Action Alerts

Action Alert! 

Contact City Council before 8PM Wednesday, July 22 

 

Demand: DO NOT TAKE FAA GRANT FUNDING!

LET THE VOTERS DECIDE!

 

FAA grants now come with the obligation to run the airport in perpetuity.

City Council is considering signing on. 

 

 Before taking such a drastic step, the matter should be up to a vote of the public in an election!

 

Contact City Council by 8PM July 22, using this form. 

 

 Want to help the effort in other ways? Contact [email protected] to coordinate! 

 

Talking points you can use when writing to council:

  • The future of the Boulder Airport is one of the most controversial and consequential policy decisions facing Boulder today.

  • It is unrepresentative and simply undemocratic for a few councilmembers to quietly attempt to authorize taking FAA funds that would lock the airport in place in perpetuity, with no public vote.

  • No good faith public consultation has occurred! Accepting an obligation to the FAA in perpetuity was never even mentioned to the public before a quietly scheduled study session this past April.  The public was never asked for our opinion on it. 

  • The attempt to ram a decision through in that April study session was disastrous and potentially illegal. 

  • It is simply false for Council to claim to already know the will of the majority of Boulder residents. Public debate about the Boulder Airport remains fiercely divided and contentious. In 2024, over 4000 individuals including 3400 registered city voters signed petitions to be able to vote on closing and repurposing the airport site. This is comparable to the number of people advocating for the South Boulder Rec Center or the Iris Ballfields. Voters deserve a voice!

  • Despite the rush, there is no urgency to this matter. 

  • The level of analysis and public involvement around the issue remains wildly insufficient. 

  • Staff’s budget examples inflate airport costs and starve airport revenues. 

  • There are substantial revenue streams available that staff have ignored, such as landing fees, market rate rents, and commercial uses.

  • Staff have not offered council ANY options that include airport self-funding mechanisms despite examples from other airports, vendors, and consultants who can demonstrate the viability of these mechanisms.  

  • Staff have not researched case studies of any of the 1000+ public-use airports in the United States that operate successfully with no FAA funding. 

  • Staff insists that the only alternatives that can be considered are FAA grants OR raiding the city’s existing budget. This is untrue, and it is bad faith! 

  • FAA contractual obligations preclude the city from enacting environmental protections, noise protections, quiet hours, quieter equipment, limited "touch and goes,” and more. Separating from FAA contracts would open up the pathway to more local control. 

  • While Boulder would be obligated to operate the airport forever, there is no commitment from the FAA for future funding.

  • This entire process is unrepresentative, undemocratic, and bad governance!

  • NO FAA FUNDS should be taken with obligations in perpetuity, unless we first have unbiased, verified public information and a vote of the people. 

City Council must not violate their positions and our trust!  Contact them today!

Any consideration of taking FAA funding and obligating the airport in perpetuity must be up for a public vote!