Dear Editor,

Some are upset about the personal requests for police assistance from the council members and the mayor. OK, be mad, but the real problems of Oakdale exist when a city council is not made up of independent and a-political members. It is time to vote out the incumbents and breathe some fresh air into our city government.

 Past bad decisions:

• No big box retail allowed or large industrial operations courted

• Relied only on real estate taxes and sales taxes

• “Scuttle or ignore the airport” agenda since 1998

• Bought Hershey’s visitor center for $650,000 and spent $350,000 to renovate it

• Wasted $100,000’s on legal fees over, in my opinion, stupid confrontations

• Fired a professional city manager over his objection to Bridle Ridge fire station cost and his support of the airport improvements

The general fund is eroded, no new enterprises were generated, and city services are reduced or eliminated. The airport, now a pre-cemetery for old flyers like me, is rotting away. Gates are not secure and malfunctioning, lighting is inadequate. Gas pump, old and cranky, sold only 300 gallons per month. No new enterprise is sought. The only aviation business on the airport has become a trucking company with a formal request to cut the rent in half in lieu of a long term lease the city may not grant. The Airport commission is loaded with personnel from EAA, the only operation enjoying improvements, yes EAA funded, because the city has abandoned its responsibility to spend anything on the airport other than minimal upkeep.

Bill Bradford,

10-year airport tenant