Darlington County’s Jetport Commission resigns

Darlington County’s Jetport Commission resigned as a group Monday night, frustrated at Darlington County Council’s Aug. 4 decision to remove part of one of the jetport’s runways.

“The jetport commission feels that the county council is not willing to listen to the advice of the commission on matters affecting the aeronautics, the operation of the county jetport, and the jetport facilities,” the commission said in a letter of resignation to council. “We feel that we cannot work under these conditions. Therefore as of this date we must give our resignation.”

The letter was signed by each of the five commission members — Chairman Howell Jeffords and members Thomas Graham, Cleveland Jordan, Jack Ross and John Welker.

The resignations came after Jeffords addressed council on the commission’s concerns about the jetport, along with a list of recommended improvements the commission would like to see. Number one on that list was resurfacing the approach end of runway 34. Council’s Aug. 4 vote accepted a bid to remove part of that runway in keeping with a recommendation from a consulting group studying the jetport.

Jeffords asked council to hold off on its decision to remove the runway to hear the commission’s recommendation. “We understand that we are only an advisory committee and have no decision-making power,” Jeffords said. “However, we ask that the council give us the opportunity to present our recommendation before making a decision to act on matters concerning the jetport.

“Without open communication between the council and the board, you might as well do away with the jetport advisory commission,” Jeffords said.

Four of the jetport commission’s members are pilots who use the runway as their home base. “As pilots, we feel that we have a good idea of what improvements are needed to move the jetport forward,” he said.

Carroll Jordan, a pilot who uses the jetport, said he attended a July 25 work session between council and the commission and said it was his understanding that council would postpone action regarding the runway until it heard from the commission. He said he was surprised to learn later of council’s decision on Aug. 4 to award a contract to remove part of the runway.

Councilwoman Anne Warr, who, according to the minutes of the July 25 work session with the commission, recommended then that the jetport commission make a recommendation to council regarding the runway, said she thought the matter was resolved after that meeting. “We left there that day thinking everybody was happy,” she said.

Warr also called for commission member Thomas Graham to resign for calling her a liar in a published newspaper report. “I would appreciate it if he would resign,” she said.

After the meeting, Graham said he did call Warr a liar, along with council members Dannie Douglas and Wilhelmina Johnson, in the wake of their vote on Aug. 4.

A report published in the Morning News on Aug. 15 quoted Graham as saying, “(Council members) Dannie Douglas, Wilhelmina Johnson and Anne Warr all sat right here and said they didn’t want to tear up that runway. Then they went in there Monday (Aug. 4) to that council meeting and voted to tear it up. they sat right up in here and lied, so you tell me what kind of people do we have in there.”

Councilman Le Flowers offered a motion to rescind council’s Aug. 4 action during Monday’s meeting, but that motion failed to gain a second.

“I think they (the commission) did not look at the safety and liability issues,” council Chairman Billy Baldwin said after the meeting. “I think they were somewhat belligerent toward council.”

Council accepted the resignations, and Baldwin asked council members to come to council’s Sept. 2 meeting prepared to make nominations to fill the five vacancies.