Scottsdale(AZ) City Council Member: Military Jets aren't welcome here

Arizona Republic ^ | 09/22/03

[jmcclain19]

The ear-blasting takeoffs of military fighter jets at suburban Scottsdale Airport have residents buzzing and city officials flying off.

Six fighter jets in three formations of two and another pair of fighters have roared into the general aviation airport in recent weeks for refueling stops.

[jmcclain19]

I am just dumbfounded. In all my time living in AZ I have run across some clueless NIMBY's, but this one takes the cake.

[My2Cents]

These people are incredibly selfish. Reminds me of the sign outside a Naval airbase, which should be put up in Scottsdale: "Please excuse our jet noise. It is the sound of freedom."

[ridesthemiles]

If Scottsdale thinks that OUR jets don't have the right to land at their airport, I am on the record right now: I will NEVER AGAIN attend the largest Arabian Horse show in the country which is held in Scottsdale.
I have been there 2 times in the past and I have spent considerable MONEY. I have a girlfriend who wants to go, and I said I would take her. But if this is the attitude of the movers and shakers of Scottsdale, I will spend my money elsewhere. I own 6 registered Arabian horses, and had good reason to go see the 10 day show. Now I have no reason to be there and spending my hard earned money.

[Poohbah]

Back during the Cold War, I was the duty clerk at MCAS El Toro.

An old biddie called, complaining about the noise made by a jet fighter passing near her home.

I asked if she could see a red star on the fuselage or on the vertical stabilizer.

She replied, "No."

I said, "Thank God, it's one of ours!"

[Theodore R.]

Isn't Scottsdale the original home of that old military booster the late Barry Morris Goldwater?

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

As they say, it's the sound of freedom.

They should be gratefull it's not a military helicopter squandron moving into their neighborhood.

[Theodore R.]

I guess liberalism is alive and thriving in AZ. Is it fueled in part by Goldwater's liberal senatorial successor, John McCain?

[jmcclain19]

Well I don't think its the attitude of the whole council.

In fact at the end of the article another council member is just shocked at the comment.

Just one idiot. If I lived in Scottsdale I'd be thinking its recall time.

[RightWhale]

this one takes the cake

It's shortsighted all right. The military must be familiar with every airstrip and that would include training which involves actual landing on civilian airstrips. Besides, we are at war.

[jmcclain19]

It is, right in downtown Scottsdale's main drag runs Barry Goldwater Blvd.

[princess leah]

How do we get this Wayne Acton's e-mail? Time to give him a little "freedom mail"

[SwinneySwitch]

Wayne, Wayne, Wayne.

You are the she-its!

[steveo]

Back during the Cold War, I was the duty clerk at MCAS El Toro.

When I was a little steveo, I went to a school that was just outside the base MCAS El Toro. Sand Canyon and the 405 fwy. When it was foggy, it was pretty quiet. But on other days, it could get kind of loud. As far as I can remember no one really complained.

[Mears]

You think they are bad you should meet the NIMBYS in Concord,Mass and Lexington,Mass (Hanscom Airport in nearby Bedford).

They consider their towns "historical shrines" and don't like the noise of planes----it destroys the sanctity of the sites. Hogwash!!! Let the planes fly near poorer neighborhoods is really what they are saying.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Well, we should inform the city of Scotsdale that they should raise their own army, air force etc... because if they don't allow our jets there during 'peacetime', we have no intention of ever going there during wartime, no matter how much they beg for help...

[wolficatZ]

Mayor, Council & Government

Mayor and City Council

Councilman Wayne Ecton

E-Mail Councilman Ecton

Councilman Wayne Ecton was elected to his first term on the Scottsdale City Council in March 2002. He previously served on the 2001/2002 Citizens Budget Committee and the Big Box Ideas Team, which helped the city develop an ordinance to regulate the placement and appearance of "big box" retail buildings.

A Scottsdale resident since 1996, Councilman Ecton is a member of the Coalition of Pinnacle Peak, the Greater Pinnacle Peak Homeowners Association, Friends of the McDowell Land Trust and the Foothills Community Foundation. He also is a member of the Scottsdale Center for the Arts, the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, the American Craft Council and the Glass Art Society.

Councilman Ecton retired from Alcoa after 33 years in high-level financial management positions in the U.S. corporate headquarters and International and U. S. operating locations. In his last 13 years with the company, he specialized in managing "turnaround" situations involving mergers and acquisitions at Alcoa subsidiaries.

His international experience includes assignments in Guinea, West Africa and Hungary. In West Africa, his was responsible for all administrative functions - including housing, transportation, utilities, security, food supply, hospital and schools - in a company town. In Hungary, he also served as an advisor to government agencies on health, safety and environmental issues and did volunteer work assisting entrepreneurial start-up businesses.

Councilman Ecton holds a bachelor's degree in business. He was also a member of the Financial Executives Institute until his retirement.

He and his wife Martha have been married for 35 years and have two grown children.

[Alas Babylon!]

On the other hand, this was a VERY good retort to the doof-ass:

Scottsdale air traffic controller Mary Anne Addis reminded the subcommittee that military jets have the right to land at Scottsdale Airport. She turned to Ecton and asked him if he was bothered to see U.S. military jets in the sky after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

[Draakan]

Probably some of the same transplanted Liberal Californians, that had to leave their utopian state because the economy is in the toilet, and taxes are out of sight.

[FreedomCalls]

That "noise" they are complaining about is the sound of freedom.

[elbucko]

An old biddie called, complaining.....

It's always an old biddie. Complaining is what they do.