Kulturkampf

[benji]

Saw this because Shreds retweeted it:

So I searched:

Speaking at last night’s meeting, Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery emphasized that the city isn’t under contract with Avelo, but said staff have taken advantage of the airline’s inexpensive fares to fly down to Burbank for city business.

“In our processes that we use for contracting services, flights [or] construction projects, we typically go with the lowest cost option, so we have used Avelo for that purpose,” he said. “Overall, it’s a really insignificant amount of our travel [budget]. … We don’t use them very often.”

In Fiscal Year 2024-25, the city spent approximately $130,000 on all travel, $2,500 of which was spent on Avelo flights, Slattery continued. Switching to United Airlines would increase the cost of air travel to Southern California by about 40 percent to $3,500.

All of the 20-odd residents who spoke during the public comment portion of last night’s meeting urged the council to ditch Avelo, with many speakers seizing the opportunity to criticize President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

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“We can say, ‘Please, please, Master, would you give me a cheap airline?’ or we could actually have principal,” said Sam, a member of the Humboldt Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). “We could actually say, ‘Screw you guys. We’re not flying with you.’ We have power. We can make a difference in this. We can show the rest of Humboldt that we’re taking a stand. … So let’s have a spine and let’s tell Avelo to go to hell.”

Following public comment, Councilmember G. Mario Fernandez, who asked for the item to be placed on the agenda, made a motion to discontinue the city’s use of Avelo Airlines as long as it contracts with the Department of Homeland Security. Councilmember Leslie Castellano seconded the action.

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The rest of the council and Mayor Kim Bergel expressed similar sentiments and ultimately voted 5-0 to cut ties with the airline.