Airport district works on mission statement
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Thursday, January
8, 2004.
By ALLISON GATLIN
Valley Press Staff Writer
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MOJAVE - The East Kern Airport District is about to embark on a path
to defining the future of Mojave Airport.
The five-member board will meet in a special four-hour session Friday
to begin the process of outlining a comprehensive mission statement to
guide the airport and its staff into the future.
"The mission statement is very important because it directs where we need to go," said new director Dick Rutan, who took his seat on the board Tuesday afternoon after being elected in November.
"It keeps everyone focused," Rutan said of the mission statement.
The district staff already is getting assignments for implementing plans for the next five years, said General Manager Stuart Witt, and are looking for a guide to the future.
"We are waiting for a formal mission," he said.
The general aviation airport, east of State Route 14 and south of the Highway 58 bypass, also is known as the Civilian Flight Test Center. The 3,300-acre airport is home to a wide array of commercial, service and industrial businesses, running the gamut from aircraft service and storage to flight test activities and cutting-edge design and manufacturing. It also plays host to non-aviation industries such as rail, printing, warehousing and distribution. The airport also has expanded into space, with seven rocket companies operating there and an application to be the nation's first inland spaceport under review with the Federal Aviation Administration.
The special meeting, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Voyager Restaurant at the airport, is open to the public. However, in order to streamline the process, directors request that public comments be written, and they may be submitted ahead of time.
The Friday meeting is only the first step in what is envisioned as at least a six-month task.
"This is the ultimate policy job," said District Counsel Wayne Lemieux, who will help usher the directors through the process.
Beginning with a collection of broad goals, the board will work to bring their vision into a concise - preferably one sentence - statement of the airport district's purpose.
"It should be spirited," said Witt of the discussions that eventually will result in the mission statement. "It's a sure opportunity to show me the path along which this elected body wants to take this airport."
Public input is desired and will be solicited at various points throughout the process, Lemieux said.
Rutan strongly advocated for public input to the board throughout the process.
"I really want to know what people in the public at large want," he said.
Rutan voiced the desire to have a small working group of two directors begin collecting public input before the entire body meets.
"I think it might move ahead faster and more efficiently," he said. "We may get a better quality product."
However, the board decided to begin the process as a body right away, in order to start things moving quickly. Public input will be gathered parallel to the board's work.
"I think there are a lot of us here who are passionate about this airport,"
and all are anxious to get started, said director Marie Walker. "We've
got enthusiasm. We've got the ball; let's run with it."