The City of Vernon has confirmed that an airport corporation director has been handed his walking papers. Council revealed Monday that it voted behind closed doors Sept. 18 to dismiss Bill Baker from the
Vernon Airport Corporation board. The reason is Baker had been in the media about concerns over the runway extension. “We’ve never had a director in the paper bringing 
forth issues. You take it to the board first,” said Mayor Wayne Lippert. “From his actions, he did not follow the process. All of his actions pointed that he was on an agenda.” Baker has been an outspoken critic of the airport in the past. Lippert says council was willing to give him a chance to be part of the administrative process when he was appointed Aug. 14. “He applied to be on the corporation and we put him there.” However, Lippert says Baker crossed over the line when he appeared in The Morning Star Sept. 13 claiming that he had not been given information about the runway extension and found out about the project in the paper. “Everything done at the airport was approved by council, whether it was the current one or the previous one,” said Lippert. Baker dismisses suggestions that he wasn’t a team player. “I requested a board meeting with council (to discuss the runway).They’re ignoring that,” he said. “I also requested several meetings before that. Are we going to have a transparent government that provides information?” He added that he served on the airport advisory committee for a year and several attempts to get information about the facility's activities failed. Before being dismissed, Baker believes council should have met with him to discuss the situation and get his views. “It was judge and jury with no recourse,” he said of council’s decision. *****************
Bill Baker responds to Removal from Airport Board gives the other side of the story. Open Letter September 22, 2006 Re: Baker Fired from Airport Board.
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