The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Moffett's future in the hands of NASA

What will happen at Moffett Federal Airfield has been the topic of heated debates throughout Santa Clara County. But what will ultimately become of the former Navy base is up to NASA and not local politicians.

Thousands of dollars and man-hours have been spent on forming committees such as the Community Advisory Committee--the official body formed to investigate alternatives, made up of Sunnyvale and Mountain View council-members and citizens--to try and find viable uses for the airfield. The only problem is that committees have no control over NASA's final decision.

"The CAC was designed so the community would feel they had input into the decisions at Moffett, yet they really have none," said Cupertino Councilman Wally Dean, who was part of the group. "NASA has their own separate agenda and are going to do what they want to do."

NASA representatives say, however, that they want to work with the city councils of Mountain View and Sunnyvale to reach a solution.

"We have always worked closely with the two cities," NASA spokesman Michael Marlaire said. "Legally, we don't have to get input from the communities, but we are not going to proceed with anything that is going to upset the residents. We asked the cities to form the [CAC] so a solution could be reached together."

NASA representatives have been involved in the fact-finding process with the CAC, but have not voiced any opinions on the report because NASA did not want to influence the committee's decisions.

"We will look at all the ideas that are presented," Marlaire said. "We are going to wait until the city councils have had an opportunity to make a decision on the report and present us with their ideas."

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, July 16, 1997.
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