According to one, the other shouted an obscenity as the first dared him to throw a punch. According to the second, the story is a fairy tale, conconcted to deflect attention from the issues.
The discussion concerned consideration of whether the City of Asheville and the Asheville Regional Aiport could jointly operate a fire station. The city manager and airport director disagreed over who should pay how much. Furthermore, the airport director did not think it would be good for the morale of airport public safety officers, who are trained to protect the security of persons using the airport and put out airplane fires, to work alongside higher-paid, unionized city firemen. The city could theoretically lower response times and thus lower insurance rates for citizens by occupying a fire station in the long, squiggly leg of Asheville’s city limits. Partnering with the airport is expected to save the city $4-5 million. A member of city council assumed the airport director would prefer to have two separate stations covering essentially the same territory. The FAA forbids using airport personnel and airport space for “non-airport functions.”
