simply accept, as proper and necessary, every single grasp of authority asserted by government, simply by virtue of the fact that it emanated from government. There are people who think that way, but (by and large) they tend to already be a part of the presumptively-anointed ones already.
 
EdFred said:
Urban areas are less personal. You just can't possibly really know everyone that lives on your block. And when the personal connection goes bye bye, the amount that people give a **** about you goes down. Out in the sticks where we have our own well and septic system, a closet full of home defense, and a 1 mile stretch of road all gets invited to the Christmas party, we don't even worry if we left the doors unlocked. A private law enforcement wouldn't be necessary, and if it was it would all be just what we are doing anyway - looking out for each other. I'm fairly certain our township would get by on a part-time volunteer basis. We don't even have our own law enforcement as it is right now besides the county.
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That may work where you are, but I'm pretty sure that we need people to be successful in both urban and rural areas.
 
Palmpilot said:
That may work where you are, but I'm pretty sure that we need people to be successful in both urban and rural areas.
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Oh, I would fully expect the urban areas to become even more of a ****hole than they already are and mob rule. Then they would just further devolve into a dystopia, or develop into a bunch of small little communities.
 
SCCutler said:
Don't talk silly-talk.

It is both healthy and wise to routinely challenge the scope and scale of governmental power;...
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I agree.

...raising the issue is hardly the equivalent of advocating for the utter absence of governance.
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I was responding to this:

Omalley1537 said:
unfortunately not. My post was more in reference to Washington’s “leaders” belief that we succeed DUE to the government, rather than IN SPITE OF it…
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That statement makes it sound like government makes no contribution to our success. In reality, government contributes to our success in some ways, and obstructs our success in some ways. (The same can be said of law enforcement.)

SCCutler said:
The countervailing argument one might posit would be that we should simply accept, as proper and necessary, every single grasp of authority asserted by government, simply by virtue of the fact that it emanated from government. There are people who think that way, but (by and large) they tend to already be a part of the presumptively-anointed ones already.
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I agree that we should not think that way.

And I do disagree with the idea that the State of Washington is renting property to its owners.
 
Sounds like a Mayor's pipe dream to redevelop. Unless he pulls a Daley, no way the FAA is OK with closing it unless they repay all the FAA grants for the last 10-20 years. Funny thing about signing those grant assurance documents...they're legal documents that lock you into terms for a very long time.
 
Palmpilot said:
How successful do you think we would be if law enforcement were ended?
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Would not make a huge difference, unless you have a police escort like a politician, police usually arrive after the crime has been done, with the exception of the traffic enforcement industry.

If a criminal targets you, the police will not be the person who saves you, that’s your job.
 
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