Troutman and Everett at Saucon Valley County Club

Financially struggling Lehigh Northampton Airport Authority, headed by Marc Troutman and Executive Director Charles Everett, met at the very swanky and very private Saucon Valley Country Club last week. "Just don't tell them we're Jews," Troutman instructed Everett.

Bottom Feeding Blogger Visits Saucon Valley Country Club

Marc Troutman

Though it's missing a $7 million loan payment, the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority met yesterday at the private Saucon Valley Country Club. Its meeting was set for 9 am at the Weyhill House, which is at the end of an unmarked private road. After business was over, the Board was supposed to go on its annual "retreat." Aside from two members of the press, a waitress and I were the only members of the public who attended. She was there to keep their pastry plates filled and I was there to give them all indigestion. I had to go after reading that Board Chair was about to embark on yet another with hunt to determine who had leaked a story to me.

Mike Dowd gets some java

I was warned before going that I'd never get in the place because of some goofy dress code. One person said something to me, and  I replied that the Sunshine Act trumps the Saucon Valley Country Club. Two cops were there, and I thought they would try to toss me, but it turns out they were there because one of them was getting promoted.

There was a nice little breakfast buffet with assorted juices, coffee, pastries, bagels, toast, jams and things of that sort. But there was no extravagant display. That could have come later, during their "retreat," but I saw nothing outrageous. Most of the Board was there, with T.J. Rooney participating by phone and Anne Baum MIA.

During courtesy of the floor, I slammed them for conducting a public meeting at a private country club and also took them to task over the very obvious shenanigans being pulled in the selection of counsel. The wanted to replace Florio Perucci as their general counsel, and select as bond counsel a firm that is associated with Jean Everett, who just happens to be the wife of Airport Executive Director Charles Everett.

Until I was there, I had no idea that the attorney providing legal advice is none other than Bob Freedberg. He is a former Superior Court Judge and was president Judge in Northampton County. How they could even consider replacing someone of his caliber was beyond me. Freedberg has sentenced me to the electric chair several times, and I pointed that out, which seemed to make most of them happy.

They ultimately decided, on Jane Baker's motion, to table the selection of a new lawyer, especially after some board members claimed they had no real idea what was going on until they read about it in my blog.

Freedberg also instructed them that Everett would be unable to have anything to do with his wife's firm, if it is ultimately approved as bond counsel.

Chairman Marc Troutman did complain about the leak anf=d asked the offending board member to step forward. No one volunteered.

"This is terrible!" huffed Bert Daday, mouthpiece for the LV Partnership."This is a tragedy."

I was amazed at the amount of time spent discussing how to deal with public comment. Some of these guys seem genuinely terrified of we vulgari. Mike Schware proposed some amendments that would crack the door open just a wee bit for comments on agenda items. "We send a message to the public with the way we conduct meetings," he argued.

D'you think?

Most elected officials like Glenn Geissinger and Mike Dowd were all for more transparency. So were Ed Lozano, Bill Berger and an 18' tall board member whose name escapes me but should be in the NBA. In the end, Schware's move for more transparency was adopted 9-5.

The Board suffers from poor leadership. Troutman does not know how to run a meeting, and had to be reminded several times about proper procedures by Freedberg.

When they went into Executive session to discuss this and that, I ordered lunch and then got in a quick nine holes.

LVIA Exec Director Wants Wife to Take over Legal Reins

It's a busy time. There's a federal investigation into pay-to-play in Allentown, which might just be what's needed to stop the rampant crony capitalism in the Queen City. Bethlehem merchants are rightfully worried about a third and publicly subsidized downtown at Martin Tower. Bethlehem Township is pondering a 37.6% tax hike. A landfill has dumped $95,600 in a brazen attempt to buy Lower Saucon Township Council. Elections are just eight days away. It's a perfect time to slip something under everyone's nose. That's exactly what is happening at the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority.

Its top heavy 15-member board is meeting this Tuesday at, of all places, the very posh Saucon Valley Country Club. A "haven" for most of its blueblood members, it's billed as "one of the largest private clubs in North America." Initiation fees start at around $30,000 for a higher-end memberships.

I suppose the unwashed masses will have to be admitted if they can figure out where the Weyhill Guest House is located.

When business is concluded, members are supposed to have a "retreat" for "strategic planning"

Now I have no problem with board members disguising some sort of golf outing as a retreat. I do have a problem when they also plan to conduct a full blown meeting before doing whatever it is that bluebloods do. And I really have a problem when one of the things planned at this meeting is switching legal teams.

It appears that Executive Director Charles Everett is trying to squeeze out Bethlehem-based Florio Perruucci and replace it with a firm more to his own liking. Or should I say his wife's liking?

Everett was on a team of three that sought proposals from nine different law firms for legal services, including pay-to-play forms like King Spry and Norris, McLaughlin and Marcus. Now of course, everyone was judged by "objective" criterion, all of which are rated subjectively. Everett made sure that the highest score, as you can see in the ratings of all nine firms here, went to a law firm called Barclay Damon.

Did I mention that Everett's wife, Jean Everett, is "of counsel" at that firm?

No conflict there.

What's really ironic about this is that Everett used this firm, without a formal board vote, to determine that there were all kinds of conflicts at the airport authority. That ridiculous conclusion was correctly disputed by the current Solicitor, Florio Perruucci. It was a red herring designed to force some board members out.

Now, the very same firm that found conflicts everywhere sees no appearance of impropriety if the Board hires a firm where the Executive Director's wife is "of counsel."

That's different.

Fed Ed No Longer On Airport Authority

Back in March, Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski was still on the Lehigh Northampton Airport Authority, advocating for the sale of Braden Airpark much as he unsuccessfully pressured Board members to shed Queen City Airport in the past. He was looking to unload Queen City to developers.

LVIA Executive Director Charles Everett has confirmed that Fed Ed is no longer on the Board.

Pawlowski had been nominated for re-appointment, but Lehigh County Commissioners deadlocked in Committee and appeared to be ready to reject him, which would be a stinging rebuke to someone who thinks he can win an election to the U.S. Senate. Rather than see Fed Ed humiliated, Muller withdrew the nomination, and Pawlowski quietly resigned.

Morning Call Doubles Actual Increase in Airport Traffic

A recent Morning Call report giddily proclaims that passenger traffic is soaring at the LVIA airport, claiming that 90,000 passengers flew in and out of the airport in February, a 17% increase over the same month last year.

Except it's untrue.

The Morning Call mistakenly Assad combined the reported January and February totals to get to that 90,000 figure (actually, the reported combined total was 89,208).

To make matters worse, the numbers are deliberately inflated. That's because they include those who take the United bus to and from EWR

The actual figure of folks who got on or off an airplane (not a bus) at ABE was 43,055 in January and 42,558 in February for a total of 85,613. This is an improvement over 2014, but it's about half what is reported.

LVIA Passenger Count Down 40% From Peak Years

While the Lehigh and Northampton Airport authority contemplates the sale of Braden Airpark to pay off a judgment incurred as a result of their own mismanagement, they appear to be ignoring the recurring revenue that would result from attracting more passengers at the main airport. You know, the one on Airport Road.

Dr. Steve Thode has prepared the above chart, which depicts LVIA passenger counts over the past several years. He tells me traffic is off more than 17% from last year (the worst year in 25 years), and off more than 30% from 2011. 2013 total year traffic is likely to come in around 600,000 passengers - a drop of more than 40% since its peak in the early 2000s.

Year-over-year traffic has now declined for 19 consecutive months. This is coincident, by the way, with the arrival of AvPORTS (now departed) and Charles Everett (still Exec Director).