 By Bill Thomas Sr. January 31, 2007 Dear Sitnews, It taxes one's mind that a good service like the Airporter would be subject to such impedance from local government. Someone must have the impression that Ketchikan is still a boom town and most residents are in business of a family type and all is well. I have watched private enterprise beaten and wore down till they succumb and eventually go out of business. Between government interference and special interest groups that deal directly and influence the government, we still have little guys that try to operate a credible business in this community. But the candidates that are attracted to seeking office for the most part have no desire to change for the betterment of this community. Most people that remain here remember the days when they felt part of the community and still try to. Perhaps the owners of the Airporter just lost interest and the ability and drive to get concessions from government to allow them to operate at a profit. The owners are retired and are still blessed with the health, desire and ethics to offer this fine service. I was a frequent user of the Airporter. I traveled this weekend and moving passengers was a mess when airplanes had to overhead because of weather and return when other flights were arriving on schedule. The small airport ferry is the only one operational and everybody brought their own cars to the airport. It looked like the baggage claim area was designed on its own. When you're a traveler with limited mobility, you have a total different way of assessing public ground transportation. If the current owners can't afford to operate the business, I don't have a solution to offer. If the business changes hands, it will likely go to a group that has beneficial influence with local government. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what or if anything happens that the local traveling public can use and afford. Respectfully, Bill Thomas Sr. Received January 30, 2007 - Published January 31, 2006 About: "Don't prefer Municipality squashing private cottage industry" and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sitnews.
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