THEIR MONEY'S GOOD; THEIR BEHAVIOR IS NOT

What do we want with a few thousand drunken, pot-smoking skydivers dropping
from the sky above Davenport?

The tourism people want their money. The city could use their business. But
the airport people say the thrill-seekers should take their party elsewhere.

The World Free Fall Convention, or WFFC, evidently has gained a reputation
in its former home in Quincy, Ill., as more of a Free-For-All Convention.
Quincy police and city officials have painted a picture of a pack of rowdy,
drug and alcohol abusers who cause nothing but trouble and leave the
airport in a shambles.

Of course, the City of Qunicy also is involved in a lawsuit with the
divers, so there could be a bias. Plus, the skydivers' convention has been
in Quincy for 12 years, so you have to wonder why city officials didn't
throw them out earlier if they were so much trouble.

Anyway, the WFFC people have asked to move their 10-day skydiving event to
the Davenport Municipal Airport.

The Airport Commission says no way. Commissioner Richard Lowe said
Wednesday that the airport simply cannot afford a 10-day shutdown and the
event would "kill the Davenport airport."

It's important to remember, as an airport commissioner, it is Lowe's job to
protect the airport and there's more at stake here than its health and
wellbeing.

Besides, I'm not convinced the airport people's position is entirely fair.

For one thing, Lowe argued, "The airport is, first of all, an air
transportation hub for the community. It is not part of the Parks and
Recreation Department, available for holding of festivals and other events."

OK. Then why does the Quad-City Air Show (an event) get to put children's
attractions, such as an inflatable slide and climbing wall on the airport
grounds? Sounds recreational and park-like to me.

Lowe also pleaded, "The airport entrance road and the parking lots are in
need of repair or replacement...an event such as this will, in one season,
severely damage or destroy these portions of the airport structure."

Pardon my harping on it, but what about the Air Show? Tens of thousands of
people attend that event every year. The big show brings in enough money
that the airport can make infrastructure improvements as needed. But I see
no reason to assume the WFFC wouldn't do the same thing.

But the skydivers have a bad reputation. Theirs is not a desirable crowd.
It's like Lowe said while wringing his hands over the farmland that
neighbors the airport: "I know you will not be able to keep those people
off that farmland."

Oh, I see - "those people."

Fortunately, city officials such as Davenport City Administrator Craig
Malin have more to consider than inconveniencing the people who operate a
business or lease hangars at the Davenport airport.

In a memo early this week, he wrote," While all of the concerns appear to
be manageable in contract discussions and through planning and hosting the
event, the WFFC will have to be a responsibile, respectful partner if the
event is to have a future in Davenport."

And Davenport police Capt. Dave Struckman said Tuesday, "We as a police
department can manage that kind of activity. We are a department that is
geared for that type of management."

Meanwhile, the tourism people can't help but get excited, because someone's
thrown around a figure of $6 million in tourism dough from this one event.

But Lowe says it's all rubbish. He said, "Malin is a good guy, but he's new
here," and, "in my mind, the tourism people are being had."

Ultimately the decision on whether the WFFC comes to Davenport lies with
the City Council. Aldermen will have to decide that either the skydivers
are more trouble than their worth or the Free Fall Convention is just the
type of even the city's been groping for.

Either way, it will be a leap of faith.