(Above) Alex Gale passes out her letter of resignation to the Vermilion Regional Airport Authority.
Suspended Vermilion Regional Airport Manager Alex Gale resigned during the public comment portion of a special Airport Authority Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday afternoon. Gale then immediately left with family and friends saying she had no comment at this time. Also resigning prior to that was airport mechanic Jake Majors. At the start of the meeting, Interim Airport Director Rod Hightower read a list of allegations that he said led to Gale’s suspension, stating that they were being read due to community interest and Freedom of Information Act requests by media sources.
(Left) Alex Gale prior to start of meeting. (Right) Interim Director Rod Hightower reads list of allegations involving Gale.
Hightower’s explanation included the stated numbers of 24 documented policy violations and seven safety violations. A specific item mentioned by Hightower included allegations of a September 8th incident that involved driving a non-airport vehicle on an airport runway, with a non-Airport Authority person on board, at a high rate of speed and after drinking alcohol. There were various public speakers who were positive and negative towards Gale; and some spoke with us during Executive Session.
(Left) Pilot Jeff Williams speaks in support of Alex Gale. (Right) Mechanic Jake Majors speaks prior to submitting his resignation.
Pilot Jeff Williams believes Alex Gale was hit by a bunch of allegations without proof, and that the board is at fault for their actions.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: But the point is, it’s easy to make accusations, but I don’t know of any if those things. And especially the main one that was listed, I don’t know that that’s true. So no, I would not characterize it as ‘mistakes were made but they’re mishandling it.’ No, I think she was doing a great job; and I think she’s suffered politically, because of some of the people that have been here for a long time.”
One public comment speaker, citing himself as a longtime veteran of the Vermilion Regional Airport, Bill Ingram, stated while speaking that those who think they know Alex Gale need to, quote, “revisit that.” When asked what he meant afterwards, he simply stated that the media needs to be like Paul Harvey and find “the Rest of the Story.”
Audio PlayerAUDIO: That’s yours to find out.
(Left) Crowd assembles prior to meeting. (Right) Pilot Larry Owen speaks.
Plane and balloon pilot Larry Owen felt that regardless of any mistakes by Gale, the Airport Authority Board’s way of handling it, and bringing in an outsider as interim director, was not good.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: I think the board, the way they’ve handled their situation has been wrong. And they could’ve done things a lot different than they did. It’s kind of a moot point now, but things could have been handled a lot different.
After Executive Session the board officially accepted Gale’s and Majors’ resignations. It was also mentioned during the meeting that Interim Director Hightower has been earning $2,800 per day since he was installed October 1st, with the work including the investigations involving Gale. Now that the resignation has occurred, the Board stated that Hightower will now be earning $1,200 per day. The Board also stated that no taxpayer money is being used to pay Hightower’s salary during his time as interim director. The Airport Authority consists of Steve Foster, Craig Davidson, Chairman Jonathan Myers, Gardner Peck, and Joe Vincent.
