Airport authority amendment passes, goes to Senate for final approval

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tuesday morning the city of Charlotte's last-ditch effort to hold onto control of the airport was shot down by state lawmakers.

After weeks of back and forth fighting, the House passed the bill to strip control of Charlotte Douglas International Airport from the city and give it to a new, regional airport authority.

Mayor Patsy Kinsey released a statement late Tuesday saying that the legislation "will throw our airport into chaos and instability," and that the "City Council has taken significant steps to improve the business operations of our airport."

The city proposed creating an airport commission and sent the proposal to lawmakers on Monday.

Representative Ruth Samuelson, one of the main sponsors of the airport authority bill in the House, called it a "last-minute excuse" to avoid working with the state on an authority study.

She said over the weekend, the state made an offer to the city, saying it would ensure the study would be made up of a fair and equal balance of participants against an authority as well as for it.

"We've been working for four months trying to get them to the table, and in the last 12 hours they submit a commission," she said.

In Raleigh, Samuelson made her case on the House floor.

"We were turned down," she said. "It's not the Charlotte way. It's not the Ruth Samuelson way. But it's the only way we've been left with when we can't get the other side to sit at the table and deal with us as equals."

The authority bill passed almost completely down party lines.

"I'm feeling now that it was really down to politics," Kinsey said.

But Samuelson said the city's proposal never had a chance because it was simply too vague. She zeroed in on the fact that it said the mayor and City Council would appoint members and delegate powers to the commission in areas like contracting and finance but didn't elaborate. The proposal also guarantees other counties at least three members.

In contrast, the authority bill gives delegating powers to the counties of Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, and Union as well for five seats on the board. It devotes nearly three pages to the new board's powers, including leases, purchasing, investigations and construction.

Now, the authority bill has just a stop in the Senate left.

"It's been mentioned on both sides that we did not want to litigate," Kinsey said of the possibility of an impending lawsuit if and when the bill becomes law. "So we'll just see. I don't know."

Charlotte's city manager, Ron Carlee, told Eyewitness News that the city is reviewing the latest version of the bill, which he said it did not see until it was passed.