"Detroit Metro Airport officials on board: Can't beat it, join it"

Friday, October 4, 2002

Officials on board: Can't beat it, join it 
4 Wayne Co. leaders to serve on airport panel 
BY DENNIS NIEMIEC
THE DETROIT (MI) FREE PRESS


The Wayne County Commission appointed four of its members Thursday to
serve on a rotating basis on the Airport Authority that operates Detroit
Metro and Willow Run airports. 

Commissioners Susan Hubbard of Dearborn, John Sullivan of Wayne, Edward
Boike of Taylorand Bernard Parker of Detroit each will serve 4-month
stints as the commission's representative on the seven-member authority.
Sullivan will begin this month. 

Boike said having an elected official on the authority will add a
"public voice" to the oversight of the airports. 

Other authority members are from private businesses and labor
organizations. Four were appointed by Wayne County Executive Ed McNamara
and two by Gov. John Engler. The authority members serve staggered
terms. 

Having more than one commissioner involved will allow "the voices of a
cross section of Wayne County to be heard," Hubbard said. 

The rotation will run for four years. 

The appointments may signal an end to the legal battles that followed
the authority's creation by the state Legislature at the request of
Engler and McNamara. 

Last week, the state Court of Appeals rejected the commission's legal
challenge of the authority. It is unlikely the commission will appeal
the ruling to the state and U.S. Supreme Courts, Hubbard said Thursday. 

The authority was formed this year amid allegations of mismanagement and
cronyism at Metro Airport, the nation's 11th busiest. State and federal
investigations into the allegations are ongoing. 

The commission sued in April to regain control of the airport, claiming
that the transfer of airport assets to the authority was
unconstitutional. The commission also maintained that the authority
would not be accountable to the public.


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