SYRACUSE -- After years of legal battles over taxes and government control, the transformation of Hancock International Airport is officially underway with a 9-0 vote by the Syracuse Common Council.
City lawmakers voted Monday to ask the State Legislature to consider allowing Syracuse to create an Airport Authority to run Hancock. If it passes in Albany, Hancock would join every other major airport in the state in being run by an independent authority with tools to make it more like a private business. There is also the promise that an authority would be better positioned to bring in lower cost airlines and reduce the price of flying in and out of Central New York.
Common Councilor Pat Hogan, chair of the airport committee, said "It was a unanimous vote today for a Home Rule Message to ask the state legislature to allow the city to form an airport authority. Hopefully the local delegation in Albany will forward that to the rest of the legislature so they can vote on it."
Assemblywoman Joan Christensen has been working on the legislation for several years. She says today's vote may have come too late. Christensen says it's unlikely the legislature will be back in session before the end of the year. The Common Council may need to approve another Home Rule Message before the legislature's session in 2011.
Monday's vote clears up some of the remaining issues that have dogged the idea of an authority for years. Back in October, the Airport Committee did not take action on a "Home Rule Message" that would request the State Legislature to approve the proposal to create an authority. Mayor Stephanie Miner withdrew the legislation last week after organized labor claimed that an authority might not adhere to an ordinance that requires companies doing business with the city to pay a "living wage." It appears those issue have now been resolved.
If it passes in Albany, it will come back to Syracuse. The council would then have to put together a service agreement to set up the operational structure of the airport authority. It would be between the city and the authority, handling the details would be very involved, Hogan said.
Hogan says he doesn't expect it to be rejected in Albany. Since it was a unanimous vote here, he doesn't see the state going against local wishes.
