Oregon Department of Aviation Continues to Squander Public Money on Controversial Aurora Airport Expansion

OREGON DEPARTMENT OF AVIATION EARNS THE OREGON GOLDEN FLEECE AWARD!

AURORA, OR; April 27, 2023 – The Oregon Department of Aviation (ODAV) has earned the Golden Fleece Award for its determination and persistence in wasting taxpayer money in defense of unlawful activities!

Since 2019 ODAV has spent over $295,000 in legal fees unsuccessfully defending legal challenges that the agency engaged in "unlawful" activities at the Aurora State Airport.

Now ODAV has requested $250,000 in State General Fund dollars in the coming biennium for legal fees!

For the past 10+ years, since the release of the controversial 2012 Aurora State Airport Master Plan, ODAV has been embroiled in multiple on-going disputes over how the master plan was prepared, and ultimately if it was ever legally approved and adopted. That master plan changed numerous times during its development, and most of the changes were not publicly transparent. The illegitimate master plan then ballooned from a $7.3 million expansion of the airport to an inexplicable $37 million expansion when ODAV requested permission of the 2018 Legislature to apply for $37 million in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) capital improvement funds for the Aurora State Airport – again with no public transparency.

The amount of public opposition and outrage fueled by the agency's deceptive practices led the Oregon Legislature to commission PSU's Oregon Solutions to conduct a review of the agency's activities and operations. The Aurora State Airport Assessment Report was delivered in December of 2018, and found 16 major Substantive Issues including lack of clarity in the escalation of the cost of airport expansion, land use law violations; broken public process, significant questions about ODAV's capacity and capability to carry out its mission, lack of trust and a completely broken public process.

In spite of this, ODAV continued to support the goals of private special interests at the Aurora State Airport, stating under pressure from those private interests that the 2012 Master Plan had been approved and adopted—though ODAV could not produce a final version adopted by the State Aviation Board. The consequent result was a series of legal actions that began with appeals to the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) and ultimately to the Oregon Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals actions resulted in three decision that included the following conclusions:

"Thus, the Master Plan proposes airport development on EFU [Exclusive Farm Use] land."

"There is no evidence in the record to support LUBA's erroneous findings."

"The county's reasoning collapses entirely."

"There is no factual predicate for the county's decision."

"LUBA was unlawful."

Despite all of this, and under great pressure from the private interests at the Aurora State Airport and with the adamant direction of then-Senator Betsy Johnson, ODAV decided to pursue an Oregon Supreme Court appeal. Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys advised against doing so, yet Johnson spurred ODAV to unite with the private interests, telling the agency that it was the client and DOJ was the attorney and it was up to ODAV to tell DOJ what to do! Thus against the legal advice of the DOJ, ODAV appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court declined to review the appeal!

The cost to date of all this wrong-headed legal activity? $295,212!

Notwithstanding these legal rulings against them, ODAV has continued acting as if nothing has happened, continuing to post the so-called 2012 Aurora State Airport Master Plan and Airport Layout Plan on the ODAV website. The agency has continued to grant leases and easements to private developers beyond the scope of the department's authority. ODAV continues to decline requests for meetings with city officials of the impacted communities adjacent to the airport.

And now, to add insult to injury for the Oregon taxpayer, ODAV has requested $250,000 in FY2023-25 State General Fund revenues for legal fees to continue fighting local governments and land-use conservation organizations!

The Oregon Department of Aviation has earned the Oregon Golden Fleece Award for this unrepentant squandering of public funds that by 2025 appears to total over a half-million dollars.

Download this Golden Fleece Award document in PDF.

For Additional Information, contact Friends of French Prairie: fofp99@gmail.com.