This letter was sent to the City of Sunnyvale, and read at the Council meeting of 8/13/96.
See also Sunnyvale city staff report on formation of the committee

Alliance for a New Moffett Field

August 13, 1996


I am writing, on behalf of the Alliance for a New Moffett Field, to commend the City Councils of both Mountain View and Sunnyvale, as well as the leadership of Moffett Federal Airfield, for their willingness to form a citizens advisory committee to study future use options at Moffett Field. The Alliance is strongly in favor of this approach and would like to offer our assistance in the process.

We urge you to consider the following six principles to ensure that the deliberations of the citizens committee are meaningful:

1. The committee shall be advisory and will examine proposals from the city councils and local community to develop a policy for the future use of Moffett Field.

2. The committee shall meet openly, with public notice, and members of the public who are not on the committee shall have the opportunity to offer comments. It should be clear from the outset, whether the committeeís activities are to be governed under the Brown Act or the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

3. The scope of the advisory panel will be chartered to consider long-term uses for Moffett Field other than as a Federal airfield. A wide variety of uses have been proposed and should be investigated for the benefit of the community.

4. The committee should be representative of all concerned constituencies. All stakeholders should be considered when reviewing the reuse options. This includes not only people living in Mountain View and Sunnyvale, but all communities along the flight path to Moffett Field.

5. The committee should independently and funds from the office of Economic Adjustment or another federal agency should be sought to ensure that the committee has the benefit of independent assistance.

6. The committee should have adequate time to complete its work. The current deadline suggested by NASA does not seem adequate given the scope of the work involved. We recommend a long-term project with intermediate deliverables that extend over the course of a year. This would be consistent with the process implemented with Environmental Assessment..

This process can provide a useful result for the citizens of our communities. A committee structured with a narrower scope, such as only reviewing options within the Comprehensive Use Plan, is likely to be met with the same criticism as the previous NASA proposal.

Sincerely,

Bob Seltzer
President, Alliance for a New Moffett Field