- Target:
- Mayor Arnold, Commissioner Strong, and Commissioner Miller
- Region:
- United States of America
There is no doubt that Valparaiso faces a challenging future as the arrival of the Joint Strike Fighter and its noise present formidable challenges. If the United States Air Force (USAF) is permitted to do all it desires, our city and our quality of life will be detrimentally affected.
Over the past year, our city elected officials worked hard, they persisted, and they took risks to protect our citizens from great loss. Those efforts paid off and the USAF agreed in February to substantial temporary concessions for JSF operations which will protect Valparaiso from high noise levels.
Despite these concessions, our city commission decided in late February to pursue litigation. This approach is harmful to Valparaiso, Okaloosa County, and the mission of the USAF. We need to let Mayor Arnold, Commissioner Strong, and Commissioner Miller know that we do not support litigation.
The concessions made by Air Force are the starting point for open and meaningful negotiations. Join us in asking our elected officials to end litigious activity and to immediately begin working with the incoming Air Armament Center Commander and current JSF program executive officer, Maj Gen Charles Davis, and with Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Kathleen Ferguson to forge a permanent compromise which benefits Valparaiso, Okaloosa County, and the United States Air Force.
We the undersigned:
Thank you for your persistent effort in the past year as you worked through the difficult issues associated with the 2005 BRAC implementation and the arrival of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
We desire to respect your authority as elected officials and to encourage you to be good stewards of our tax dollars and to make wise decisions, remembering that your actions will affect us and our future generations as well as residents of Okaloosa County and their future generations.
We believe your efforts are beginning to bear fruit in the form of concessions from the United States Air Force (USAF). This process must continue, for there is no doubt we need permanent operational and physical restrictions to protect our quality of life. But it must be done with consideration to the other parties involved: specifically, to allow the USAF to begin preparations for JSF arrival and to enable Okaloosa County to begin reaping some of the economic benefit we will receive from this program.
We, therefore, vigorously oppose your decision to begin litigious actions against the USAF. We believe this adversarial process to be disadvantageous to all parties affected.
We resolutely ask that you immediately end all current and pending litigation and begin working with the incoming Air Armament Center Commander and current JSF program executive officer, Major General Charles Davis, and with Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Kathleen Ferguson to forge a permanent compromise which benefits Valparaiso, Okaloosa County, and the United States Air Force.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The End the City of Valparaiso's JSF Record of Decision Litigation petition to Mayor Arnold, Commissioner Strong, and Commissioner Miller was written by Rick Woelfl and is in the category Local Government at GoPetition.