Editorial: Ousting airport authority members was vindictive move
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What would Arnold Palmer think?
The question must be on the minds of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority members and those who knew the Latrobe-born professional golfer, after county commissioners removed Donald “Doc” Giffin and authority Chairman Paul Puleo from the board.
The county airport is named for Palmer, the favored son who brought national attention with his prominence in his sport. Giffin, his longtime right-hand man, would often stand in for Palmer on the nine-member board and officially took the seat after Palmer died in 2016.
That wasn’t enough to save him from a political power struggle.
Commissioners Doug Chew and Gina Cerilli Thrasher cast the votes to replace the two men. They also pushed for months to have the authority pursue proposals from other possible operators for the airport’s restaurant.
In April, the commissioners raised issues with the seemingly automatic re-upping of the lease to DeNunzio’s Italian Chophouse. They wanted the process to be opened up to other tenants and potentially more revenue. The authority said in May it would delay action to renew the agreement. But come June, the new lease was approved for five years with two more five-year options. The terms almost doubled the rent for the restaurant and took the banquet room rent from $500 per quarter to $500 per month.
But the commissioners weren’t happy. Thrasher says she wants to see all seven of the board members who opposed her on the matter to be replaced. The removal of Giffin and Puleo leaves just five more.
Giffin called the move vindictive, and he’s not wrong. Thrasher’s comments make it seem that her issue is more with having her personal authority defied than having the authority board make a decision she disliked.
That doesn’t mean the commissioners don’t have a point. The authority’s board has an obligation to act transparently, openly and in the best fiduciary interest of the county. Without soliciting additional bids for the restaurant operation, there’s no way to prove that DeNunzio’s is the best interested party.
But openly stating an intention to systematically remove people who don’t fall in line is an overly aggressive approach. This might be a time for the commissioners to think about Palmer and his approach on the links. Taking a big swing might help in some instances, but used indiscriminately, it can just lead to getting stuck in the sand. This might have been the time to putt.