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Mayor speaks to keep city a no-fly zone
James represents city at airport meeting
By GEORGE MOORE
Mayor Sandra James let her voice be heard on behalf of the city of Cupertino at a forum that was held in San Jose on Aug. 22 to discuss the proposed expansion at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
This was the fourth in a series of forums that previously were held in San Francisco, Oakland and San Mateo, and organized by the GCI Group, a public relations firm hired by SFO.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Jim Beall was one of three who chaired the meeting, and he gave a summary of four previous independent studies released by SFO that looked at various options to quell delay problems the airport has been experiencing.
The first study dealt with managing the demand but found no effective way to shift flights from one airport to another. The second study looked into the possibility of building a fourth airport or using Moffett Field to take up the slack, but Moffett does not appear to be a viable option.
Another plan was to link Oakland Airport with SFO by ferry or tunnel, but it was determined that it would not solve the delays. The last study looked at technological advances in radar that could safely allow planes to land closer together. It appeared that it could solve part of the problem, but it was not a standalone solution.
John Martin, director of SFO, said efforts are under way giving serious considerations to every possible solution.
Mayor Sandra James voiced her concerns about using Moffett Field runways because the flight path would be directly over Cupertino.
"As long as these ideas are being bandied about, we need to be proactive in letting them know how we feel about them," James said. "Until a decision is made, everything is open. The time to react is before they make a decision."
James said this is not just about being a good neighbor; it is about partnership.
"It's not that were not in favor of expanding SFO--we know there's an economic need to do so," James said. "But we can't support doing anything that will cause degradation to our communities."
Ralph Tonseth, director of aviation at San Jose Airport, said all the airports are reaching capacity, and it is not realistic to send flights to San Jose to alleviate the problem. He said in the meantime, ongoing cooperation is needed between all the airports to deal with the needs and increasing demand.
Sean Randolph, president of the economic forum, gave a talk about the economic impact, particularly in the South Bay, and how airport congestion could affect it. He said traditionally, manufactured goods are shipped by land or by sea, but a lot of Silicon Valley products are shipped by air for numerous reasons.
Mark Nelson, speaking on behalf of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said he was for the building of another runway, and from a safety standpoint could not see any other option.
An environmental impact study of the proposed runway has not been issued at this point, so until it comes out, there was not much that could be said about it.
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
