Viewpoint: No Call For Secrecy At MidAmerica Airport
BELLEVILLE, IL (August 22, 1999) -- St. Clair County will use any excuse to operate in secrecy, it seems. The latest example involves a company that wants a contract involving MidAmerica Airport.
The Public Building Commission last week met for two hours in closed session with the company A3M, also known as Airport Third Millennium. St. Clair County Board Chairman John Baricevic said the company asked that its proposal not be released. "They started the meeting with a demand for propriety so I have to honor that," he said.
A company can demand secrecy all it wants, but that doesn't mean a public body has to go along. County officials could tell the company that if it wants to operate here, it has to conduct the public's business in the open. It's not as if the company has technical trade secrets that need protecting. This is a company that wants to combine the management and marketing of the airport.
Baricevic didn't reveal that detail, by the way. It is only thanks to board member Joe Behnken that the public knows even that vague information.
The secrecy surrounding the airport's operations has been a problem for some time. For instance, the public doesn't know the names of the people who work at the airport except for the airport director and a few others.
The county says the company doesn't have to identify the employees because they are private, not public, employees. The detail that they are paid with public money seems lost on Baricevic and Co.
The airport has enough image problems already without adding to them with unwarranted secrecy. Many taxpayers are concerned their money is being wasted operating an airport that still doesn't have regularly scheduled commercial flights. Closed-door negotiations with an airport management firm do nothing to alleviate those concerns.
Editorial Viewpoint provided by
the Belleville News-Democrat
August 22, 1999
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