Shelter Island Reporter Editorial
When something isn’t working in private business, you consult with your customers and staff and make adjustments as you move ahead.
In the public sector, that isn’t always the case.
And although it’s often shortsighted to compare running a business to governing in a democracy, last week’s decision by the Federal Aviation Administration to extend its North Shore helicopter route four more years is a prime example of a government sticking with the status quo instead of making adjustments to a broken system in response to public input.
In fact, in this particular instance, the government agency never even accepted feedback from the residents affected by the decision it was making.
Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) and Assemblyman Fred Thiele, Jr. (I-Sag Harbor) along with a growing chorus of residents have been calling on the FAA to either adopt a South Shore route or force helicopter pilots to fly as far east as Plum Island before making their way to the South Fork, the destination of most helicopter traffic over Long Island.
Advocates have argued for years that noise from helicopters crossing overland in Southold, Riverhead and Shelter Island towns as they approach airports on the South Fork has seriously disrupted the quality of life for residents.
In the private sector, you lose customers and eventually go out of business if you operate this way.
No matter where you fall on the helicopter-noise-is-a-major-problem spectrum — from “it doesn’t bother me at all” to “it sounds like Fallujah” — it should frustrate you to see the FAA blindly push forward with a plan many local residents and government officials believe is a total failure.
Southold Town residents are so disgusted, the elected officials there are discussing spending tax dollars to fight this decision.
Should the FAA administrator resign? Are our state’s Democratic senators to blame for the route being extended?
These are all questions being asked because the FAA didn’t allow a region it serves to be heard on an issue that is vitally important to many. That is a serious problem and one that is unfortunately not unique to that particular agency of our federal government.
