"TTF: Flying across the ethical line"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Friday, June 1, 2007

Editorial
Flying across the ethical line 
Sen. Betsy Johnson failed to disclose her airport land deal while pushing a
bill to create special access to rural airports 
The Oregonian


An experienced pilot and veteran lawmaker like Sen. Betsy Johnson ought to
know her way around aviation security and Oregon's public disclosure laws
for elected officials. 

But Johnson seems to have blundered in both areas. 

The Oregonian's Brent Walth and Harry Esteve reported Thursday that in late
2004 Johnson purchased, and then sold at a hefty profit three months later,
36 acres of farmland in her hometown of Scappoose next to the local airport.
Before the land deal even closed, Johnson introduced a bill in the
Legislature to promote special airport access for adjacent private
landowners. 

Johnson revealed nothing about the deal on disclosure forms required of
legislators. 

When reporters questioned Johnson about the deal this week, the four-term
legislator admitted, "I made a mistake," and after the interview was
finished, reported the deal to the Oregon Government Standards and Practices
Commission. 

Better late than never. But this is a serious ethical lapse by one of the
Legislature's most respected lawmakers. Johnson has spent two terms in the
House, is midway through her second term in the Senate and was one of two
legislators to serve on a 2006 commission charged with proposing new ethical
guidelines for the Legislature. Her name comes up in every discussion about
likely candidates for governor and other high office. 

This isn't a matter of ignorance or inexperience. 

Here's what Johnson failed to disclose: In October 2004, Johnson and her
husband, John Helm, purchased 36 acres of farmland next to the Scappoose
airport for $635,000. In January 2005, the couple sold the land to a
developer, Ed Freeman, for $754,950. That's a $119,525 profit in three
months. 

In February 2005, Johnson introduced Senate Bill 680, which sought to
require the state Department of Aviation to promote "through the fence"
access at Scappoose and five other rural airports. Such access allows
neighboring landowners to move airplanes through the security fence at the
airport at will -- and enhances the value of land adjacent to rural
airports. 

Johnson and other supporters of the bill insist that it was meant to
encourage economic development around rural airports. Johnson's bill was
amended to make special access voluntary, and the bill identified only the
Aurora airport and two rural airports to be named later. Scappoose was later
chosen as one of those airports. When the bill came to the Senate floor,
Johnson declared a conflict of interest, and voted for it, as Oregon law
allows. 

All this demands a full investigation by the ethics commission. There may be
nothing more here than a failure to properly disclose the land transaction.
Johnson insists that Freeman, the developer who purchased her property,
would have gained special access to the Scappoose airport with or without
her bill. 

But such open access is controversial in aviation circles. The Federal
Aviation Administration contends that special access raises serious security
concerns. Ann Crook, director of the Klamath Falls Airport, said granting
special access to public airports is "bad policy." 

Johnson served as Oregon's aviation director in the late 1990s, and she's
been a pilot for years. She's also one of the most capable lawmakers in
Salem. 

In this case, though, her sense of navigation failed her.

   Post your opinion on this story in the CAA General Aviation Forum
http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php

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