Airport Manager Malone Terminated

[Rob]

What does Allegany County or Mineral County receive for their tax dollars spent on the airport?

[woogus]

What does Allegany County or Mineral County receive for their tax dollars spent on the airport?

They can say, "We have an airport." 

I think they think it gives them an asset to talk about when they're pitching economic development.  I can't remember hearing about any employers who are here because "We have an airport" but that doesn't mean there aren't any.  Does anyone else have information about that?

[MowerMan47]

I know that one of the mines is not locally owned and the owners regularly fly in to tend to business. same can be said for a local heavy equipment operator that uses their plane when handling business out of town.

[MarcNelsonJr]

An airport might very well be a nice thing to have - but that doesn't mean it should be funded by taxpayers.

[MowerMan47]

The Allegany transit is a nice thing to have. but that doesn't mean it should be funded by the tax payers. 

[MarcNelsonJr]

The Allegany transit is a nice thing to have. but that doesn't mean it should be funded by the tax payers. 

Agreed.

[Goldensilence]

lets see some numbers showing benefits vs. tax dollars spent on the airport..........

[burgdweller]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Cumberland_Regional_Airport  Although the airport is located in the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia, the FAA lists this as a Maryland airport.[1]

The airport was originally built and owned by the City of Cumberland, (not sure if it is still city property in WV)  More recently, it is operated by a joint MD/WV authority.

http://marylandregionalaviation.aero/content/mdpublicuseairports/cbe.html

[woogus]

lets see some numbers showing benefits vs. tax dollars spent on the airport..........

Every time there's an election you hear the candidates say  "I'm going to go through the budget line by line".  Does anyone actually do that, or do the same old deals pass through unexamined? 

[MowerMan47]

I'd welcome that.  I'd hope that funds steered toward the airport are being used properly. aside from the terminal building we can't brag too much about what we have.  I was in my glory last year when the lines were repainted

[Dynamo]

Everyone is entitled to an opinion, I would much rather see the tax dollars going into the local airport than into a local prison that brings no good to the community.

The prisons brought good jobs to the community.

[joker84]

The prisons also brought trash,drugs and gangs!. The airport also offers jobs and opportunity's for young kids and adults that could lead to a long time career. Everyone is worried about the tax money how much does it cost a year to keep a prisoner 30K a head per year? How much does it cost to support people that is just to lazy to wake up and go to work? who pays for all the state workers standing along the road letting the shovel hold them up? WHO CARES if it creates jobs.

[DirtyBird]

According to the article, Mr. Malone isn't saying anything and neither is the Airport Authority.  That alone tells me something though.  

You're absolutely right!..I was an airport tenant/ business owner for the last 11 years and was up there at least six days a week, so it's safe to say I know a lot more then most... what's been going on. And without going into specifics(I can't at the moment due to ongoing things happening or about to happen)  I can tell you that Terry's firing was a loooong time in coming. There's more then one reason he had to go(pick your poison). Under his leadership the airport has gotten worse and worse financially as well as physically(I've been to the board meetings and I see the predicaments the airport is in). I even had customers refuse to come back simply because they didn't like the airport and how it was ran(or Terry P'd them off). Anyways for those of you who still can't see the forest through the trees Terry was fired for MANY reasons(you think it would be obvious where one month in the newspaper Terry is praised and two months later he's fired). It all comes down to a good-ole-boy network that exist on the airport authority between the W.V. members Terry Malone(manager),Cindy Pyles(chairperson),John Felton(board member who also runs the car races at the airport....hmmm isn't that convenient). What it all basically boils down to is they(W.V. members) refuse to do anything to promote any kind of growth or spend any kind of money to do repairs and upgrades(the fire is a perfect example). That's why there's not one business up there anymore(and the little casino thing really doesn't count). The senior mechanic Tom Fiester quit after more then 12 years as he was sick of Terry and all the BS going on and went up the road to Garrett County airport in Deep Creek ,as did I,(and now several plane owners will be relocating up there this Summer).As it is now just about every plane owner at Cumberland takes their planes up to him to get worked on , so that's just more money the airport is losing! And the young mechanic they do have at Cumberland is so bored that they have him out trying to paint hangars and other odd jobs as he has so much free time. He(young mechanic) can't even sign-off his own work(tthe jobs that require an IA signature) and since Terry has P'd off just about every IA inspector in the tri-state region,and from what I've heard they(airport authority) are forced to using one of the tenants(who has an IA) to sign off on the mechanics work.... basically if you don't keep your mouth shut or god forbid "annoy" them, they(Terry Malone & Cindy Pyles) will do everything they can to make your life miserable. Fortunately this is just the beginning of things happening up at the airport. Keep your ears to the ground as there are about to be some serious things happening up there from what I hear ...at the moment that's all I can say. But it's all going to be good for the airport, which is what most of us want.

[Dynamo]

According to the article, Mr. Malone isn't saying anything and neither is the Airport Authority.  That alone tells me something though.  

You're absolutely right!..I was an airport tenant/ business owner for the last 11 years and was up there at least six days a week, so it's safe to say I know a lot more then most... what's been going on. And without going into specifics(I can't at the moment due to ongoing things happening or about to happen)  I can tell you that Terry's firing was a loooong time in coming. There's more then one reason he had to go(pick your poison). Under his leadership the airport has gotten worse and worse financially as well as physically(I've been to the board meetings and I see the predicaments the airport is in). I even had customers refuse to come back simply because they didn't like the airport and how it was ran(or Terry P'd them off). Anyways for those of you who still can't see the forest through the trees Terry was fired for MANY reasons(you think it would be obvious where one month in the newspaper Terry is praised and two months later he's fired). It all comes down to a good-ole-boy network that exist on the airport authority between the W.V. members Terry Malone(manager),Cindy Pyles(chairperson),John Felton(board member who also runs the car races at the airport....hmmm isn't that convenient). What it all basically boils down to is they(W.V. members) refuse to do anything to promote any kind of growth or spend any kind of money to do repairs and upgrades(the fire is a perfect example). That's why there's not one business up there anymore(and the little casino thing really doesn't count). The senior mechanic Tom Fiester quit after more then 12 years as he was sick of Terry and all the BS going on and went up the road to Garrett County airport in Deep Creek ,as did I,(and now several plane owners will be relocating up there this Summer).As it is now just about everybody at Cumberland takes their planes up to him work on , so that's just more money the airport is losing! And the young mechanic they do have at Cumberland is so bored that they have him out trying to paint hangars and other odd jobs as he has so much free time. He(young mechanic) can't even sign-off his own work(or at least jobs that require an IA signature) and since Terry has P'd off just about every IA inspector in the tri-state region off they are forced to using one of the tenants(who has an IA) to sign off on the mechanics work.... basically if you don't keep your mouth shut or god forbid "annoy" them, they will do everything they can to make your life miserable. Fortunately this is just the beginning of things happening up at the airport. Keep your ears to the ground as there are about to be some serious things happening up there on a legal/investigative level...at the moment that's all I can say. But it's all going to be good for the airport, which is what most of us want.

Thanks for the update.

[Rob]

Now if we only had a local news paper that could dig for the details.

[DirtyBird]

Fortunately the winds of change are blowing....heck from what I'm reading on the internet even Cindy Pyles(chairman of the airport authority)  has got a ton of self-caused problems down in Keyser she's dealing with due to the people rising up, as they are sick and tired of the corrupt, power-hungry politicians doing whatever they like to whoever they like....It's just too bad the airport had to be left practiacally broke and in ruins before things start to change...  

[bluedukedevils]

Being very involved with the cumberland airport. I had a first hand look at the Dirtybird detailing business. The business was open maybe twice a week. With only two customers in the last yr that the business was open. Not because the airport manager ran the business customers off. The so called man that ran it, is a complete idiot. He came to the airport twice a week to drink and play his annoying rock music as loud as possible, with the hanger door wide open. The mans a real winner. If he would have tried, even a little bit to try and get customers and do the job. He may have had an ok business. And I would not have got on here and downed his business. As of the airport manager. He was fired for nothing. Thats right. Nothing. If there was a reason. Would'nt you think that the big paper would have known about it by now? The airport manager Malone as you know him. Is a good guy for the job. He has been doing it for the last 9 years. And has been doing a real good job. And now he has it run a muck? I dont think so. No the airport isnt busy. No the airport does'nt have a commuter service. No theres not a lot of events and other things going on. But between the regulations and laws of the FAA, and the economy doing as well as it is. The airport can't do those kind of things. Just like every establishment or business that gets money from the state or any taxpayers hand out. The people always want to  know what there getting back. No matter the answer. Not everybody is happy.

[joker84]

Absolutely right, I agree 100% my wife and I went to the restaurant every day for lunch the man who runs the dirtybird detailing was only there a few times a week and when he was there he spent most of his time in the restaurant talking out of his butt, never seen him working on a plane not one time just a old boat, I attend the EAA fly in breakfast in the summer and not one time have I heard a bad word about Malone or any of the employees of the airport everyone seems to be very happy with the service there, I have many friends that are based or fly into the airport they have nothing but good to say, as far as the senior mechanic that was a blessing he did go to deep creek need I say more, anyone that knows Malone would know the truth he is a good man along with a good family man, he has done more than enough to  help the airport and the employees, its hard to find a manager to fight for his employees as Malone did, he has treated the tenants more than far he worked with them on anything they needed, it seems at time other people try to step in and take credit for all that has been done if he was so bad why did they keep him for 9 years then turn around and appointed him to stay and help find his replacement?.

[DirtyBird]

Well I hate to disagree with the naysayers(there will always be a few),I'm sorry to say that I worked generally in the evenings as that's when my customers would drop-off and pick up their boats and planes(it has been a little slow the last year or two and I was trying to change that), buit it's been slow for every buisiness owner due to the economy. So during the day I would hang out and clean the shop and do little side jobs while I had the time. And when I wasn't doing that I was building my own line of custom speedboats(a lot of late nights there I can tell you). I'm also sorry I'm just a young whipper-snapper that listens to his Rock & Roll while I work. You sure seem to know a lot about my buisiness with all your assumptions of something you know absolutely nothing about, except what you could "see" at a distance. I also maintained the nicest/cleanest facility on the airport which wasn't easy.I also had done more in advertising,marketing, and trying to work with Terry and the board over the years to improve the situation at the airport (as did my father)and all we got back in return was to be ignored or told to "stay the FK away"(in those words)...and that's due to the little good-ole-boy network that Cindy and Terry had going up there, and why he was able to stay up there so long(even though he was suppose to be a "temporary" replacement till they could find a Full Time manager). But if you are Thrilled with Terry and how great of a Job he did, enjoy what's left of the airport(your in the minority)...you earned it...

[joker84]

Ok, so you say your business has been slow along with other business right? let me guess that didn't effect the airport? Wrong did you ever think it plays the same roll on the airport? What I never understood was if your running a aircraft detailing shop why was you  building so called custom speedboats? on a airport? As far running a clean facility  that's pretty is to do when your not working on anything, I always wondered how your shop stayed open but if that's what makes you happy than so be, once again if Malone was a temporay and he did not satisfy why 9 year why did they keep him 9 years, I think there is more to the story and the public is only hearing one side, I guess no one is thinking about the guys that are employees of the airport that have family's and house payments whats going to happen to them? selfish people dont care I guess