[T]he Burlington City Council voted 9-3 Monday in support of a resolution requesting the cancellation of a planned F-35 fighter jet basing at the Burlington airport in favor of an aircraft that is quieter and has a proven safety record.
The City Council vote follows a ballot measure passed by Burlington residents on Town Meeting Day demanding that the City Council ask the Air Force to cancel plans for basing the F-35 fighter jets at the Burlington International Airport.
The motion states: “the Burlington City Council values the Air National Guard’s contributions to our community and respectfully requests the Honorable Secretary of the United States Air Force, Heather Wilson, replace the planned basing of the F-35 with a basing of a low-noise-level plane with a proven high safety record, consistent with the ballot question previously cited.”
Like the ballot measure, the letter is advisory in nature. With the basing already approved, the Air Force has the final say on whether to cancel the basing.
“We obviously have no authority over the Air Force, but we are clear on what we’re asking,” said Councilor Joan Shannon, D-South District, who drafted the resolution.
The resolution also includes a list of questions for the Air Force secretary regarding concerns over the sounds and impact on surrounding communities after questions were raised “by the media and/or proponents of the ballot question and community members, leading up to the vote on the F-35 basing.”
Members of the council said they wanted to ensure there was a replacement mission before canceling the F-35s.
During the meeting, Councilor David Harnett, who voted against the resolution, described the language on the ballot as “deceptive.” Hartnett echoed a point repeatedly made by supporters of the basing who say the ballot question was meant to trick voters into opposing the F-35s.
“Throughout the process, this group has been turned away at every stop … so they have one last resort,” Harnett said of the F-35 opponents, “put a deceptive question before Burlington voters and hope and pray that they don’t understand it.”
Councilor Ali Dieng, D/P-Ward 7, said he decided to oppose the basing after learning of the impact F-35s would have on communities in and around Burlington. He dismissed the claim that the resolution passed because of misleading language.
“I have never seen that level of outreach on an issue, so when people say they were misled on wording, it strikes me,” Dieng said. “Even as an English language learner, I knew very clearly what the resolution was saying.”
Dieng eventually voted against the City Council resolution because he said “we are past asking questions.”
The resolution will now go to Mayor Miro Weinberger before it is sent to the Air Force in Washington, D.C. The mayor said before Monday’s meeting that he wanted to hear the discussion before he made a comment on how he was going to move forward.
Weinberger has been a consistent supporter of the base in the past, but in an interview with VTDigger in February, the mayor said he would reconsider his stance if voters chose to oppose the F-35 basing.
“When I’m out going door-to-door, I’m not hearing a strong message against our current direction from Burlingtonians,” Weinberger said at the time. “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.”
On Monday night, the mayor appeared to be ready to renege on that promise and said he would continue to support the F-35 basing.
“This is gonna be a very difficult resolution to support,” he said. “I will say that I do not support the cancellation of the base.”
Members of Vermont’s congressional delegation, Gov. Phil Scott and former Gov. Peter Shumlin have been vocal supporters of the base. Neither Scott nor Vermont’s representatives in Washington have publicly changed their own positions in response to the vote in Burlington.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., pressured the Air Force to base the F-35 fighter jets at the Burlington airport, over the objections of military officials who said in emails obtained by VTDigger that the location was too populated and could harm the health of thousands of local residents in South Burlington and Winooski.
Military plans in other cities have been scrapped or greatly reduced in scope following intense pushback from community and political leaders.
Read VTDigger’s investigative series Rough Landing: Inside a yearslong debate over the F-35.
