What goes around, comes around...
If you have the time to watch Janet Joakim, and her band of thieves playing on the Town of Barnstable website;
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO SEE FOR YOURSELF, BUT BE SURE TO COME BACK FOR THE REST OF THE STORY
Notice the Council's cavalier and permissive attitude toward the town's policy of airport price gouging enabled by its policy of fuel monopoly.
If it's okay for the council to stick it to Rectrix and other Hyannis visitors,
then the handful of gasoline station owners in Barnstable,
should have the same right to stick it to Barnstable automobile owners.
Today is Sunday, September 30, 2007, and I’ve copied and pasted some of today’s highest and lowest gasoline prices in eastern Massachusetts.
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE
I’ve also pasted the latest average annual per capita gasoline consumption from the EPA.
Massachusetts per capita gasoline consumption is 458 gallons and the state is ranked 34th in the U.S. on per capita gasoline consumed.
Since the average family of 3 consumes
1,374 gallons of gasoline each year in Massachusetts,
and the average per gallon price of regular gasoline in Barnstable is $.45 higher than other areas,
the average Barnstable family of three typically spends
$658 more each year for gasoline than their off-Cape peers.
Note how all of the Councilors, except for Greg Milne and Jim Munafo, accepted Airport Commission Dunning and Airport Manager’s premise that gouging jet aircraft operators over the next 30-years will enable the airport to pay its share of building the new terminal.
Mosby said the town’s mark-up of
$1.78 per gallon
on jet fuel times the hundred thousand gallons sold at the airport will generate sufficient profits to pay back the town loan.
There are many in town who say they've seen Joakim flying around town on a broom,
and others who say they've seen her driving around in a hoopty.
If Joakim does buy gasoline, she's paying $.45 a gallon more than she should if Barnstable was treated fairly.
The issue is, “If it’s okay for Janet to anoint Doc Mosby and Michael Dunning’s plans to screw jet pilots on the purchase of jet fuel, then there's nothing to say about automobile fuel prices.
Rectrix Aviation owners invested $8 million at the Barnstable airport to provide charter service to and from all parts of the country and Hyannis.
Rectrix employs 35 people locally at good wages.
Rectrix’s business is to bring high rollers, who can afford to pay from $5,000 to $25,000 each way to Hyannis.
Many of Rectrix's customers own expensive homes in town, don’t send kids to the school program, and pay millions of dollars in property taxes.
Some Councilors think it’s unfair to force these homeowners to pay $500 more in property taxes so permanent homeowners can get a $666 property tax cut,
but they obviously could care less that Rectrix has to charge these seasonal residents $5,000 more to fly in and out of Hyannis because of the exorbitant cost of fuel.
Mosby, Dunning, Joakim, et al conspired to drive the company out of business by forcing it to pay $4.26 a gallon for jet fuel, for which its competition spends $2.00 a gallon.
Many of these jets have 5,000 fuel tanks.
Do the math.
One of the reasons Rectrix Aviation is suing the Dunning and Mosby in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts is for damages due to the airport's monopolistic policy on jet fuel.
Congress enacted the Sherman Anti-Trust Act 150 years ago making monopolist practitioners guilty of a felony, and subject to millions of dollars in fines.
Last week Mosby, Dunning, et al lawyers, in their answer to the complaint, admitted the town does have a monopoly on jet fuel sales, but justify the monopoly because the FAA permit’s the practice.
The lawyers didn't say the FAA also has a contract with the Barnstable Airport to treat all Fixed Base Operators (FBO’s) equally,
and that the other FBO at the airport,
sell fuel to other aircraft owners,and the two airlines self-fuel their aircraft, which is what Rectrix wanted do.
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act pre-dates the FAA, so the court will decide whether a monopoly on jet fuel is permitted in Barnstable.
Whether or not the FAA trumps the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, as well as interstate commerce laws, is an issue that will be decided next year,
and tens of millions of your tax dollars are riding on that decision.
Since it was YOU who voted Joakim, et al into office,
are you willing to risk your money on a decision made by many of these folks who can barely manage their family budgets?
Last month, in a court filing, Rectrix lawyers said the company is open to settle the lawsuit.COGgers think it's prudent to sit down with Mr. Cawley and resolve the problems for the most part created by the person who confessed to killing his wife two times this year...
I’ve copied and pasted some items from plaintiff’s answer to Rectrix Aviation Inc.’s complaint relative to the monopoly on the sale of jet fuel being challenged by Rectrix Aviation…
47. The defendants admit that Dunning met with Cawley on or about January 11, 2005; that Dunning told Cawley that the BMAC exercised a lawful proprietary exclusive right to sell jet fuel at the Airport and that Dunning did not think that the BMAC was likely to relinquish that exclusive right; and that Cawley threatened the BMAC with litigation.
52. Dunning and Mosby do not recall the details of all of their conversations with Cawley during the Spring and Summer of 2005, but state that they would have agreed that if Rectrix had a fuel tank it could, subject to reasonable restrictions, self-fuel aircraft that it owned;
Dunning and Mosby admit that they knew at that time that Rectrix did not have its own fuel tank;....
52. The other defendants admit that they knew at that time that Rectrix did not have its own fuel tank and lack knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to truth of the remaining allegations in ¶ 52.
56. The defendants admit that the BMAC would not allow Rectrix to self-fuel from a fuel tank leased from Air Cape Cod...
57. The defendants admit that the BMAC has allowed Airport tenants fueling propeller planes with avgas (not jet fuel) to use the tank of Griffin Avionics, another FBO; ...
71. The defendants admit that on or about June 16, 2006, Mosby informed Rectrix that Rectrix was not allowed to fuel third party jet aircraft, including aircraft Rectrix was servicing under its purported management contracts with Bombardier and CitationShares and that such fueling was not permitted under the December 20, 2005 resolution;....
72. The defendants admit that Rectrix disputed whether it was permitted under the BMAC’s December 20, 2005 resolution and the MOUs [Memorandum of Understanding] to fuel jet aircraft under its purported management contracts and that Rectrix as well as other FBOs are sometimes allowed, subject to the Airport’s operational requirements, to use common ramp space to service aircraft, including self-fueling;...
73. The defendants admit that Gilmore sent a letter to counsel on or about June 21, 2006, that Rectrix’s counsel responded to Gilmore’s letter shortly thereafter, and that Rectrix continued to fuel aircraft for some time;...
74. The defendants admit that the July 4th weekend is one of the busiest weekends of
the summer, that Mosby sent Rectrix a letter on or about June 30, 2006 and that the letter
contains the language selectively quoted in ¶ 74; refer the Court to the full text of the letter;...
The Barnstable Municipal Airport is an enterprise fund much like many others in town. All enterprise funds operate from revenue collected as "user fees" except the Airport.
Joakim, Mosby, Dunning, et al have eschewed the user fees to pay for airport capital improvements, the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) authorized by the FAA.
A PFC is a special surtax on all passenger tickets.
Had the Airport Commissioner adopted Passenger Facility Charges when it was enacted by Congress in 1990, the airport could have built the new terminal, roadways, and parking, and had millions of dollars left over from its cash reserves.
The only people who don't want to collect PFC's are the three local airlines that fly to Nantucket and Marthas Vineyard.
Town assets and resources at the airport are being used so the owners of these airlines can line their pockets with local money, and expand their enterprises all around the world, like in the South Pacific, Caribbean, Oregon, Maryland, and now Vermont.
Dan Wolf is a local businessman. He has taken local money to expand his wealth throughout the world.
If the Airport Commissioners and the Town Council want to build a new terminal, or anything else at the airport, it should be done through passenger facility charges, not by ripping off airport tenants.
90% of the airport's customers carry lunch buckets to work in Nantucket every day.
If they can pay $100 to fly to and from work each day, I'm sure an extra $4.50 Passenger Facility Charge won't put a dent in their economic situations.
What is fair about forcing Rectrix, a few cab owners, and airport tenants to finance the airport so Dan Wolf can create airlines all over the world?
Lastly bear in mind that us taxpayers, through Mosby, Dunning, Wheatley, Sanchez, and Gilmore's lawyers
ADMITTED TO OPERATING A JET FUEL MONOPOLY.
A VIOLATION OF THE SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT IS A FELONY.
Gary -
Today is Sunday Sept 30th not Oct 1st.
Posted by: | September 30, 2007 at 05:34 PM
Gary -
Only three entities on the BMA sell fuel.
The town (Jet), Griffin Aviation (100LL) and Air Cape Cod (100LL) now owned by Rectrix. There are only two FBO's (not four) Griffin and ACC.
Posted by: | September 30, 2007 at 05:40 PM
You are right about the FBO's.
I was thinking Cape Air and Island Air are FBO's.
The airlines self-fuel.
The FBO's sell fuel.
Posted by: Gary Lopez | September 30, 2007 at 05:59 PM
Cape Air sold 100ll AV gas for many years but it is not as big a money maker as Jet fuel.....Compitition is the name of the game and if there was any compitition with the town the town would lose because they are losers...
The gistapo tactics at the airport needs to be stopped and the way to do that is to get an honest judge to rule on this. Compitition would put these ass holes in there place...I mean out of business...Just like all the closed down businesses around town.
and they need to put a leash and collar and muzzle on the TSA ass holes at the BMA. They are the new domestic terrorists.
They would shit there pants if the real terrorists showed up. and if and when they do show up there is nothing they can do.
They must feel real good terrorizing the law biding citzens with the threat of fines and prison time they are now the scum of the USA.
And to justify there jobs the sit back in there offices thinking up new ways to terrorize the public.
The day will come when these (TSA) nazi impersonators will say that they were just doing there job like the guards at the Nazi prison camps did..
Or the MacCarthy hearings where there was a communist under every rock. and they were there to protect from them.
Posted by: | October 02, 2007 at 01:20 PM