After reading the last Wednesday paper, I feel a little clarification is in order. First of all, Mr. Eisenberg does not own the airport free and clear. There is still a first position debt outstanding in the amount of approximately $800,000. Mr. Eisbenberg claims that this debt is no longer valid because the note holder waited too long to foreclose. But the holder of the note claims otherwise and the court will hear the matter on July 8. If the court finds the note valid, Mr. Eisenberg will either have to pay the $800,00 or the note will foreclose on the property and it will be sold at auction.
Also, although Mr. Eisenberg foreclosed on the second position and assumed the property when no one bid, he has yet to transfer the property or pay the county taxes. This is not what I call “free and clear” title to a property. If fact, even though you may own a property on paper, if you do not hold an insured title, you don’t hold the title period.
I also find interesting the fact that he claims to be building hangars this summer. By his own admission he has not approached the county building department yet, has no plans or drawings, and the property does not have adequate water supply to provide fire protection which is required by current code. Even if he did have these things it could take up to a year to get a permit through the county.
The paper (News-Times, June 24) claims Mr. Eisenberg is an airplane enthusiast, and is dedicated to bringing air service to Whidbey, and has changed the name to A J Eisenberg airport. Don’t they mean bringing air service back to Whidbey? What short memories we have. I would like to remind everyone that we had dependable air scheduled air service here for over 30 years. Eleven flights a day, rain, snow or shine. Harbor Air even held the first commuter gate at Sea-Tac. This little airport served the community very well for many years, and ran at a profit without government help. In fact, enough people thought so much of the effort and accomplishment of the founder Wes Lupien, that they named the airport after him.
For those of you who don’t know, Mr. Lupien left the airport after 20 years when he came down with Alzheimer disease at an early age. Mr. Lupien left the Navy in 1963 as an officer to found and run a small airline. He worked 14 hours a day for many years for very low pay and no retirement. He did this because he loved it. The Lupien family once again thanks all the people who came after Wes got sick and dedicated the airport to him; their gratitude and effort is recognized and appreciated greatly.
Mr. Eisenberg bought the second note with Richard Boehlke’s help, after Mr. Boehlke sold off all assets, ran all bills through the roof and walked away from the property, leaving it to the creditors. Mr. Eisenberg bought this note for pennies on the dollar, has been collecting rents for most of the time since, and now after his own admission in a conversation with me last week, plans on trying to get a port district together to buy it from him at a tidy profit on his investment. It doesn’t sound to me like Mr. Eisenberg is going to bring us back air service, and definitely not the honest, dependable scheduled air service that this community enjoyed for over 30 years.
Omer Lupien
Oak Harbor
