Did you hear?  The circus has come to the city of Great Falls and Cascade County here in Montana!  It’s performing monthly at the Great Falls International Airport when their board has its monthly meetings!

Sorry children, it’s a grown-up circus, so you can’t attend, although you might be able to offer some sound advice to the Board that you were taught in first grade.   

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the “Foolish Move” being made by a majority of the members of the Great Falls Airport Authority Board when they decided they did not like Director Cynthia Schultz’s contract.

Lets be honest, I believe some of them (five of the six) just don’t really like the Director (maybe because she is a strong-willed female and some feel that’s not appropriate out here in the wild west) so they needed to find some way to get rid of her.  They can’t say that publicly though, but you don’t need to be a lawyer or an even an airplane pilot to read between the lines.

I’d be very worried if, as a possible candidate for this job, I did some research on the history with the board and the Director, and talked to local folks people about what has transpired over the last few years.

The Great Falls Tribune reported in their Wednesday, November 25, 2009, edition, “Airport authority creates framework to select director.”

The Board decided to re-write the contract (to give the board more control) and solicit applications – and spend upwards of $50,000 to find a replacement for Director Cynthia Schultz.  Oh yes, the board also retained a local attorney to review the contract which equals MORE OF OUR MONEY being spent on this circus.

What is it with the local officials in and around Great Falls spending money on foolish things?

The contract already in place had to be approved by the Airport Board members, so they only real reason I can see for doing it this way is to get rid of Schultz.

In my book, Schultz has done a very fine job in the 10+ years she has been the Director.

Recently, the circus met again and luckily for us, the Great Falls Tribune and some of the local TV stations covered it.  It was telecast on the local cable access station, too.  Yes, I watched it.

Now the sides are even angrier with each other.  Schultz is a strong person.  I give her credit for fighting back against some “turkeys” (I had to put that in since it is Thanksgiving), but this whole mess is headed for a train wreck.  Five of the six member Airport Authority Board are totally to blame for starting this turmoil and for spending so much money on this circus – a circus that should fold its tents.

The bottom line is the County and City Commission (they appoint the board members) should shut down this circus even if it means firing the whole board.