Chattanooga goes head to head with state attorney over control of airport board

The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office argued Monday that politics shouldn’t be considered in deciding whether the Chattanooga airport authority should be run by a locally-appointed board or a board appointed by state officials under a new law.

The state’s attorney and legal counsel for the new state-appointed board also said in a hearing before a three-judge panel that the entity in charge of the Chattanooga airport never really changed when the law took effect July 1 enabling the government and Senate and House speakers to appoint a majority of board members and removing members appointed by the mayor.

The state is asking the Hamilton County Chancery Court panel to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Chattanooga and the former airport authority members in the city’s effort to reverse an airport board takeover. 

The panel led by Hamilton County Chancellor Jeff Atherton is set to rule on the request as the city seeks a temporary injunction to overturn the state-appointed board. 

The court denied the state’s motion to withdraw the Chattanooga airport authority as a plaintiff in the suit and declined to pause the court proceedings. The new state-appointed board voted this summer to remove itself from the lawsuit. A separate federal proceeding before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is pending.

During arguments, Atherton raised the question of whether the airport conflict is “purely an attempt” by a “red legislature to intrude on blue cities.”

But Assistant Attorney General Tyler Sanders argued that such a scenario is a political question and not a factor for the court to address.

Lawmakers passed a measure this year giving state leaders the majority of appointments to boards that oversee airports in Nashville, Chattanooga, Memphis, Knoxville and Tri-Cities. The legislation passed after courts ruled a previous state effort to take over appointments to the Nashville airport authority was unconstitutional.

Chattanooga and Nashville, which separately sued the state over control of its airport authority, say federal law prevents the Federal Aviation Administration from recognizing the new boards until the legal dispute over changing the entity that operates the airports is resolved. They also say it’s a violation of the separation of powers between state and local governments, unfairly targeting them.

Chattanooga state-appointed airport board withdraws from lawsuit

Sanders and the new board’s attorney, former federal judge Sandy Mattice, said Chattanooga can show no harm in the state-controlled appointments to the board, noting that the Federal Aviation Administration is confident in the new state-appointed board based on a recent grant for new runway design at the facility.

They also said the city and former airport authority have no standing to sue the state, which granted Chattanooga the ability to set up the airport authority. Sanders told the judicial panel the power to appoint airport board members comes from the legislature and that the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority is a subdivision of state government, as are all local government entities.

In addition to Atherton’s question, Circuit Court Judge Joseph “Woody” Woodruff of Williamson County raised a hypothetical situation about what would happen if the “People’s Liberation Army of Chattanooga stormed the airport, ousted the board, took over the conference room, declared themselves the lawful incumbents of the metropolitan authority.” By the state’s argument, he said, the controlling entity wouldn’t change even though the people trying to “occupy the premises and run the show would be unlawful.”

Sanders agreed with that scenario.

The Republican-led legislature tried to commandeer Nashville’s airport authority, sports authority, fairgrounds board and Metro Council membership three years ago after the Metro Council declined to bring the Republican National Convention to the city. Since then, lawmakers and the Nashville leaders have been in a political tussle.

Chattanooga attorney John Konvalinka, counsel for the former airport board, countered the state argument by saying the takeover preempts the mayor’s ability to appoint all of the authority members, based on the law the legislature approved four decades ago.

Konvalinka also said the FAA must approve a change in “ownership” or “governance” of the airport when it is disputed. 

In addition, Chattanooga’s attorney said the city sold the airport property to the airport board and that removal of the city-appointed board puts that agreement in jeopardy and could cost the city financially. He added that the contract contains a “reversion” clause that could send the property back to Chattanooga, which has no contract with the state.

Ultimately, the city believes it has the right to make the appointments, based on the state law, he said.