call to action

Call to Action for All Residents

We need everyone to contact our representatives today (Mon, Apr 10th)!

The next step for HB 1791 (which decommissions the CACC) is the Senate Rules Committee. The bill cannot go further until this committee passes this bill. They met on Apr 6, but this bill was not on the agenda. We must request that they "pull" this bill (discuss and vote on it) in time for the entire Senate to vote on it during this legislative session. If this bill is not passed by the Senate Rules Committee first and then the Senate, the CACC will issue its recommendation of one of the 3 sites by June 15. Several Senators from King County (including Senate Rules Committee Vice Chair Karen Keiser, Phil Fortunato, etc.) are opposing 1791 since the Senate Transportation Committee rejected an amendment exempting King County from consideration. It is important to stress in this letter that we SUPPORT the residents of South King County/Enumclaw Plateau, and while we are requesting that they pass HB 1791 we will continue to advocate AGAINST an airport there as well.

Please...

Write a letter describing how you have been affected by the CACC process and include any concerns you have about siting a new commercial airport in Washington State. (If needed, use the SAMPLE letter below as a guide and modify that with your own words.)
Copy the following group of email addresses and paste that into the "To" field of your email:
ltgov@ltgov.wa.gov, karen.keiser@leg.wa.gov, john.braun@leg.wa.gov, andy.billig@leg.wa.gov, annette.cleveland@leg.wa.gov, chris.gildon@leg.wa.gov, bob.hasegawa@leg.wa.gov, curtis.king@leg.wa.gov, patty.kuderer@leg.wa.gov, john.lovick@leg.wa.gov, ron.muzzall@leg.wa.gov, jamie.pedersen@leg.wa.gov, ann.rivers@leg.wa.gov, rebecca.saldana@leg.wa.gov, jesse.salomon@leg.wa.gov, shelly.short@leg.wa.gov, claire.wilson@leg.wa.gov
Additional legislators (including your local representatives) can be found through app.leg.wa.gov or here
Send this email by Monday morning on April 10th

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear Senate Rules Committee Members,

Please pull HB 1791 for the Senate Rules Committee for the coming week and pass this crucial piece of legislation. The future of democracy in this state depends on it.

The CACC violated federal law and ignored provisions set forth in SB 5370 by choosing greenfield sites in Central Thurston and Pierce County that interfere with JBLM air space and land operations. JBLM officials have spoken out clearly in opposition to airports in these sites.

That is not the only law-bending the CACC has carried out. Despite public opposition by local county officials and residents, the CACC has made false claims about “overwhelming public support” by Washington residents for a greenfield airport based on surveys that were manipulative, which led to many not even filling them out. Very few members of the affected areas saw the surveys at all. These surveys had a very low response rate, thus disqualifying them as representative of the will of Washington residents.

The CACC also falsely claimed in their recent public meeting that the only objections to a new airport were “nimby,” insinuating that western Washington residents overwhelmingly supported an airport as long as it was not in their area. This is demonstrably false, as is documented in eight months of written correspondence, phone conversations, and video-recorded public presentations made at community rallies by leaders and members of the three separate community organizations, Stop the Airport (Thurston); the Coalition Against Graham and Eatonville-Roy Airports (Pierce County); and the Save the Plateau (South King County).

The leaders of these organizations are committed to defending all of western Washington’s remaining clean water, air, forests, meadows, wildlife, and farms, as well as the homes and businesses of tens of thousands of residents. Leaders from all three counties supported each other in testimonies at house and senate public hearings and in CACC public forums. This twisting and misrepresentation of the facts is typical of the CACC process, including not disclosing the fact that WSDOT and the FAA continued to study Enumclaw Plateau as a site. We are united in our support of the Enumclaw Plateau and will continue to voice our strong opposition to an airport there if HB 1791 is passed.

The CACC is dominated by aviation industry pundits. HB 1791 gives Washington State voters a voice in this discussion, as must be the case in democracy.

Sincerely,