Supervisor Jacob Urges East County Residents to Protest Ramona Airport Tower Closure

San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, whose district includes Lemon Grove, is urging East County residents to protest the planned closure of the Ramona Airport air traffic control tower.

Federal officials recently announced a plan to shut down Ramona's towers, as well as other facilities, on June 15.

"The facility was among (close to) 200 towers due to be shuttered by the Federal Aviation Administration nationwide due to sequestration," county officials said in a news release on Jacob's webpage. "But Supervisor Jacob, joined by Supervisor Ron Roberts and many others, say the move endangers public safety, noting that the Ramona airfield serves as the U.S. Forest Service and Cal Fire base for aerial firefighting activities across the county."

Sequestration refers to triggered spending cuts built into the federal budget.

In early March, the FAA officials announced a proposal to shutter 189 contract air traffic control towers to meet a requirement to slash $637 million under budget sequestration, according to a news release. Officials also said they would consider keeping some towers open "if doing so would be in the national interest."

The number of tower closures has been decreased to 149. A second tower in San Diego is still expected to close May 5, City News Service reported.

The decision to postpone until June to enable the FAA to deal with legal challenges and give some airport authorities time to finalize plans to funding their own tower operations, officials told City News Service.

"This has been a complex process and we need to get this right," U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told City News Service. "Safety is our top priority. We will use this additional time to make sure communities and pilots understand the changes at their local airports."

City News reported that Jacob said hitting the pause button on the closures is not enough and called for LaHood to prove his statement about safety by keeping the Ramona tower open.

"If that was the case, the federal government shouldn't even be talking about pulling air controllers out of Ramona," Jacob said. "The tower is on the front line of public safety in our region, and closing it would a disaster, especially as we approach the height of the wildfire season."

Jacob is urging the public to contact federal elected officials to voice concern about the closure and gives the following names and email addresses:

President Barack Obama
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments

Congressman Darrell Issa
http://issa.house.gov/contact/contact-me

Congressman Duncan Hunter
https://forms.house.gov/hunter/webforms/zipauthen_contact.shtml

Congresswoman Susan Davis
https://susandavisforms.house.gov/forms/writeyourrep/

Congressman Juan Vargas
https://vargas.house.gov/contact/email-me

Congressman Scott Peters
https://scottpeters.house.gov/contact/email-me

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein
https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer
https://boxer.senate.gov/en/contact/policycomments.cfm

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta
http://www.faa.gov/contact/

Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood
http://www.dot.gov/contact-us