AAB is dissolved

 TL;DR: Longmont's AAB DISSOLVED. Prieto and Crist voted against; it was 5 to 3.

WATCH: 

At 38:40 the CC comments start about passing the ordinance. At 15:57 hear comments from 5 great people on the ordinance.

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 Longmont City Council votes to dissolve Airport Advisory Board
5-2 majority says city needs to reset how it handles airport oversight
By London Lyle | [email protected]
PUBLISHED: April 15, 2026 at 8:26 AM MDT

https://www.timescall.com/2026/04/15/longmont-city-council-votes-to-dissolve-airport-advisory-board/

The Longmont City Council voted 5-2 Tuesday night to dissolve the Airport Advisory Board, removing the citizen board from city code and leaving the council to take on its responsibilities for now.

Councilmembers Crystal Prieto and Diane Crist voted against the ordinance. The rest of the council said the city needs to reset how it handles airport oversight and public concerns tied to Vance Brand Municipal Airport.

The ordinance repeals the section of city code that established the Airport Advisory Board. Under that section, the board consisted of six voting members appointed by the council and one nonvoting council liaison. Supporters of the change said the current structure was no longer working and that the city needed to step back before deciding what kind of airport advisory body, if any, should come next.

Councilmember Alex Kalkhofer, who had not initially supported the idea when it first came up earlier this year, said Tuesday that his vote was not about shutting down the airport or ignoring the public. “It’s a vote on how we organize ourselves so we can better support the airport going forward,” he said. He also encouraged current and former board members to stay involved as the city works through what comes next.

Councilmember Matthew Popkin framed his support in similar terms, saying the issue was structural rather than personal. He argued that the city still needs technical airport expertise but that the current structure has not effectively served the city, residents or airport users. He said he saw value in having some type of advisory body focused on the airport, but not in keeping the current model.

Mayor Susie Hidalgo-Fahring and Mayor Pro Tem Sean McCoy also described the move as a reset rather than a permanent rejection of the board. Hidalgo-Fahring said the goal was to compel the council to take a closer look at airport policies and practices rather than continue sending issues back to the board. McCoy said the city had reached a point where it needed to step back from a structure he believed had not worked for years.

Councilmember Jake Marsing also backed the move, saying, “It is not a punishment. It is not quitting. It is a way to step back, get the structure right and come back stronger.”

Even with the vote, council members across the dais thanked current and former Airport Advisory Board members for their service. Numerous council members stressed that the airport’s current controversies should not be pinned on board volunteers, but that the onus was on the council for poor management of the board. As an example, they said, for years, AAB members didn’t receive packets ahead of their board meetings, a standard practice for citizen advisory boards so members can review materials prior to their meetings. It was only in the past year that staff started to regularly issue packets to the board.

While Prieto said she was in support of the majority of the statements made Tuesday, she said she was sticking to her “no” vote due to the original spirit of the ordinance and “how everything unfolded.”

The motion for staff to bring back the ordinance was initially made following an AAB meeting in which one member, Matt Gibson, criticized the City Council’s liaison, Mayor Pro Tem Sean McCoy, in a way that appeared to mock his stutter. The council directed staff on Feb. 24 to prepare the ordinance to dissolve the board. Some council members described Gibson’s conduct as unprofessional and Mayor Susie Hidalgo Fahring, who made the motion, said she believed the AAB needed a reset.

But on Tuesday, the majority of the council appeared eager to distance themselves from any isolated situation; instead, opting to frame the dissolution as a step back that would help the airport in the long term.

Prieto referred during the meeting to an email from AAB Chairwoman Melinda Jordan describing the airport’s contributions to the community.

The email, which the Times-Call reviewed, mentioned volunteer trash pickups at the airport; flying rescue animals; and, in 2020, delivering critical COVID supplies to remote towns across Colorado.

Crist unsuccessfully tried to delay the vote, saying she was uncomfortable dissolving the board without first agreeing on a replacement structure. She proposed an amendment tabling the ordinance until the council had more discussion about possible alternatives, such as a citizen assembly or task force.

Public comment before the vote came largely from residents who supported dissolving the board. Several residents tied their frustration to aircraft noise and said they felt the advisory board had not meaningfully addressed neighborhood concerns.

Only one speaker, former City Council candidate Steve Altschuler, spoke in favor of the airport, saying despite his living near it, he was not bothered by the noise.