It’s time to get off the barstools, folks, time to stop complaining how nothing will ever happen in Erie.
It’s time to jump on the bandwagon, something that frankly I was slow to do, caught up in the mid-city renovation of a Koehler project and the bright lights of racino gambling.
But I’m here to tell you, there is no greater chance of good jobs coming to Erie and in greater quantity than the air link project between Erie and the Drewitz region around Cottbus, Germany.
I’ve seen the potential with my own eyes.
Yea, I thought that a live horse track with slot machines and accompanying bars and restaurants could be a home run for the tourist end of our economy.
It’s hard not to squint when millions of dollars are dangled before your eyes.
But it was a plan that ultimately failed to materialize within city limits, and the storm around it blew out a handful of political careers in the process.
That drama is a direct cautionary tale for the members of the Erie Airport Authority, now holding our best hope and caught up in their own power struggle that threatens to divert attention from the air link project and runway expansion and the promise they hold.
My request is this:
Please remember what happened with Erie City Council.
Please help us keep our eyes on the prize.
It was disheartening to hear that the Bayfront Convention Center project is now some nine million dollars over budget. While it’s admirable to be patient in getting a project just right, the bottom line in construction is that time is money, and the years in finding the right design and the right spot allowed the ticking meter to finally overwhelm our collective wallet.
After the thousands of hours that the volunteer Convention Center Authority members put into the effort, there will no doubt be a push to lobby Harrisburg for the additional funds.
But we can’t split our voice here, and separate Erie factions fighting for the Governor’s ear will not help either effort, even in an election year.
If that means holding off on a bayfront parking garage, then so be it.
We must keep our eyes on the prize.
The Erie air link project promises real jobs, like truck drivers and computer operators and cargo movers and warehouse supervisors.
I’d like to see it all, a healthy Convention Center and a booming race track and a thriving logistics center at the airport.
But now is not the time for diversions or petty politics, we can’t afford side deals or tangents or pauses.
Mayor Joe Sinnott has called the air link his top economic priority, and it will be a test of his leadership to tell supporters of the other projects that it’s in the best interest of everyone for them to take a back seat for now.
The potential is there, potential that only comes around only once in a long while, perhaps only once in a lifetime.
It’s time for all of us, to keep our eyes on the prize.