The manager of the Martha’s Vineyard Airport has a new contract that comes with a big salary increase.
The airport commission voted late last week to renew Sean Flynn’s contract through June of 2018. As of July 1, Mr. Flynn’s salary will go up to $138,822; an increase of 20 per cent from the five-year contract he signed in 2010. Under the old contract, Mr. Flynn was paid $115,000 a year.
Airport commissioners voted 5-2 at a meeting to approve the contract, a videotape of the meeting from last Friday shows.
Commissioners James Coyne, Constance Teixeira, Denys Wortman, Norman Perry and Beth Toomey voted in favor of the contract, while Christine Todd and Richard Michelson were opposed.
Contract talks were held in executive session at several special meetings of the airport commission this winter.
Mr. Flynn’s new contract has a three-year term, unlike the previous contract which was for five years.
Also on Friday, Deborah H. Potter signed her first contract as assistant airport manager. All commissioners but Richard Michelson voted in favor of her contract.
Under the terms of that agreement, Ms. Potter will earn $105,326 each year for three years.
Prior to this year, Ms. Potter served as assistant manager without a contract.
As non-union employees, both Ms. Potter and Mr. Flynn are also covered by the airport’s new personnel manual.
They are both eligible for a two per cent raise each year, depending on performance review, as well as 344 hours of earned time each year.
Speaking to the Gazette by telephone, Mr. Flynn said his professional goals have remained the same since he took the job in 2005: “To carry out the work the commission puts as a priority for us and continue the safe and efficient operation of the airport.”
In another airport matter, the county commission is preparing to make three new appointments on the seven-member airport commission.
Six candidates have submitted applications for the three spots, including current board members Constance Teixeira and James Coyne. Current commissioner Denys Wortman is not seeking reappointment.
The other applicants are Clarence (Trip) Barnes 3rd, whose moving company rents space at the airport, John Cahill, who owns the Hertz rental car agency at the airport, and Myron Garfinkle and Robert H. Rosenbaum, who are both pilots.
Ms. Teixeira has served on the commission since 2006 and is the current chairman. Mr. Coyne has served six years and is seeking a third term.
In his application, Mr. Barnes said he would work for change at the business park.
“A lack of communication and mismanagement surrounds the park,” he wrote in his application. “Tenants are unhappy with what they have to work with but have no choice. Vineyard people deserve better.”
Mr. Garfinkle and Mr. Rosenbaum also applied for the job in the early fall after a seat was left vacant by former commissioner Peter Bettencourt.
Ms. Toomey won that seat in September.
Appointments will be made by March, though an exact date has not yet been set.
The new appointments come against a backdrop of ongoing legal conflicts between the airport commission and the county commission, which is its appointing authority.
The airport brought a lawsuit against the county commission last year over claims that the county has tried to interfere with the airport’s autonomy. Another lawsuit involves a workplace complaint from a former employee against the airport. Both cases are pending in superior court.
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