Are F-35’s Making their way to Burlington?

F-35 fighter jets are arguably the most high-tech aircraft in the military, with advanced attack and defense capabilities that aren’t found in any other jet. These powerful jets could be making their way to Burlington as soon as this summer.

On March 12, 2018, town meetings were held across Chittenden county, voting and discussing different topics. Most towns were deciding on budgets for various existing programs or new ones that citizens believed should be apart of their communities.

In Burlington, the most talked about topic for town meeting day was the voting on the possible arrival of F-35’s to Burlington International Airport (BTV). Though many thought the fighter jets being basing in Burlington would be inevitable, there was still voting to be had.

The fight over basing the F-35 jets in Burlington has been going on for years. Some people view it as an honor that our National guard chose BTV to house the new jets, while others are concerned that they will cause too much air traffic and noise to the city.

“The old plane was the F-16. We’re bringing in the F-35’s, four times louder, much bigger noise impact zone, which is going to put in jeopardy 3,000 homes,” said Charles Simpson, an activist for Save Our Skies who is also running for Burlington City Council.

The Save Our Skies group says that with the F-35’s in Burlington arise potential health risks and reduction in property values around the airport.

Charles Simpson and other activists for Save Our Skies believe the new fighter jets will only bring problems to the area. While others are saying it could bring good things for the residents in Burlington and South Burlington.

Bob Hartley, a resident of South Burlington, spent his town meeting day standing outside of the Ward six voting area giving insight to residents about the benefits of the F-35’s.

“Just from an economic standpoint, the number of jobs they provide that are well-paying and technical jobs could give unemployed people an opportunity to have steady income,” said Hartley.

Both sides of the argument have valid reasons for wanting and not wanting the fighter jets to come to their city, but when it came down to voting, many were in agreement that the wording on the ballot was misleading.

According to Brett Carroll, a resident of Burlington, the question on the ballot regarding the F-35’s was if you support the Vermont National Guard’s input of the new fighter jets vote no, and if you don’t, vote yes. Carroll was angry that his local government allowed this calculating wording on the ballot.

Many residents walked out of the designated voting building confused, wondering if they even voted the way they wanted to or if they made a mistake.

“It’s deceiving. Whoever wrote the question I really think needs to take public liability for it,” Carroll said.

And he wasn’t alone.

The public outcry over the F-35 ballot question was enough to overtake the meeting on Monday, March 11.

The meeting was supposed to be about the implementation of the F-35’s themselves, but was quickly set aside. More than 150 protestors lined the walls of the meeting, making it clear that they did not like how voting would go the next day.

The results of this election may or may not be swayed by how the F-35 question was worded. The citizens of Burlington made their voices heard in a public outcry against the language that was potentially used to deceive them into voting for something they were not comfortable with.