Lewiston airport board loses another member

The dissension that erupted on the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport Authority board last week continues.

Board member Joe Gish announced Wednesday he had resigned. The Horizon Air pilot and Boeing executive cited a number of frustrations. Among them were difficulties in getting information he needed to oversee airport operations and administration.

“I was not supplied the final (fiscal year 2019) budget or financial reports prior to the Aug. 15 meeting, requiring me to attempt to analyze these items in real time during the meeting,” Gish wrote in his resignation letter.

“It is my opinion that any board appointee who attempts to provide anything more than a cursory level of oversight will encounter the same obstacles.”

At the same time, there is an “adversarial and even antagonistic relationship” between the airport and general aviation tenants, “which needs to be corrected for the airport to move forward,” Gish wrote.

The letter makes no mention of the Lewiston airport’s biggest challenge — Alaska Airlines pulling the Seattle and Boise commercial passenger flights provided by its subsidiary, Horizon Air, at the end of this week.

SkyWest is Lewiston’s only other carrier and offers flights to and from Salt Lake City.

Gish’s departure leaves three members on the five-member board. Former board member Tony Maiorana resigned last week, just days before the board’s attorney, Jennifer Douglass, submitted her resignation.

Maiorana said he didn’t have the time the board position required. He is the owner of Jetco Machine and Fabrication in Asotin.

Douglass alleged she may have been the victim of criminal conduct, without providing details about what might have happened. She also indicated that a friendship between her and board member Chris Clemens was a factor.

Tensions on the airport board first became public in early January and were fueled by a number of issues, including disagreements among board members about how much supervision to provide airport manager Stephanie Morgan.

Several board members resigned. Eventually, the Lewiston City Council and the Nez Perce County Commission were so troubled by the situation that they amended a joint-powers agreement governing airport operations to essentially force the remaining board members to leave in April. The city of Lewiston and Nez Perce County co-own the airport.

Each group of elected officials then appointed two new members, and the fifth member was selected by the other four, as specified by the joint-powers agreement.

The board had been at full membership for less than a month when Maiorana resigned. Both Gish and Maiorana, who had been serving as board chairman before resigning, were appointed to the board by the Nez Perce County Commission.

City of Lewiston appointees Jim Bennett, a retired Lewiston city manager, and Debra Smith, a regional economic development planner with the Clearwater Economic Development Association, remain on the board with Clemens, chief operating officer of Green Water Energy, who was appointed by the other four members.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.