Photo Courtesy Jimmy Emerson, DVM, Flickr CC
Is Milwaukee County once again looking at privatizing the airport?
Back in 2008, then-Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker wanted to look into privatization but county supervisors nixed that option and state legislators also considered but ultimately didn’t act to approve shifting airport governance to an airport authority made up of political appointees.
But two recent moves have added fuel to the rumors that privatization may be in the works again—the hiring of Ismael “Izzy” Bonilla as the airport director and a new state statute that seems to give Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele near-unilateral authority over the sale or lease of General Mitchell International Airport (GMIA) or Timmerman Field.
Abele’s office shot down the privatization rumors, emailing, “The county executive does not have current or future plans to sell or privatize the county’s airports—General Mitchell International Airport is a tremendous asset to Milwaukee County and we are proud of its emergence as a national leader in customer service.”
And Bonilla emailed the Shepherd that the first he heard of the privatization issue was in a recent news report.
“I can safely tell you that all my experiences were discussed during my interview,” Bonilla emailed. “But that at no time was the issue of privatization of MKE was ever bought up and no discussions were ever addressed.”
But Milwaukee County Board Chair Theo Lipscomb wants Abele to explain his vision for the airport in a public setting, before the board of supervisors.
Specifically, Lipscomb wants to know if Abele intends to pursue the sale or lease of the county’s two airports, if Abele wants to privatize their operations, and if Abele plans to turn over the governance of the publicly owned airports to an unelected body, such as the appointed airport authority model that had been considered by the Legislature.
Abele, notoriously reluctant to speak in public about his vision for the county, hasn’t taken up the offer, Lipscomb said.
“It seems to me it’s a fair question to ask: What is the vision of the executive and how does this pick [Bonilla] fit into that?” Lipscomb said.
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A Valuable Public Asset
In late December, Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele announced the appointment of Ismael “Izzy” Bonilla as the director of the airport, slated to begin Feb. 1.
Bonilla is leaving his position as chief business development officer for the Florida-based Hi-Lite Airfield Services, an airfield services company, but his experience at privatized airports has raised questions about Abele’s vision for GMIA and Timmerman Field.
From 2013-2015, Bonilla served as the chief operations officer of Aerostar Airport Holdings, LLC, which runs the Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) signed off on the 40-year privatization agreement in February 2013, and Bonilla was its first COO under the new model. From 2004-2006, Bonilla served as director of operations at Santiago International Airport in Chile—again, for a private operator.
Brian Dranzik, the county’s director of transportation, denied that Bonilla’s experience at the privatized San Juan airport impacted his hiring.
“The fact that Mr. Bonilla worked at San Juan, Puerto Rico, and that it is a privatized airport model has no relationship to his hiring here at Milwaukee, nor was that part of the candidate sourcing and selection process since it is not under consideration,” Dranzik emailed.
GMIA has lacked a permanent director since Terry Slaybaugh quit in April 2015 after just four months on the job. Abele’s office told the Shepherd the administration had interviewed four other candidates in addition to Bonilla.
Bonilla doesn’t need to be confirmed by the Milwaukee County Board, but Lipscomb would like him to appear before county supervisors after he takes the position on Feb. 1.
In addition to Bonilla’s hiring, the county is beginning to feel the full effect of an Abele-backed, last-minute amendment to the state budget in July 2015 that granted him near-unilateral power to sell or lease non-park county land, without any action of the board. Abele must merely secure the signature of one other person to sell off county assets such as the zoo or the Milwaukee Public Museum.
Lipscomb said the new law could be interpreted to grant Abele’s the power to sell or lease General Mitchell International Airport and Timmerman Field without the board’s approval, but that he’d like to hear Abele’s intentions in a public setting.
But any plan to lease or sell the airport would need the FAA’s approval under its Airport Privatization Pilot Program, which allows up to 10 airports to apply for privatization via a sale or long-term lease. Once the FAA gives the preliminary approval for an airport, the owner of the airport—typically, a government entity—could select and negotiate an agreement with a private operator. The FAA would have the final say over the agreement.
A number of airports applied for the program, but almost all of them pulled the plug on their plans. Most recently, in September 2013 Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel halted the city’s plans to privatize Midway International Airport after one potential bidder pulled out, leaving just one vendor in the running for the contract.
Airport privatization seemed to be a silver bullet for publicly owned airports that were struggling with funding cuts from the government and large investors who saw an opportunity in these public assets. According to privatization proponents, a sale or long-term lease of a publicly owned airport would be a new source of revenue for a public entity facing an uncertain future. Back in 2006, Robert W. Poole Jr., writing for the conservative Wisconsin Policy Research Institute’s Wisconsin Interest, estimated GMIA’s value between $122 million and $520 million. That said, GMIA receives no tax levy from the county; all of its operating expenses are generated by the airport itself, although the county issues bonds for capital projects.
Lipscomb questioned how the public would benefit from airport privatization.
“The public has created this valuable asset over decades, so why should we give it to someone?” Lipscomb said.
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