Members of Save Our Skies gathered 3,000 signatures on a petition to get a measure about the jets on the ballot and have since spent an estimated $15,000 advocating for a “yes” vote, according to lead organizer Jimmy Leas.
The question asks whether voters will “advise the City Council to: 1) request the cancellation of the planned basing of the F-35 at Burlington International Airport, and 2) request instead low-noise-level equipment with a proven high safety record appropriate for a densely populated area.”
“This is such an important issue for health and safety,” Leas said. “Let the people decide. It shouldn’t be decided for them.”
Supporters of the ballot question handed out lawn signs, sent mailers, and have taken out nearly a dozen ads in Seven Days and the Burlington Free Press. They’ve set up at mayoral debates and the Burlington Farmers Market to hand out flyers. A GoFundMe page has raised $3,300 for the cause.
A group called the Coalition for a Livable Winooski has also taken out newspaper ads calling for Burlingtonians to vote yes on the ballot item because the added noise from the jets “means 75 percent of us will end up in an extreme noise zone so dangerous the government classifies it as ‘unfit for residential use.'”
“In 2015, we voted to oppose the basing,” the ad reads. “But, we had no power because you own the airport.”
Meanwhile, proponents of the planes are fighting back, at times sparking fiery exchanges on Front Porch Forum.
Ernie Pomerleau, the head of Pomerleau Real Estate and son of the late Tony Pomerleau, has taken out his own fair share of newspaper ads and paid for postings on Front Porch Forum. He declined to say how much he’d spent. Neither side is required to report their spending to the state because the question is non-binding.
“I got tired listening to the misconceptions and misinformation, so I went to bat,” said Pomerleau, who included in his ads seven different reasons residents should vote no on the measure. He reiterated the Air Force’s claim that the F-35 is the Vermont Air National Guard’s “only mission” and said the jets will bring jobs to the area.
He called Save our Skies “deceptive” for contending that a ban on the planes would be a message of support for VTANG. “That’s bullshit,” he said.
Another group, Green Ribbons for the F-35, is also advocating for a vote against the ballot measure by posting regularly on social media. Members have scheduled a VTANG appreciation night this week, where they plan to sell F-35 hats.
Despite all the tension, the ballot item may have no effect whatsoever. It’s advisory, and the mayor has no authority to reverse the decision. When the Air Force chose Burlington for F-35 basing in 2013, all three members of the Vermont congressional delegation supported the decision, as did the Vermont Air National Guard.
Members of Save our Skies have fought the F-35s since the Burlington City Council voted to allow the plan to move forward in 2013. The group eventually brought a lawsuit against the Air Force, which a judge dismissed in 2016.
But “military plans in other cities have been scrapped or greatly reduced in scope following intense pushback from community and political leaders,” VTDigger.org reported on February 6. At least one city forced the military to reduce the operations and number of F-35s slated for its base, according to the Digger article.
The jets are scheduled to arrive in Burlington in 2019. Airport alterations are already underway to accommodate the new aircraft.
Weinberger said he supports the basing of the F-35s; Driscoll acknowledged that the mayor’s office has little power over the matter; a third candidate, Infinite Culcleasure, has previously said he opposes the planes.
But for those handing out flyers and sending out mailers, the effort isn’t in vain.
Charles Simpson, a Progressive candidate for the Ward 6 city council seat and a leader of Save our Skies, sees the advocacy work as an example for other communities. “If we can get a positive vote, it’ll resonate across the country,” Simpson said.
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If you haven’t made up your mind or are willing to change it, reading Front Porch Forum postings, one titled, “No Tricks, Just the Truth about the F-35,” and the other, “Why I’m Voting No on VT Air National Guard (Item 6)” may be helpful. I think you will find one posting straightforward and well documented, while the other is light on actual facts and heavy on wishful thinking.
Here’s what’s “bullshit”, Mr. Pomerleau: thousands of homes suffering loss of equity thanks to discretionary bombers exceeding 100 decibels based in Vermont’s most populated, economic center. Take a drive past the airport and witness the empty lots. Each lot once held a middle-class dream. Then take a drive through Winooski with the same image in mind.
But surely a commercial realtor like Mr. Pomerleau has no horse in this race. Surely he will show courage by promising to not bid or contract for land in the surrounding area to show his true community support. Won’t you, Mr. Pomerleau?
Seven Days please note: your article states that Pomerleau “reiterated the Air Force’s claim that the F-35 is the Vermont Air National Guard’s “only mission”.
This is uncategorically false (or “bullshit” as Pomerleau is fond of sayiing). It is NOT the Air Force’s claim that the F35 is the “only mission” for our Guard. That “only mission” falsehood comes from the F35 supporters, not the Air Force, which is the actual entity that provides VTANG with its missions. It’s unfortunate that the writer of this article did not refute this oft repeated claims of the F35 supporters.
For factual reporting, here is what the Air Force officially stated in its EIS, and later re-confirmed in federal court:
“If there is no F-35a operational beddown at Burlington AGS, the current mission would continue.”
(Revised DEIS Appendix E #PA-16, page PA-47 )
The AF also stated in federal court that, ” there could have been any number of reasonable alternatives available to the Air Force on how to configure Burlington.
(Federal court records (Case No 5:14-cv-132, Defendants Memo in Opposition to Plaintiffs Motion), March 7, 2016, page 59-60)
Pomerleau does not speak for the AF, and neither does VTANG leadership. Please keep this in mind as the barrage of television and print ads start to fill your eyes and ears in this last week before the Burlington vote.
Please VOTE YES! on Ballot Item #6 to save our skies from the F35s!
Members of the Guard: Join us in requesting safe equipment!
The best way to support the men and women of the Vermont Air National Guard and their mission “to protect the citizens of Vermont” is to vote Yes on Ballot Item 6 to request cancellation of the F-35 and to request equipment for them that is low noise and safe to base in a densely populated city.
The US Air Force says the extreme noise of the F-35 will degrade the health of thousands of families in Burlington, Winooski, Williston and South Burlington. Harming thousands of families would totally and completely violate the Vermont Air Guard’s mission “to protect the citizens of Vermont.”
According to Burlington’s own Board of Health, the World Health Organization, and the US Air Force itself especially harmed will be children and elderly.
You cannot support the members of the Guard and their mission by supporting equipment for them that harms children and elderly: people they are pledged to protect. Supporting such equipment is the opposite of supporting the men and women of the Guard.
Basing dangerous equipment like the F-35 will be incredibly bad for the Vermont Air Guard, no matter what its leadership and developers are saying now.
I call on all members of the Guard to stand up to any leadership or developer who says otherwise. I call on members of the Guard to join with citizens requesting alternative equipment for the Guard. Equipment that does no harm to children and the elderly.
I have to say, these Burlington residence are idiots. This is a matter of national security and they’re making a big fuss about it. Like I’ve said before, F-16s have been flying there and no one seemed to mind. F-35s are set to replace the F-16s which is louder than the F-35s. All this is, is a bunch of hippies looking for something to protest the government with. Cohen is a confused individual, a man who made millions from his corporation and is now Bernie supporter. I honestly can’t believe that this is even a thing that’s going on in VT. I’m still puzzle how the noise is harmful and that speed above mach 1 is illegal in residential area so they will not be breaking the sound barrier unless it’s a nation emergency. That fact that Cohen said they need low noise equipment is beyond idiotic. Are they suppose to protect the skies with prop planes instead? This is a man who’s clearly delusional and bored with himself so he’s trying to make noise of his own. A rich man who made millions from capitalism and now turned socialist, how can he even be taken seriously?