Letter to the editor: Commissioners' bullying of airport authority

Westmoreland County Airport Authority members, while appointed to their position, are independent thinkers and decision-makers, as they should be. I applaud their recent overwhelming vote, by a 7-2 margin, to renew the lease of DeNunzio’s Italian Chophouse at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport (“Westmoreland airport authority OKs DeNunzio’s restaurant lease,” June 15, TribLIVE). This, despite the attempted strong-arm tactics of the county commissioners.

The new lease will generate double the amount that was generated by the previous lease. Good, right? Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher commented that the county pays more to store court documents than what the restaurant lease provides. If that’s the case, it sounds like someone ought to be looking for new cheaper document storage facilities.

I believe all this fuss by the commissioners is only a reaction to not getting their way after trying to bully the authority. In fact, Thrasher vowed to not reappoint any authority member that voted to renew the lease to DeNunzio’s (“Westmoreland commissioners blast airport authority over vote on Arnold Palmer restaurant lease,” July 13, TribLIVE). Wow, talk about sour grapes and taking their ball and going home.

Tom Johnson

North Huntingdon