Port of Portland Board of Commissioners Scheduled to Meet in Hillsboro

Approval of the Hillsboro Airport Master Plan Update Expected

March 10, 2019

Date: Wednesday, 3/13/19
Time: 9:30 am
Location: Hillsboro Civic Center
Address: 150 E. Main St, Hillsboro, OR 97123

A copy of the agenda and other informational materials related to this meeting are available at https://www.portofportland.com/CommissionMaterials.

The members of the Board of Port of Portland (Port) Commissioners are expected to adopt the Hillsboro Master Plan Update at their 3/13/19 meeting. The cost of the proposed expansion and development projects included in the master plan comes to more than $135 million over the next 20 years. Typically the Port's non-elected commissioners foist their decision making on area residents from their perch at Portland International Airport, but for this meeting they are making an exception so that they can issue their latest decree in Hillsboro.

The Port Board of Commissioners oversees three airports owned and operated by the Port - Portland International, the largest commercial airport in the state and two general aviation airports, Hillsboro and Troutdale, which cater in large part to an international flight training school, Hillsboro Aero Academy, a company owned primarily by out of state investment corporations. The academy contracts with China's state-owned airlines as well as Japanese and Taiwanese aviation companies. In addition it recruits foreign pilots from across the globe. Per their website, the academy has trained pilots from over 75 countries. Needless to say the noise and pollution generated by one of the largest flight training schools in the country has had a significant negative impact on the environment as well as the health and well-being of the community.

Only two of the current commissioners on the 9-member Port Commissioner Board reside in Washington County. Nevertheless, this board feels entitled to force their will on the people of this community based on recommendations from the Hillsboro Master Planning Committee whose members were selected and approved by the Port.

Hillsboro Airport – Environmental Impact

HIO, which primarily serves the international flight training industry, recreational flyers, air taxis, and corporate, business, and personal jet owners, is one of the largest fossil fuel burning facilities in the region. As such it poses a serious threat to the planet. Given the tragic loss of life and property due to extreme weather events including floods, wildfires, and hurricanes, it would make more sense to decrease aviation activity especially flight training and recreational flights. But sadly HIO, with Port approval, continues to compromise the environment, ignore the perils of global warming and ride roughshod over rights of area residents.

Flight training, in particular, involves repetitive circling over communities, neighborhoods, schools, day-care centers and homes both close in and at a distance from the airport. Yet in keeping with the pro-corporate, autocratic approach that has become a prominent hallmark of Oregon governance, Washington County residents, who are all too frequently plagued by the relentless noise and pollution generated by HIO, are denied a democratic voice in the process.

Bear in mind that HIO is the largest facility source of airborne lead pollution in Oregon, yet no actual lead monitoring equipment has ever been placed on the airport property, downwind of HIO, or in the engine run-up areas, the three places identified by the EPA as the most likely locations for lead emissions to occur. In addition this airport is one of the top three facility sources in Washington County of a number of other toxic pollutants including PM2.5, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide, acrolein, 1,3 butadiene, ethyl benzene, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde. But to date, none of this has been addressed by the Port Commissioners, whose loyalties to corporate and foreign interests seem to completely obscure their ability to actually monitor, measure and reduce the negative environmental and livability impacts posed by this airport.

Hillsboro Airport Master Plan Planning Advisory Committee

In an effort to maintain a pretense of community involvement, the Port, in consultation with City of Hillsboro and Washington County pro-airport advocates, essentially hand-picked an 18 member HIO master planning committee. Their membership roster reads like a who's who of corporate and aviation business circles. The majority of members are Port, FAA, aviation business representatives and government appointees that expect to profit from aviation activity. The full list is available at http://cdn.portofportland.com/pdfs/2017_0227_HIOMP_PAC1_Draft%20Notes%20Final.pdf.

Aviation interests represented on the committee:

• Steve Nagy - General Manager of the Hillsboro Airport
• Casey Sherwood - FAA Air Traffic Control Manager
• Deanna Palm - Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce and PCC Board member (PCC's Aviation Science program partners with Hillsboro Aero Academy to promote pilot training over the homes and neighborhoods of area residents). Many of the students in the program are recruited from overseas and out of state.
• Ryan McCartney - Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer for Hillsboro Aviation
• Dirk Wittig - Northwest Aircraft Maintenance
• Scott Gratsinger - Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
• Monika Johnson - Airway Science for Kids

Government appointees on the committee:

• Jerry Willey - Committee Chair. He is a former mayor of Hillsboro who currently serves as a Washington County commissioner. He and his colleagues have a lengthy history of compromising the environment as well as the health of their constituents on behalf of aviation and corporate interests.
• Colin Cooper - City of Hillsboro Planning Director
• Andrew Singelakis - Washington County Land Use and Transportation Director

Three of the four Citizen at Large positions went to people from the aviation and corporate sectors:

• Charles Hagele - a pilot who has worked at HIO for 20 years and served as part of a helicopter manufacturer's focus group. In his initial application to the committee, he stated, "I will be an advocate for the airport..."
• Keyanus Jacobo - Executive Administrator for Nike
• Alison Elmer - Corporate Affairs for Intel
• Juan Carlos Gonzalez - Centro Cultural de Washington County. During his tenure on the committee he was elected to serve as a Metro Councilor.

The committee also included a Youth Citizen at Large appointee, Trent Robinson, because of his interest in pursuing aviation interests.

The sole Environmental representative on the committee, Senior Water Resource Engineer with Clean Water Services, Jadene Strensland, made it known at the first meeting that she valued and gave precedence to the social and economic impacts of the airport over environment concerns, demonstrating that like her colleagues at the DEQ, she has essentially capitulated to industry while pretending to serve in an environmental capacity. For additional details see page 4 of the 2/27/18 PAC meeting notes at http://cdn.portofportland.com/pdfs/2017_0227_HIOMP_PAC1_Draft%20Notes%20Final.pdf.

The two remaining members, Henry Oberhelman and Kimberly Culbertson, previously served on the now inactive Hillsboro Airport Roundtable Exchange (HARE) and were subsequently chosen by the Port to serve on the master planning committee.

Hillsboro Airport – Ownership and Port Governance

According to the Hillsboro Airport Master Planning documentation, "the Hillsboro Airport is owned by the Port of Portland, which is a regional government agency with boundaries that encompass Washington, Clackamas, and Multnomah counties. A nine-member Commission sets Port policy. The Port Commission is comprised of members appointed by the Governor, and confirmed by the State Senate, who serve four-year terms." Two commissioners must reside in each of the three counties within the Port boundaries. The remaining three can reside anywhere in the state.

Essentially the Port of Portland is accorded municipality status on par with cities and counties yet there is no mechanism in place for a democratic vote of the people. This has lead to airport and aviation policies that are reflective of a government of, by, and for corporate and foreign interests.

Background on the Port of Portland Commission

In a democratic society the representatives of municipalities such as cities and counties are elected by a vote of the people. This of course helps to insure that those who pay taxes and are required to abide by the decisions made by these agencies have a voice in the process.

The Port of Portland has been accorded municipality status, empowering it to pass ordinances, levy taxes, declare eminent domain and engage in other activities that typically require a vote of the people, yet the commissioners appointed to oversee Port operations have by wealth and by stealth managed to elude democratic process for nearly a century.

A review of Port commissioner bios on the Port website (see https://www.portofportland.com/Leadership) reveals that both Washington County appointees have strong ties to corporate interests. Pat McDonald has been employed by Intel for close to 20 years and is currently Vice President of Intel's Human Resources Group. Tom Tsuruta worked at AEON USA, which is head-quartered in New York https://www.manta.com/c/mm8mtz5/aeon-u-s-a-inc from 1990 to 2010 in various vice president capacities and as a general manager. He is currently serving as a Senior Advisor to AEON Co. LTD which is head-quartered in Japan and is described as one of the largest retailers in Japan. See https://www.aeon.info/en/aboutaeon/. There are also branches of AEON in China and Malaysia.

It's really quite a stretch to believe that either of these commissioners or anyone else serving on the Port Board have any interest whatsoever in the greater good of this community beyond their economic bottom line. If they did it would be fair to assume that they would have taken the time to openly interact with members of the community about how being bludgeoned day in and day out by noise and pollution generated by inconsiderate self serving pilots affects the livability and quality of life of people who reside in the community.

Most people don't even know who their Port appointees are, as Port commission members have historically exhibited little interest in the people residing in these jurisdictions. Instead they use their positions to promote corporate profits and aviation business interests largely by exploiting the people they claim to represent.