[CPEO-MEF] REUSE: Former Griffiss Air Force Base (NY)

[Lenny Siegel]

‘Base’ has come a long way since BRACC

Editorial
Utica Observer-Dispatch (NY)
April 8, 2018 

The 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission decision to shutter Griffiss Air Force Base ripped the guts out of the Mohawk Valley community. The closure meant the loss of 1,200 good-paying civilian jobs and 4,400 members of the United States Air Force, most of whom contributed in some way to the region’s well-being.

But devastating as it was, we didn’t dry up and blow away. Even when another major employer - Lockheed Martin - left town a few years later, we forged ahead.

It was a bumpy ride, but as it turns out, we got what we wished for: a rebuilt and much more diverse economy. We’ve even recouped the jobs lost - and then some.

…

For the entire editorial, see
http://www.uticaod.com/opinion/20180408/our-view-base-has-come-long-way-since-bracc

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Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650/961-8918 
<lsiegel at cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org