[M]ayor Miro Weinberger has long maintained that opposition to the impending arrival of F-35 fighter jets is most likely futile. The opportunity to modify or rebuff the Air Force’s decision to bring 18 jets to Burlington International Airport in 2019 has passed, he often says.
In an interview Tuesday, Weinberger softened his stance.
A review of contentious fighter jet basings in other U.S. cities shows that civic leaders have taken drastic steps to reverse or modify Air Force basings, even after an official Record of Decision has been issued, as it has in Burlington.
When VTDigger presented specific examples to Weinberger in an interview Tuesday, the mayor said that he might be willing to push back, too, depending on the results of a ballot measure gauging public opinion of the F-35s — and his own re-election bid.
“When I’m out going door-to-door, I’m not hearing a strong message against our current direction from Burlingtonians,” Weinberger said of the F-35 basing. “If, after the vote, that turns out to not be the case, then we are going to have to acknowledge that and do some additional work.”
The mayor did not explain what sort of work that might entail. Weinberger said he would first examine how other communities have imposed modifications on bases. During a mayoral forum in Burlington on Monday night, Weinberger reiterated that any changes to the current plans would have “significant consequences.”
“We have taken many actions since that decision was made, and since the Air Force awarded the F-35s to Burlington, that are very difficult to undo — now — at this late date,” Weinberger said. “We made this decision, and we can’t reopen it at this point without very significant consequences.”
Military plans in other cities have been scrapped or greatly reduced in scope following intense pushback from community and political leaders.
One such fight was led by a mayor: John Arnold, of Valparaiso, Florida. Arnold sued the Department of Defense twice alleging that the planned basing of 107 F-35s at Eglin Air Force Base would decrease home values and hurt his community’s quality of life.
“The survivability of this town is at stake,” Arnold, now deceased, told the New York Times in 2009. “It’s David vs. Goliath.”
Arnold faced fierce opposition from local residents and powerful figures in Washington, including members of Florida’s congressional delegation. But he persevered and, in 2009, settled a case with the Air Force. While planes still arrived, the Air Force issued an amended Record of Decision that mandated reduced flying operations and runway reassignments. The Air Force also cut the number of F-35s sent to Eglin by half.
Weinberger acknowledged that modifying or abandoning the basing decision in Burlington would not be unprecedented. But he pointed out that hangar renovations at the Vermont Air National Guard base are underway, and said a change in direction would undo years of work by city officials.
Weinberger, a former member of the airport commission, also said federal support of the airport is “tied to the federal government’s ability to use the facilities.” The mayor did not specify what federal program Burlington benefits from, and an email late Tuesday to a spokesperson for the mayor was not immediately answered.
Asked if he had received oblique or direct funding threats from Washington should the F-35 not be based in Burlington, Weinberger said he hadn’t. But he said “in the event of a change in direction, you would have significant complications on those funding fronts.”
Federal politicians have also overturned military basing decisions with little regard for process or previous military pronouncements.
In 2012, Alaska’s U.S. senators — Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski — publicly objected to the planned rebasing of F-16s from the rural Eielson Air Force base to an airport the state’s largest city, Anchorage. Concerned about job losses from a planned relocation, the two introduced legislation to “prohibit the permanent relocation” of the planes. In addition, Begich, who at the time served on the Senate Armed Services Committee, held up Air Force general nominations to protest the plan. In 2015, the Air Force acquiesced to the Alaskans and announced the F-16s would remain at Eielson.
In 2013, members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation successfully reversed an Air Force decision to retire eight C-130 Hercules transport planes and shut down an Airlift Wing near Pittsburgh. A year later, former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., led a successful congressional effort to delay the military’s planned retirement of the A-10 warthog fighter jet.
In contrast, Vermont’s delegation to Washington has staunchly supported the F-35 basing in Burlington.
David Carle, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., responded to examples of past congressional pressure on basing decisions with a statement saying “The F-35 is the Air Force’s future, and the Air Force wants the Vermont Air Guard to be part of the Air Force’s future.”
“The ballot question offers a false choice,” Carle continued. “The Air Force has no plans to fund the conversion of Burlington Airport for any other mission.”
A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., declined to comment on instances of past congressional pressure, while a representative for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., did not respond to requests for comment.
There are also instances where community activists, not politicians, pushed successfully to alter basing decisions.
In 2013, following intense community pressure, the U.S. Navy scrapped plans to study a proposed F-35 landing base in Virginia or North Carolina. Much like the “Stop the F-35” activists in Vermont, concerned citizens started websites, protested on the streets and lobbied local officials. Former U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., also became a strong advocate for her community’s concerns.
“I felt it was fundamentally unfair for a small community to shoulder the most unpleasant part of the Navy’s presence in the community,” Tony Clark, a leader in the movement opposing the F-35 basing, told the Virginia Pilot in 2013, lamenting an apparent lack of engagement by top city and state politicians.
“We have had city councilors change,” he said. “But when you are talking mayor, governor, senator, none of them have changed a position. My opinion is none of them have even read the information.”
The planes were later relocated a naval air station in LeMoore, California, according to the Navy Times. And hard-fought campaigns by the public have altered basing plans in a number of other communities, from Tucson, Arizona, to Plymouth, North Carolina.
In their fight against the F-35s, Vermont activists have faced tough headwinds. While community pushback has been consistent and vocal for years, local, state and federal leaders continue to enthusiastically support the basing. And in 2016, the F-35 opponents lost a federal lawsuit claiming the Burlington basing process was deeply flawed. (Residents of Coupeville, Washington, were handed a similar ruling in 2015 after trying to stop the basing of the EA-18G Growler.)
Vermont’s anti-basing activists see the March ballot item as their last public push to stop the F-35s. Despite the number of constituencies that have faced similar disputes, it appears that a basing fight has never been brought to the ballot box before, and it’s unclear if the city, which owns the airport, could stop the basing without agreement from the Air Force.
Rosanne Greco, a retired Air Force colonel and former South Burlington City Council president who is opposed to the basing, said it’s not too late to change the military’s mind.
“If the voters in Burlington say they want a different aircraft, I think the city council and the city is obligated to communicate that to the Air Force,” Greco said. “I don’t think you would get a real hard fight from the Air Force if the city speaks with one voice and says it wants a new plane.”
The likely outcome should the measure pass and be successful would be a conversion from fighter jets to less noisy cargo planes, which is also not without precedent. The Montana National Guard, for example, converted from F-15 fighter jets to C-130 cargo planes in 2016.
One of Weinberger’s mayoral opponents, Infinite Culcleasure, said he would work to stop the F-35 should he be elected. Carina Driscoll, did not take a firm position at Monday’s debate, striking a similar note to that of her incumbent challenger.
“If the people of Burlington speak up and ask for us to do something differently, then I’m going to listen,” she said.
