Okay, here we go again.
I got yet another postcard yesterday, lying to me, to all of us, about how we "need a new airport" and all the reasons behind it.
Today's blatant ugliness and misrepresentation of truth and facts blares out the following:
"A Better KCI =
Thousands of Jobs +
More Than $! Billion
in Economic Impact"
And see? Here's what's wrong, so very wrong about that.
First, when they call it "economic impact", they describe it as "more than $1 billion."
But when they talk about cost? When they talk about the price of this boondoggle?
Then they only call it $1 billion.
I say again, don't kid yourself, ladies and gentlemen, let's not kid ourselves. If they get this shiny, new, single terminal airport, it's going to cost MORE THAN 1 BILLION DOLLARS.
Let there be no doubt.
Second, this thing calls for "thousands of jobs."
Well, yeah, sure. I get that, we get that. It takes lots of people to build an airport.
But guess what?
Those are temporary jobs. The airport only takes so long to build. Then those jobs go away.
As a matter of fact, the new, single terminal airport they're proposing would actually have FEWER gates than the 3 terminals we have now. Seems as though, if they get their shiny new toy, there would be LESS jobs, ultimately, since fewer people would be needed to run the place.
I propose an alternate idea and solution, once more.
How about we only spend half of that? Or, heck, even two-thirds that much, of that 1 billion dollars, and update and modernize and repair our existing airport, instead of throwing it away?
--We end up with the better, more functioning and better looking airport we want and need
--We don't blow through more than 1 billion dollars
--We don't end up walking away from and almost literally throwing away 3 good, functioning, attractive, very convenient buildings and a lot of others
--and finally, we don't end up raising the prices of the tickets for flying in and out of our city.
Because while the Mayor and all the proponents of this new, more than 1 billion dollar airport want to keep saying "It won't be paid for with your taxes" or "We don't end up paying for it", we do, in fact, end up paying for it.
We pay for it in higher prices to fly into and out of our city and region.
Which brings up another one of their lies.
They say this new airport is supposed to bring more people to our city.
In the first place, I've shown here, earlier, how our current airport, as badly and poorly managed as it has been and is, up to now, has seen month to month and year to year growth in the numbers of people using our airport. So already that's not an isssue.
So how, exactly, do you INCREASE the number of people coming into your city and region by RAISING THE PRICE, the cost of doing just that, of flying into your city?
And of course the answer is, you don't.
So let's get serious. Let's get real here.
Let's start being responsible, modernize and update and repair our existing airport and terminals, make them more attractive and functional again while we also do the fiscally responsible thing as well as the environmentally responsible.
It's not as "fun" or sexy as talking about a bright, shiny, new, single terminal airport but it's the smart and right thing to do.
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