On the very week that a basing decision could be made, the Madison Common Council’s March 31 vote in favor of a resolution to oppose the basing of next-generation F-35 jets at Madison’s Truax Field drew a strong rebuke from Zach Brandon, president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce.
Noting the context of a global pandemic, and the fact the council has already taken a vote on the matter, Brandon blasted the council’s timing.
“In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, we are all assessing what is essential — every person, every business, every government,” Brandon says in a statement released by the Chamber. “Regardless of how one feels about basing the F-35s in Madison, no reasonable person would argue that it is essential to debate and vote on this resolution during an economic and public health crisis, more than 150 days after the public comment period ended and more than six months after the Council already took an official position on this issue.
“We need our National Guard more than ever. We need jobs more than ever. We need economic investment more than ever. At a time when we look to our local leaders to unite us, a few alders chose to divide us and send a tone-deaf message that distracts from the truly urgent priorities facing our community.”
Earlier, the council’s decision to consider a resolution opposing the basing of F-35 jets here had drawn the ire of the Badger Air Community Council, which supports the basing of the jets with the National Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing at Truax Field. The BACC notes that the National Guard is playing a key role in Wisconsin’s coronavirus response, helping return state residents who were passengers on the Princess Cruise line and deploying medics at a nursing home in Grafton that was hit hard by COVID-19.
The future of the fighter wing in Madison could rest on basing the F-35 jets here. The BACC pegs the unit’s local annual economic impact at $100 million.
In opposing the F-35s, the resolution cites noise and other environmental impacts and says the basing at Truax Field, near Dane County Regional Airport on Madison’s east side, could reduce the city’s stock of affordable housing.
Air Force Secretary Barbara M. Barrett is expected to announce her basing decision within days.
Related story: Take Five with Zach Brandon: Losing F-35s, 115th would be like losing Oscar Mayer
