City, state continue to clash over airport board authority

Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly’s appointed airport board, meeting at the same time as a state appointed airport board at Chattanooga City Hall.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- “I think shock and awe was where I was.”

Who is the current board of the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport? It depends on who you ask.

There are two competing groups who both claim to be the legitimate board of the airport.

Tennessee state officials including Governor Bill Lee, Lt. Governor Randy McNally, and Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton would say a group of six individuals they appointed to serve on the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority (CMAA) are the current board.

This is after a state law authorizing them to pick six of the nine spot on all major Tennessee airport boards went into effect this month.

However, Chattanooga mayor Tim Kelly along with the already established CMAA entirely picked by the mayor’s administration say they are still in charge of decision making at the airport.

Both claim that the other board is illegitimate.

Harriette McKeldin-Stokes is the Vice Chairwoman of the airport board appointed by the city of Chattanooga.

They had been the uncontested board of the airport until last Thursday when those six state appointments took their seats.

However, Mayor Kelly, who according to that state law can appoint three of the nine members, has refused to acknowledge the existence of the state appointed board, not appointing anyone to those three spots.

He instead is continuing to back the locally appointed board, and allowed them to meet inside his office Monday afternoon.

The locally appointed board normally meets at the airport, but the state appointed board will not allow them to meet there at this time.

Mayor Kelly told us, “The Chattanooga Airport Authority Board is meeting here at City Hall today. I was not part of that meeting. This is the official board as far as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is concerned so they’re having one of their regular board meetings.”

According to the legal counsel for the city, John Konvolinka, the FAA has notified them that they will not decide which board they will deem as the official airport board at this time.

This is because the city of Chattanooga has sued the state of Tennessee over the law that created this situation, arguing it is unconstitutional.

Mayor Kelly has maintained that the state should not get to choose the board because most funding for the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport comes from local dollars, and the city donated the land to create the airport decades ago.

Meanwhile, the state has argued they control most of transportation spending for state airports, and therefore should get to choose who runs them.

There is already an ongoing legal battle between the Republican controlled state legislature and the Democratic controlled Metro Nashville-Davidson County over their airport board, as Mayor Kelly asserted that, “Chattanooga is collateral damage in a fight between the state and Nashville.”

Konvolinka says that in his legal opinion, the new law is unenforceable as, “It does not mean that the board that was in place at the time of this statue has changed.”

McKeldin-Stokes said that this whole situation has surprised the locally appointed board.

She said, “I was very confused because the FAA had not given us any direction as to what to do and they are the governing body. I was very confused as to what was transpiring and why it was transpiring and I am very concerned.”

The state appointed board also met Monday at the exact same time to re-approve their initial actions from last week, which included withdrawing the airport from the city’s lawsuit.

Konvolinka said this was due to procedural errors in last week’s meeting that required the re-reading of those resolutions.

The chairwoman of that board, Shannon Burger, had told us at that initial meeting they were focused on moving forward.

Burger said, “I would love nothing more than to work alongside the former board figure out what is needed to help them in their transition out. They obviously served our community well.”

The vice-chairman of that board, Jonathan Cantrell, had added “We have a wonderful airport. I think it’s a wonderful board and I think with the choices that lie before us. I think we can all work together to have a positive outcome.”

McKeldin-Stokes says that while there is no animosity towards the individuals appointed by the state, she believes the locally appointed board deserves to remain in place.

She says to airport employees and travelers, “I think that they should not worry at this point. We are still the current board and we will do everything we can to keep things to status quo, emphasizing customer service.”

There was supposed to be a hearing in Hamilton County Chancery Court Monday afternoon to resolve the city’s lawsuit against the state of Tennessee.

However, that was postponed due to a three judge panel not yet being selected.