Wednesday, July 2, 2003

Airport Authority has done wrong by dedicated PTC public servant

By SALLIE SATTERTHWAITE
sallies@juno.com

This is too ironic. I was debating how I could write in support of soon-to-be-deposed Peachtree City-Falcon Field Manager Jim Savage when a faint memory sent me to an album of old columns. I discovered two things: History sometimes does repeat itself. And the outcry of an offended citizenry can sometimes reverse the bad judgment of government.

I found a column that began like this: "Columnists are not, like newspaper reporters and editors, obliged to remain unbiased and detached from what they print in their newspapers. Within the limits of discretion, the law and good taste, we can say pretty much what we please ....

"Such is the liberty I wish to take today. I believe the government has done a terrible injustice to a good and dedicated public servant,________, and to the citizens that he swore to serve."

That published in February 1989, and the blanks represent the police officer whose career had suddenly ended in a time of turmoil within his department. I could almost continue to copy the column with Savage's name in the blanks.

The officer had served Peachtree City for 15 years with an unblemished record of commendations. He was a good officer and a good friend, and those of us who cared urged him to appeal his dismissal.

The tiny meeting room in old City Hall was jammed for at least a day of testimony. The city manager was the city's point man; accusations were bitter. We set up a fund to help defray the officer's legal costs, and we were there for him. In the end, the appeal succeeded. In that climate, however, he didn't choose to stay long, but his reinstatement was sweet while it lasted.

Fast forward to 2003. Things are a little more complex than they were when City Council was the only employer. The autonomy of an authority is always presumed to be in tenuous balance and when the termination of an employee is called into question, City Council can keep hands off. (Funny how that works. City Hall grabs credit for the good stuff, but those concerned in this instance swear it had no part in the controversy swirling around the Airport Authority's canning Jim.)

Its reasons? Even more vague than those of the police officer's dismissal in 1989, "dereliction of duty to the degree that department performance and morale were affected."

As I asked then, I'll ask now: How did Jim's performance degrade so deplorably that he was never warned, verbally or in writing, or demoted or suspended?

Here are some facts, all public information: Although it's unusual to appoint more than one authority member a year, this year two were appointed because a member moved. Interviewers for the two candidates were Mayor Steve Brown, Councilman Steve Rapson, interim City Manager Colin Halterman, and Airport Authority Chairwoman Cathy Nelmes.

Nelmes was Savage's most outspoken opponent. Of course, she says this was "a very difficult decision" to make, but the authority wanted to move the airport in "a new direction" with "someone who has different skills." They also rewrote the job description of the airport manager.

Yeah, well, I used to cover Airport Authority meetings and I never saw Jim Savage fall short of anything the authority asked of him. From helping design grant applications, to getting out bids, to guiding construction, to making pilots feel at home with little in the way of amenities, Jim did it all, and still made time to talk to a non-flying reporter until she got the technical details of her story right.

In my other favorite memory of this caring caretaker, he's leaning his ample body out of his El Camino, picking up litter or stones on the runway to be absolutely certain nothing would endanger operations.

For people outside the flying community, it may come as a surprise to learn that Peachtree City even has an airport. Which is a sign, I should think, that Savage has done his job extremely well. For 12 years.

The funny thing is that if you want to lease a hangar or other space in this airport, which needs to be taken in "a new direction," you can't. It's 100 percent sold out right now.

When the authority took the Fixed Base Operation away from an inadequate previous manager, the FBO became Savage's responsibility. And the number of airplanes and hangars has doubled under his direction.

The other funny thing happened while I was talking to Cathy Nelmes, the authority's chair. I introduced myself as I always do, with The Citizen.

"[Jim's] job has always been operational," she said. "He was hired to build a new runway. Now we have a rewritten job description." (He was hired to build a new runway?)

This is a job description that authority member Jerry Cobb says he now believes was designed to remove Savage. "Cathy had started working on me over 18 months ago to get Jim out," he said. "She could not get enough support to do it. She tried, but couldn't get the support until the two new members were installed."

Who chose them? I asked Cobb. "Look at the interview committee," he said. "People in this town are pretty smart."

Get this. I asked Nelmes point-blank if Jim had been given an opportunity to serve under the new job description. Her answer was monosyllabic and point-blank too: "No."

I asked her if he had ever been given the opportunity to discuss this in private with the authority: "No."

Before I could ask much more, she cut in to ask if I'm a reporter. I told her I freelance but John Munford has this story. This was for my column, I said.

With great emphasis she said she had read allegations "by Gary Rower" in The Peachtree City Gazette that Steve Brown was behind this, and she wanted me to know that this was not true. "The authority acts independently."

Sorry, Cathy, but I'm not having it. There is too obvious a pattern here. Since Election Day 2000, this city has lost some of its best public servants.

· First to go, before Inauguration Day, EMS medical director of long standing, Bruce Perlman, M.D.

· Jim Williams, city planner, accepted an offer from Fairburn.

· Jim Basinger, longtime city manager

· City Attorney Rick Lindsey

· And I am among those who believe that Tom Farr, Development Authority chair, was under pressure from City Hall so relentless that it contributed directly to his early death.

Some helpful phone numbers: Peachtree City-Falcon Field office: 770-487-2225. Authority chairwoman Cathy Nelmes, 770-632-9806. Members (for dismissal): Matt Davis, 678-364-8865, and James Toombs, 770-487-9002. Members (against dismissal): Jerry Cobb, 770-631-9123 and Doug Fisher, 770-486-6769. City council: Steve Brown, 770-487-7790; Annie McMenamin, 770-487-6436; Steve Rapson, 770-631-4447; Murray Weed, 678-364-0044; Dan Tennant, 770-631-7712.