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A 17.097 Acre Land Parcel is Sold by the AAWC, Under Dubious, if not Shady Circumstances. One of many...

AAWC Board Memo, April 5, 2004 -- Two Weeks Ago
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On April 8, 2004, the Board of Trustees, Airport Authority of Washoe County (AAWC), sold a 17.097 acre parcel in the southwest corner of Reno-Stead Airport to a company known as "Copart," which currently operates a leased, 15 acre facility at Reno-Tahoe International Airport and was apparently looking for permanent land to base its Auto Wrecking and car parts sales business.

A handful of notable items stick out in this document that was released days prior to the Airport Authority of Washoe County (AAWC) meeting of April 8, 2004.

The First of these items is the date of this document...

...April 5, 2004, a mere two weeks ago at this time of writing (April 26, 2004).

The second thing that sticks out is this comment by AAWC Director Krys Bart, under the purpose of the sale of this parcel, one of many that have been bargained back and forth since 1993:

...a remark she stated just two weeks ago.

The AAWC indicates that it's continuing with its plan to "aggressively" develop "Reno-Stead Airport," and that the development phase includes the sale of Airport lands to non-aviation users, a violation of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Airport Improvement Program's Terms and Conditions for the Grants given to the AAWC.

These Grants, meant for the "improvement" of the lands of Reno-Stead Airport and Reno-Tahoe International Airport, are having their terms and conditions stretched beyond thin -- beyond anemic -- to have anyone believe that an Auto Wrecking facility near a Private neighborhood is an "aesthetic improvement in that local Community.

Please also note that the lease of the 15 acre facility at Reno-Tahoe International for an Auto Wrecking facility -- a non-aviation use -- also violates the provisions of the FAA AIP Grant

Also stated:

...meaning, the purchase of the Land was forced, but the sale was not.

As for the environmental cause that resulted in the purchase of the land -- at a tidy profit -- the purchaser would have to have a use for the land that would render the "environmental" issue moot in the purchase...in an area in the far southwest corner of the Airport property, in the vicinity of the Valley of Speed, in a neighborhood that none the less, shares groundwater with that land and a nearby well.

As for the purchasers and sellers of the land, all Silver State News can say is that another storm is brewing -- beyond the issues tied to the Water Works and Parker scandals -- over "whom" the sale of the land is benefitting, versus "whom" said sale is supposed to benefit.

Likewise, a new source of pollutants is being added to an already environmentally-damaged piece of land, despite promises of "full clean-up" of the ground water beneath that parcel, the Reno-Stead Airport and the affected neighboring communities.

Also, it is stated that:

...meaning that the AAWC and Lear Associates were forced to purchase land due to environmental damage that both groups were deemed responsible for via an action in a Court of Law (brought by Dermody), were forced to purchase the damaged land, sold the land to another group at a profit (Editor's note: Purchase price was $2,900,00 -- sale was at @ $3,104,000 -- for an overall @ profit of $204,000, and an @ split that results in AAWC and Lear Associates receiving $102,000 each), and in selling the land to another group, hands the parcel over to another potential polluter, considering the motor oils and gasoline that will be released into the groundwater over time...

...groundwater that the AAWC is required to clean up at this time. Groundwater that reportedly includes toxins released during the time the Reno-Stead Airport was known as "Stead Air Force Base," while under military control. Toxins reportedly washed into local drains during clean-up after the Reno National Championship Air Races, which have operated since the mid 1960s at Stead. Toxins from the operation of other aircraft at Reno-Stead Airport as well.

Plus, the visual pollution. An Auto Wrecking yard will now be introduced to a neighborhood of $100,000 to $250,000+ homes in the Silver Knolls area. The same area another visual blight is proposed for, a 50 foot 120 kV power line traversing the Western boundary of Reno-Stead Airport and the famed "Valley of Speed" from north to south.

Do remember, this is one of two Auto Wrecking, Auto Auction and Salvaged Parts businesses who have purchased parcels in the Reno Stead area, including the 17.097 acre parcel acquired by "Copart," of Sparks, Nevada, and the 50.94 acre parcel purchased by "West Coast Auto Auctions, Inc."

Note the last sentence and how the forced sale to AAWC and Lear Associates via Court order was changed into the "Airport Authority recouping their original investment in the property." That's "spin" at work. Also known as "The Big Lie." Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party in Germany, defined "The Big Lie" as the act of telling a much bolder lie since the people are more apt to believe a Big Lie than a smaller one.

Here, we have the AAWC noting -- right under everyone's nose -- that they were required to purchase environmentally damaged land to satisfy a complaint by Dermody, then turning the issue from one of "Court Settlement" to "Investment" in seemingly good Real Estate.

Plus, no one in the AAWC bothers to mention what they must do or "did" to clean up the land for resale to another buyer, before selling to said buyer -- an Auto Wrecking, Auction and Towing Yard that is also not going to be "Pollution Free," either with fluids, noise or visual impact in a neighborhood with homes currently priced in the six figures.

Also stated in this latest of AAWC documents:

A minimum of a half million dollars profit on environmentally damaged land.

One can only imagine just how much good land, undamaged environmentally speaking, goes for on Reno-Stead Airport grounds. One would think -- "Hey, that's a helluva deal! Who could blame them for selling off the land or developing an Industrial Business Center there!?"

The answer: The Federal Government, in particular, the FAA, which has given millions in AIP Grant funding to Reno-Stead Airport and Reno-Tahoe International Airports through the terms and conditions of this program. All lands purchased or owned during the terms of the AIP Grant funding contracts are considered "Airport Lands" and can only be utilized for non-aviation purposes when "Aviation purposes" no longer exist for the land. Otherwise, you have to pay the government their fair share for such use, but that doesn't mean that such use is illegal and won't go unpunished.

Unfortunately, under the current FAA leadership, that seems to be implied for certain airports, but not for others.

Silver State News attempted to arrange interviews with two local FAA officials. Both individuals didn't just decline my interview requests, they flat out refused them and "bumped" SSNS to higher ups who may or may not be in their chain of command.

Both individuals were highly suspicious of SSNS Editor Mark S. "Bear" Daniels when he called, were extremely cautious in their questions about what the interviews were about, and were very quick to refuse the interviews when they were informed that SSNS was seeking information about:

1) Their alleged involvement in closing Reno-Stead Airport in conjunction with a request from AAWC Airport Manager Skip Polak, and:

2) The plan that AAWC has to develop Reno-Stead Airport into a Regional (Business) Center.

3) The Tracy to Silver Knolls Power Line proposal, in which 50 foot power poles are objected to by the FAA, however, Power Substations in the same location and spread throughout race course and infield grounds are not only "not" objected to, but rather, they aren't even mentioned. The FAA appears unknowing about them.

SSNS will therefore pose its questions not only to the FAA in Washington, D.C., but the Inspector General (IG) of the FAA, if applicable, and the General Accounting Office (GAO), which most certainly is applicable, along with members of the Aviation Sub-Committee on Capitol Hill. Likewise, due to the issue of Houghton bringing thugs to remove this Editor from a Public event on Federally- protected airport grounds, SSNS wishes to have discussions with the FAA, the TSA and Homeland Security.

The Official SSNS position is that organizations that utilize "Thugs" or "Terrorists" should themselves, not be allowed to operate or function on Federally protected Airport properties, where such individuals represent an unwelcome security violation of life-threatening magnitude.

SSNS Editor Mark S. "Bear" Daniels has had previous dealings with the FAA and does not mince his words. Daniels found them (the FAA) to be the second-most corrupt organization in Federal Government, right behind the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which administers the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and just ahead of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), which administers OFCCP Chapter 60, among others, a document which covers Discrimination against Disabled individuals, Veterans and Disabled Veterans, by those companies or groups bidding for and receiving Federal contract funding.

During his participation as the key witness and Complainant in a Federal Whistleblowing Case, versus the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, in Long Beach, California -- a complaint that was accepted and confirmed by the FAA Abuse Hotline and by investigators at the FAA Manufacturing Inspection District Office (MIDO), in Long Beach (Los Angeles County), California -- Daniels case was covered up by Officials from the FAA, among other State and Federal agencies, and Daniels himself was kept out of work by the Federal Government, who had a responsibility to provide him with Whistleblower's protection. As a result, Daniels lost over one half million dollars in wages and benefits that were his lawful right.

Daniels found that failures of the FAA and other Government Agencies in his case contained unacceptable ramifications that extended beyond TSA and Homeland Security -- Agencies and Rules that were nonexistent at the time (1989 - 2001) -- and which simultaneously, climbed high into International levels, including major IATA violations and other International Treaty violations.

These violations included Corporate and Governmental business violations that gave and continue to give American Aerospace unfair advantage -- and even subsidization -- over International Aerospace firms; most prominently, EADS/Airbus Industrie, which has been accused by at least two Presidential Administrations of being subsidized itself by Foreign Governments backing the International Consortium.

As a result, Editor Daniels' patience with the FAA grew thin long ago and he will attack these issues in Washington, D.C., shortly, with demands for information and Public Records access. In regards to Public Records access, SSNS and Daniels are preparing to approach the matter in Court as well, and with the Internal Revenue Service, along with the U.S. Attorney's Office, which has been extremely aggressive in prosecuting Corporate Fraud, Abuse and Criminal Misconduct under Attorney General John Ashcroft.

SSNS views the local FAA conduct as highly suspicious and sees local FAA representatives as deliberately hiding Public issues behind the facade of 9/11 Security. SSNS has questions involving the operations of one former FAA employee, who is now working directly for the AAWC as a consultant, a possible conflict of interest due to the minimal time that elapsed between his leaving the FAA and his joining the AAWC.

SSNS is also concerned about the interrogation it received trying to obtain what is generally considered a "routine interview." Such interrogation in advance of an interview usually points to involvement and cover-up in the schemes of an organization that a member of the Press is investigating.

Further, in the recent Reno-Gazette Journal article, AAWC Planner Dean Schulz publicly mentioned that the AAWC would be returning funding from FAA AIP Grants due to "non-use" caused by lower bidding for projects than expected. Schulz indicated that the funds came from Grants awarded in the 2000 - 2003 time frame and that local FAA officials were assisting the AAWC in returning the funds.

The rhetorical question in the mind of SSNS: why weren't these funds returned immediately after each and every year that the overage was reported? Further, in the non-rhetorical sense, were these funds -- as well as those kept by AAWC -- utilized in Land acquisitions, thereby sealing in concrete the AAWC's lawful commitment and compliance with the terms and conditions of FAA AIP Grant awards and use?

Also, did the AAWC have permission to hold onto those funds over a three-year period?

One of the main sources of Fraudulent behavior for those requesting Grant moneys from the Federal Government, has been in spending Grant moneys to ensure that a following year's request is not lower than the previous year's request. This has led to improper expenditures and subsequent occurrences of waste, fraud and abuse, committed by groups applying for Grant funds.

Likewise, the saving of Grant moneys from a Fiscal Year's request means that Government moneys, which could be used elsewhere, are not in Government accounts, costing the Government substantial amounts of interests it could be earning from those funds, and denying other needed Grant applicants funds they could be using if they had only been made available by the Grant recipient who didn't need as much...or so they say some two to three years later.

Key to both these issues: fear by the Grant applicant that if they do not use or return Federal AIP funds, they will get a lowered request the following year and at a time when larger Grants are necessary to fund their projects. A difficult dilemma for Grant Applicants and the Government to reach an acceptable compromise that cheats neither.

SSNS is informed and believes that the local FAA officials and that the one former FAA official now with the AAWC, are involved in these matters of the Reno-Stead Airport Regional Center plan.

SSNS has already observed one situation where the FAA is questioning the placement of telephone poles along the Western boundary of the Reno-Stead race course, but is not questioning -- nor is it open to questions about -- the Power Sub-station with 50 foot structures, one of which is destined to be placed in the same location as the proposed Tracy to Silver Lake powerline proposal.

Further, AAWC Planner Dwight Schulz has already indicated publicly in his document to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that the AAWC plans to aggressively develop Reno-Stead Airport and the Authority's need for "multiple" Power Sub-stations with 50 foot structures throughout the race course and infield area.

The FAA has already threatened withdrawal of the Air Race waiver over the power poles, but has said nothing in regards to the Power Sub-stations with 50 foot structures, including the one planned on the same line as the undesired Power Poles, nor the proposed Large Industrial and Commercial buildings, Office Buildings and Hotel Buildings -- just to name a few -- that would require such massive amounts of power.

Similarly, the BLM has questioned Sierra Pacific Power as to the eventual expansion of the Tracy to Silver Lake power lines, but has not determined the need for the power lines by Reno-Stead Airport and the AAWC -- since the AAWC is falsely claiming that the Reno-Stead Airport Regional Center is to be built on private property, when in fact, the land is designated as Airport Property by the terms and conditions of the FAA AIP Grant process.

Both the FAA and the BLM should be concerned about safety and the risk to Aviators (the BLM Air Attack tankers operate out of Reno-Stead Airport fighting seasonal wildfires), along with the Environmental Impact, per FAA AIP Grant procedures and the need for EIS by the BLM.

Why is the FAA just citing a row of power poles and not the plan for the entire facility? They've refused SSNS's request for an interview, so we're going higher up for an answer.

The BLM has already responded to SSNS in regards to the EIS that would normally be required: they're not doing one because the AAWC has reported that the lands are private property. They have not been educated as to the terms and conditions of the FAA AIP, nor have they been educated as to the terms and conditions that -- upon demand -- the AAWC must return Reno-Stead Airport to the military. That's because Reno-Stead Airport was quit-claimed to the AAWC via the City of Reno, subject to restrictions that it always remain an airport or be returned.

Thus, an EIS is called for by the BLM, which protects lands that are environmentally sensitive, and is likewise a guardian for Native American concerns as to historical sites and artifacts on Federal Lands, per treaties drawn up and signed by local area tribes and the U.S. Department of the Interior.

So, we "naturally" have a resulting situation where one Federal Agency believes that the lands are under Federal FAA AIP Grant terms and conditions, while the AAWC is reporting to the BLM (aka "Federal," via its subordinate placement to the U.S. Department of the Interior) that the lands are "private property" and not subject to Environmental Impact Statements (EIS).

In the opinion of SSNS and its Editor, the BLM's lack of action is understandable, particularly since they're being lied to. However, the FAA has no excuse. Dereliction of Duty is clearly inexcusable, especially by an Agency whose primary duty it is to protect lives, aircraft and property on the ground. The FAA knows of this project. Why they are not acknowledging its existence, particularly when one of their former employee is now a consultant with the AAWC, right or wrong in being so, is a complete mystery until you get to the issue of possible collusion and misconduct in the creation of the Reno-Stead Airport Regional Center.

In other words, folks: this whole matter stinks to high-heaven of fraud, waste, abuse, criminal misconduct, malfeasance, Standards of Ethics and Standards of Business Conduct violations, just to name a few of the schemes and issues of misconduct that literally abound in this matter. Too many people are refusing to talk on the record about issues that are matters of basic "Public Record." Lies abound.

Further, threats have been alluded to or downright made. Thugs and Attorneys being brought in early to stifle or stonewall investigations does not leave a palatable aura of innocence on the part of the proponents of the Reno-Stead Airport Regional Center. The dodging of interviews by Krys Bart and Mike Houghton; the seriously weird attitude of the local FAA in refusing interviews and shuffling us to obscure sources for information, does not bode well for an honest, above board project for the "Public Good." Neither does the refusal of physical access to and inspection of Public Records.

Other than the BLM, which has itself, clearly been lied to -- and "why" is a good question in that regard -- no one else in this matter appears to have "Plausible Deniability" that would mitigate a valid mistake. Many are silent out of fear, including the local Press. Issues that are indeed, "The Public's Right To Know," are suddenly not for Public consumption.

Behind the scenes, a campaign of libel and slander is being conducted -- one that rears its ugly head in the form of Ms. Morgan's claim that SSNS is being run by Plaintiffs. The Plaintiffs have already responded in the negative, as has this newspaper publicly, and yet this "Esquire's" response to Plaintiffs flat out denial of her claim was to say that the Plaintiffs' response somehow justified everything she said!

Thus, The Big Lie strikes again! We are a nation responsible for the destruction of Hitler's Third Reich. Millions died at the hands of this propagandist, millions more died removing him, and yet, the Nazi propaganda machine lives on in the hearts and minds of America's Corporate Boards, Attorneys and Politicians -- and even "non-profit, for the Public benefit, organizations" -- everywhere.

Go figure. It's now a certainty that I will be seeing her ass in Court.

Further, Business is being conducted in Stealth -- not a good sign coming from Public Agencies -- and as for the Business Conduct, it is neither ethical nor moral, but worse, highly suspicious, criminal in nature and definitely conspiracy, with every aspect affected now by cover-up and stonewalling.

Most importantly, in regards to the FAA's involvement, why is the FAA assisting the AAWC -- which failed to report at least two years of Grant overages to the FAA, along with failing the actual return of the funding in question in a timely manner -- and why is the FAA not prosecuting?

Why is the FAA at this point -- with public knowledge of Silver State News Service's investigation spread far and wide...worldwide, to be exact...assisting the AAWC at all, unless they are protecting themselves in the process? Truth be told, they're not protecting nor serving the Public with this type of conduct and behavior.

SSNS believes that if the local FAA provides cover-up and stonewalling for AAWC officials, they cover-up for themselves simultaneously as to their misconduct, and further delay the proper injunctions into AAWC/RARA activities in regards to this Regional Center project, to the point that it may be too late to stop the project's evolution once construction of buildings start.

Likewise, as has been seen with the FAA this year -- and reported by the Press -- the FAA has been going back and collecting funds from Airport operators around the nation, who have utilized Airport lands for non-aviation purposes while under FAA AIP Grant.

If the FAA allows the AAWC to establish the Regional Center at Reno-Stead, its "other" officials (usually higher-ups) can come along later and indicate that its officials "made a mistake" and it must now collect funds from the AAWC and the Community, all in order to further cover-up for its own activities and those of its inspectors in allowing RARA and AAWC (among others) to pull off this Regional Center plan.

Thus, you have the serious issue of whether or not the Local, State and Federal Governments, are in collusion in a plot to mis-appropriate Government lands protected by the Terms and Conditions of FAA AIP Grants, in order to benefit the interests of Big Business; then reappropriate the funds to cover the expense to the Government, and cover-up for an illegal plot that they (government) and their officials are themselves, involved in.

Remember, you cannot take lands protected by FAA AIP Grant terms and conditions and use them for non-aviation purposes when an aviation purpose exists, i.e., BLM Air Attack tanker operations and the National Championship Air Races. You also cannot run an Air Race over buildings, occupied or not. Altitude restrictions would nullify the enjoyment and purpose of an Air Racing event, so you can forget about that idea.

The AAWC may not have been under FAA investigation, but they were indeed under the investigation and scrutiny of Public Watchdogs (plural), including the Plaintiffs in the Water Works scandal, and separately, Silver State News Service -- something which appears to be known by the FAA, considering its severe questioning of the purpose of our interview request with their local officials.

Also, who else but the FAA's front line people would have the most detailed information about the AAWC case involving AIP Grants?

Certainly, not any obscure FAA office function in Los Angeles or San Francisco. By going to FAA National, and to those whom the local FAA must answer higher up, SSNS believes that it will create the circumstances that will finally see an investigation land on the local FAA doorstep that local FAA Officials cannot refuse an answer to.

Conclusion...Page 2

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Castrol Motor Oil logo on the British-built Percival Mew Gull.