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NextGen/FAA Versus the People - Update Aug 2018

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Category: Community News
Published on Wednesday, 15 August 2018 17:28
Written by D. V. Lawrence
airplane2 Residents living under the FAA’s NextGen airplane highway were alarmed when the many efforts of the Los Angeles World Airport (LAWA) community Roundtable, and affected councilmembers led by Council President Wesson, were being summarily dismissed by the FAA. 

These efforts included numerous letters to the FAA that went unanswered and meetings that led to broken promises. Meanwhile, the flights were getting worse, with lower altitudes, nightflights into the wee hours and more flights than ever.  The FAA was literally steamrolling over the city officials and the community, and residents were furious. 

So people bitten throughout the day by the big mosquitos in the sky cheered to see the Los Angeles city attorney, working with Council President Wesson and the other affected city officials, file an “amicus brief” - a document attached to the Culver City lawsuit against the FAA which supports the CC lawsuit with additional concerns affecting Los Angeles.  They were hopeful as well when another lawsuit was filed by Culver City resident Stephen Murray.  West Adams resident Jim Mangia had found a lawyer who would represent Stephen when Mr. Murray agreed to include the concerns of West Adams in his lawsuit.  The lawyer, Mitchel Tsai is being funded by donations from the community. 

PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING to the lawyer's fund. It is the single most powerful action you can take to help right now.  CLICK Go Fundraiser Los Angeles Clear Skies.

UPDATES

Culver City and Mitchel Tsai (the petitioners) filed their first briefs - documents outlining their complaints and reasons for suing.  The FAA lawyers countered with why they believed the arguments had no merit.  The petitioners responded with why the FAA was incorrect. Now we are waiting for a court date and the final presentation.  Thanks to activist Gavin Abercrombie, all of these documents can be found under “File” on the West Adams for Quiet Skies facebook page.  

In Other News: Most recently the FAA finally published the 6,000 ft. altitude minimum for the waypoint at GADDO.  What this means - A waypoint is a location spot pilots use to keep themselves on track. There are several of them over the city, and the GADDO waypoint is at Normandy and Jefferson just east of our community.  Since the official publishing, planes cannot come in below 6,000 ft at that point without good cause. This would keep them at least 6,000 ft. above us instead of the typical 3,500 to 4,500 feet. But  immediately after it was published, Memorial Day weekend, the community experienced the worst assault yet. This gives the city an opportunity to sue the FAA within 60 days of the publication. In order to avoid this, at the last minute, the FAA agreed to extend the period and “discuss” the issue with the city attorney and the airport to hopefully avoid the lawsuit.  The new deadline is Sept. 21. 

In other news, the community continues to organize. There was a successful phone conference call with Jeffrey Lewis an ex Air traffic controller and whistle blower.  He has been committed to exposing FAA malfeasance and assisting Quiet Skies groups throughout the country to understand how the FAA thinks and acts.  A recording was made of the call and is available upon request by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and requesting a copy.  Out of this call it was decided that we would have monthly conference calls, and over 50 people in Quiet Skies communities from Boston through Phoenix and over to San Francisco Bay have signed on.  Each call will have a short presentation by a speaker with Q&A and discussion. We hope to connect, support and inform with the understanding that there is strength in numbers.  If you would like to stay informed and participate in these calls or join the Quiet Skies Action Network email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and put "Conference Call" or "Action Network" in the subject line. 


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Established in August of 2008 by writer, artist Dianne V. Lawrence, The Neighborhood News covers the events, people, history, politics and historic architecture of communities throughout the Mid-City and West Adams area in Los Angeles Council District 10.

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