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Dear Friends,
Wishing everyone a very happy holiday season! This past October 27, 2024 marked ten years since the launch of the Sky Posse name, website, and public engagement after the publication of the Palo Alto Weekly’s feature story “Unfriendly Skies” highlighting our efforts. To all who helped build our community, volunteered their time, skills, ideas, and persistence contributing to thousands of hours toward the pursuit of solutions, we applaud and thank you!
We want to especially thank Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian who demonstrated the meaning of building community. Joe’s extraordinary career in public service will be celebrated by the City of Palo Alto this Spring and as his term ends this month we celebrate his role in our efforts. Grassroots initiatives rely on partnerships with elected officials to make things happen and we were privileged to see Joe show how this is done. Joe and his outstanding staff Kristine Zanardi proactively and respectfully engaged with so many citizens and interest groups, writing the first County resolution in response to the inception of Nextgen and increased flight path noise. Joe helped us approach congressional leadership which brought the FAA to the table; supported the subsequent steps that led to the establishment of a historic Select Committee and, as Chair of the committee, hosted the FAA delegation for months, resulting in hundreds of hours of public input. At critical moments, Joe and Kris brought trust and leadership to highly charged situations negotiating very technical discussions with hundreds of highly involved participants. They supported the establishment of the first aviation noise Roundtable with Palo Alto having a seat. After the closure of the roundtable, they continued to be responsive to citizens where possible.
We commend Joe and Kris’s efforts and friendship to so many, and look forward to joining in the City’s celebration this Spring. We have sent this note to Joe and Kris, and we encourage everyone to participate and send a personal note as well.
FAA Noise Policy Review - Tests for a potential new policy
We want to underscore that the extensive public engagement and deliberations of the Select Committee that Supervisor Simitian chaired remain key to informing our advocacy regarding the FAA’s review of their half century old aviation noise policy. Earlier this year we committed to providing an analysis of the FAA’s Review and we are taking this up by applying five “tests” for the eventual new policy. The tests represent criteria to track and evaluate whether the new policy 1) meets legal requirements of the law, 2) meets public expectations based on issues raised by the Select Committee and the City of Palo Alto 3) has scientific validity drawing from the Stanford MONA findings, 4) follows Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommendations, and 5) ushers a new era for truthful reporting and transparency about aviation noise and emissions, including health effects. Where appropriate, we will complement the discussion with positions that our group and the City of Palo Alto have presented to the FAA and Congress. In the new year we will start sharing each of the tests in a draft and welcome feedback before we submit it to the FAA.
Advocacy Status
In 2025 we need to strengthen the partnership with the City to address citizen jet noise complaints and to seek results regarding SFO and flight path noise. Specific goals include addressing the issue of night time noise with the program suggested by the FAA to the Select Committee. A successful partnership can also be measured by City investments that serve agreed upon goals; level of staff attention; number of times our issue makes a Council agenda with a staff report; measurable engagement with the city’s federal and state lobbyist; having a clear legal strategy; outreach to residents, and transparency. Only an official representative body is in a position to take these steps to protect the health and quality of life of Palo Alto residents as well as to represent citizen's concerns. We’d like to recruit a team of five or six Palo Alto residents to support us this year with advocacy with the new City Council and call on YOU! If you enjoy strategy or advisory work, or are willing to attend office hours with City Council members please consider helping. For more information let us know by replying to skypossepost@gmail.com, subject “City Advocacy”
It’s worthwhile to examine how the partnership with the City began and the steps in 2014 and 2015 that led to the FAA coming to Palo Alto, and various processes since (Select Committee, SJC Ad Hoc, SCSC Roundtable). It’s fair to say that we have not yet found an effective way for our community to have a voice in addressing aviation noise abatement. The 39 minute April 2014 City Council discussion is a MUST WATCH. Council members aghast at how the FAA deployed new deleterious flight patterns without data or analysis to evaluate potential impacts, and no notice to the City. Any day, the City could be in the same position it found itself in 2014 except can the community accept more noise or a sixth rejection from the SFO Roundtable? The City can be more proactive! When the City sets priorities for 2025, we will try again and ask Council to put our jet noise complaints on their agenda.
A final note:
We were sad to learn that Dennis Hughes, the City’s aviation consultant passed away this year. Dennis' deep knowledge and insights of Northern California air traffic organization informed the City’s and our understanding of the FAA procedures affecting Palo Alto. In a field that can be daunting to non-experts, Dennis empowered citizens and elected officials to navigate technical discussions, with a memorable light heart and fun approach.
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