The Burlington City Council passed a resolution on Monday night requesting an aircraft less noisy than the F-35 fighter jets — but it may be premature for opponents of the jets to celebrate.
Mayor Miro Weinberger can sign or veto the resolution, according to Katie Vane, a spokesperson for the mayor. A veto would then require two-thirds of the council to vote to override the decision.
Weinberger needs to “take action or provide a response” by the council meeting on April 16, according to Vane, and he plans to make a decision by then.
On Tuesday, the mayor indicated that he’ll be deliberate.
“I will use that time as needed to continue the further work on this issue that I promised, and to make this decision with care,” Weinberger said in a statement.
Weinberger, who has previously expressed support for the jets, “is still digging into the repercussions of the city requesting an alternative mission,” Vane said.
In his statement, Weinberger remained noncommittal but highlighted the significance of the vote. “The decision now fully before me … is potentially consequential for the people of Burlington, the Burlington International Airport, the region and the Vermont Air National Guard,” he said.
The council resolution, which passed 9-3, responds to an advisory Town Meeting Day ballot item. About 55 percent of Burlingtonians voted to request from the U.S. Air Force an alternative to the F-35s. In addition, the resolution sends a list of questions to Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson about the safety and noise of the planes.
Proponents of the jets, including Vermont’s congressional delegation, said the council action didn’t change their minds.
“The resolution passed by the Burlington City Council does not support the men and women of the Vermont Air National Guard, their families or anyone involved with the Guard,” said Maj. Gen. Steven Cray, the adjutant general for the Vermont National Guard, in a statement.
Cray labeled the letter to Wilson “an unfortunate distraction” and irrelevant. “Allow me to be clear: the men and women of the Vermont Air National Guard will be ready to receive the F-35 in 2019,” he said, noting that the decision had been finalized five years ago.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) issued a joint statement that said they still support the basing of the F-35s in Burlington. “We stand by that decision, and we respect the fact that not all Vermonters agree on this issue,” the statement read. They also said that they expected Wilson to respond to the questions submitted to her.
Members of Save our Skies, the group that petitioned to get the measure on the ballot, praised the council for bringing forward the resolution — though some said they would have preferred the resolution follow the exact language of the ballot question.
“The voters voted yes, and you’re responding!” said Rachel Siegel, a member of the group, during public comment at the council meeting on Monday. “I do think the resolution could be slightly better,” she noted.
But, she added, “I am so grateful that you’re responding and that you’re listening to the will of the people.”
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“The Air Force would be more than happy to accommodate not supplying VT with 18 of them”
I’m not sure what your thesis is. This conjecture only strengthens the case that the Mayor should veto the council’s resolution.
You are making an assumption that the Airforce is looking to slash F-35’s orders with Lockheed, and those being delivered to VTANG could be on the chopping block. Whether an accurate assumption or not (let’s remember congress just gave the Pentagon an additional $61 billion, far more than Trump’s requested increase–money that must be spent by fiscal year end), such logic should necessitate an even stronger response from the Mayor in support of the F-35’s and a rejection of the council’s resolution.
I can’t tell if you are opposing the F-35 basing plan or simply trying to make pessimistic comments that VTANG’s doomed regardless of any actions taken by the Mayor or council body.
“Cray labeled the letter to Wilson ‘an unfortunate distraction’ and irrelevant.”
——–
And this is who we are supposed to believe will care for and be respectful to the community in how the F-35 is operated (such as flight times (night flights?), takeoff and landing patterns, and afterburner use)?
Yea right! Once the jets are here the community members are done for. They will have no voice, figuratively and literally as they are drowned out by noise 4x louder than the current F-16s.
Whether Miro signs or vetoes this advisory resolution matters little. He’s just another citizen weighing in on Question 6, but gets to vote twice, like the city councilors did.
What does matter is that the ballot question passed with a substantial majority and the council resolution passed by more than two thirds.
Our senators and congressman, representatives of we the people, are unswayed by the voice of the people when it is not saying what they want to hear. Like Miro, perhaps, they are ambivalent about democracy.
After having been close and personal with the F35 quite some time and having spent time with the F16 I can say there really is not much of a differnce to the human ear. I honestly think the F35 is more pleasent because it has a lower pitch. This nation and our communities have bigger more pressing issues, lets move on.
If you have any doubt as to what Weinberger will do then you are not following the money.
Read the EIS from the Air Force before you state your opinion(s) regarding jobs, the Air Guard, preferred basing locations, etc.
BDE-
No one is denying that the F-35 contract was an extremely poorly managed boondoggle, with the only “winners” being Lockheed shareholders and associated sub-contractors.
What F-35 supporters are saying–the Mayor being one of them–is that the planes are here, and our denying them a basing opportunity at BTV will not have any effect on the bloated contract and cost-overrun with Lockheed (for which Senator Sanders is to blame; if you don’t like the budget-busting boondoggle then let’s elect more Rand Pauls). Rather if we cancel the planned basing all that will happen is the economic activity and infrastructure investments will be made in South Carolina or Utah, rather than here in Burlington and South Burlington. It’s about keeping our Guard healthy so they can continue to provide benefit to our region.
The Chamber of Commerce want the F-35s because War means money, especially in the pockets of the Chamber of Commerce. Miro is an eager and obedient servant of the Chamber and will do what he is told to do by them.
Righties love to say that jet fighters flying overhead is the “sound of Freedom” but hate to pay the taxes that are needed to put those aircraft up there or pay for Veteran’s healthcare when they return from our endless Wars for Corporate Profits ( aka the War on Terror).
Idiotic tax cuts coupled with Endless wars and endless military spending is hollowing out the country. Only a willfully ignorant dunce could not see it.
Please veto this horrendous resolution.
The Mayor has sold the public on his record of “fiscal responsibility” during his recent Mayoral campaign. Requesting that the airforce cancel the planned F-35 basing and forgo the Guard’s $100’s of millions in infrastructure improvements at the airport (not to mention the 100’s of jobs, many of those jobs are filled by Burlingtonians and City taxpayers) is the complete opposite of fiscal responsibility.
Exciting times are ahead at the Guard base. Airforce officials and Lockheed Martin consultants will come to Burlington, and maybe stay in the city’s hotels and eat out at restaurants on Church Street, enhancing local options tax revenues. This is economic activity that we should be encouraging.
You can not call yourself fiscally responsible and pro-growth and be against the F-35’s. Councilors Tracy and Dieng do not consider themselves to be pro-growth, that is fine though I disagree. But the Democratic councilors are trying to have their cake and eat it too.
Paco DeFrancis
BTV GOP
What Mayor Weinberger and the people of Burlington have to say about the basing of F-35’s is as irrelevant as children thinking that they can determine the gun laws in this country. Lots of luck, but don’t hold your breath.