Goldcoast Skydivers under attack!

[meridianjumper 0]

Yeah this sucks! I did all my AFF training down there and still enjoy coming and visiting from time to time. I love the warm weather! I do not want to see this place go. GO GET 'EM!!

Blue Skies,
Jeremy

[BillyVance 35]

Hey Chile,

When you have a chance to, give us an update on the results of this morning's court hearing... A hell of a lot of people are interested in this...

Thanks and blue skies
Billy

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[Miami 0]

I second that...
Gold Coast was my home for a long time. I am very eager to hear about how it went. Mike is no stranger in the courtroom, I have confidence in his abilities in there.

Miami

[freeflir29 0]

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Mike is no stranger in the courtroom

As a complaintant or a defendent?

[BillyVance 35]

Miami!! How ya been these days!?! Haven't seen you in a few years... Visions of you swooping the DZ facilities and the mock-up comes to mind when your name pops up... [Sly]

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[Miami 0]

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Mike is no stranger in the courtroom

As a complaintant or a defendent?

Hehe...maybe I should have specified...

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Mike is no stranger in the courtroom when it comes to defending his dropzone from the airport board and manager

Miami

[Miami 0]

Not too bad, how bout you? I got a smaller canopy so I had to quit running into things...

Miami

[ChileRelleno 0]

Update:

This mornings court appearance was for Mikes TRO (Temporary Restraining Order).
The attorney representing the JCAA (Jackson County Airport Authority) was able to have it dismissed due to the affidavit not being sworn, the affidavit was not sworn in front of the judge or notarized before being served to the JCAA.
The judge said that her hands were tied, that this type of order must follow strict rules and that she had no choice but to dismiss as requested.
Mike forfeited the $3,000.00 bond he had posted and out of that bond the judge awarded the JCAA's attorney his fees and the court fees.
The judge said that as Mike was representing himself she was forced to hold him to all the rules and guidelines that any regular attorney must adhere to and could not offer any leniency due to Mikes ignorance of said rules/guidelines.

Mike tried to challenge the JCAA's attorney to just go ahead with the proceedings, saying that the reason they wouldn't play ball was because they knew they don't have case.
The JCAA's counsel was confident from the start that they had Mike on this, they were all smiles form the git-go, they thought they had him on another technicality, the bond, but proof of bond was produced, so the next technicality was the lack of the "Sworn" affidavit,
there was a affidavit, it was served, it just was not sworn.

Mike and the JCAA already have a previously pending case (separate case/file, involving the eviction I guess) in another court on the docket for later this month, that still has to go forward as scheduled.

Mike is swearing to either file another TRO or some type of injunction against the JCAA.
He also says that it the DZ will be open for business this weekend as usual, he says that he will chain himself to the building before they shut him down, that he will continue this fight to the bitter end or sweet victory!
Mike says this was the first time he was the Plaintiff, not the Defendant and was not prepared. He said he would be prepared next time.

This is my summary,
Mike has represented himself before as a defendant, it is easier to represent oneself as a defendant, answer the questions, show your evidence/proof and so on.
Mike should have retained a lawyer, Mike should retain a lawyer ASAP!
It has been said before that only a fool represents himself, that it takes a lawyer to fight a lawyer.... In my opinion Mike needs a lawyer to win this one....

ChileRelleno-Rodriguez Bro#414
Hellfish#511,MuffBro#3532,AnvilBro#9, D24868

[Avion 0]

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Mike forfeited the $3,000.00 bond he had posted and out of that bond the judge awarded the JCAA's attorney his fees and the court fees.

Ouch, sometimes lawyers are good for something. If they made a mistake like this, at least you can take it out of their paycheck.

BTW I just had a conversation about why skydiving was absent at Orlando executive airport. The reason was there is too much traffic. Additionally, the airport has a tower. The person, I was talking with, made the comment that skydiving is always excluded from tower controlled airports. Does anybody know different?

[BillyVance 35]

[Laugh] smart dude!

Been doing allright. Kind of jumping back and forth between mainstream skydiving (rw) and the dark side (crw)... But am hoping the crw boogie in May will come back if Mike wins and is allowed to keep the DZ there...

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[freeflir29 0]

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The person, I was talking with, made the comment that skydiving is always excluded from tower controlled airports. Does anybody know different?

I would have to say that is probably true. However.......the WFFC is "tower" controlled.

[Avion 0]

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However.......the WFFC is "tower" controlled.

Hmm... Prehaps, I should say usually excluded.

Maybe, there's hope for Gold Coast yet

[Andrewwhyte 1]

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The reason was there is too much traffic. Additionally, the airport has a tower. The person, I was talking with, made the comment that skydiving is always excluded from tower controlled airports. Does anybody know different?

Unless you can point out this exclusion in the FARs I would doubt it. ATC will always try to tell you shit like that in order to simplify their lives, but ATC does not make policy.
In Canada we tend to have far fewer access rights than in the US, but we have been jumping onto a tower controlled airport for fifteen years.

[Mirage63 0]

So when was Mike SUPPOSE to be gone? I don't want to hear about Mike going to jail for choking some lawyer to death!

[Darminion 0]

Can't believe I didn't notice this thread sooner. I'm relativly new to skydiving but Gold Coast is my home on the weekends. Mike and Leanne are great people and I really hate to see something like this happening. I wanted to be there to support him today but unfortunatly I had to work today and that is in new orleans. I wouldn't gladly chain myself to the building right beside Mike if it came down to that. The people at this dropzone are like family and I would hate to see what could happen if they would have to relocate.

All I can say is I wish the best Mike in all of this and I really hope it works out.

Anvile Brother #59

[PhreeZone 20]

Actually, what happens is that once your enter controlled airspace you are to talk to the controllers all the way. They have to give you clearence to jump and while they might find an opening with no traffic for you, you might have had to circle at altitude for 30 minutes waiting on them to do so. As it stands now you have to give notice before droping and when the last jumper has landed. If you are in uncontrolled airspace you are hoping that everyone is listening (lots of weekend pilots don't). Some times you can talk to a regional center that will be nice enough to route heavy traffic away from jumpers. (Only if they have time, it is a VERY low priority)

I can ask my bro who is ATC for the FAR refrences if you want.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[christoofar 0]

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Kicking an avaiation activity off of a pulic airport can result in that airport loosing its federal funding and requiring the airport to pay back parts of past federal funding.

Look into it.

While that protection does have its value, it's not always applicable (e.g. private airports where Kapowsin has had all its trouble), and apparently not that tough to get around. If the evicting party (city council, whoever) can show that they're not evicting an activity, just a business (e.g. for lease violations which sounds like what they're trying for in this case), the airspace protection clause would appear to be useless. Additionally, I've heard (but haven't verified) that the FAA won't step into cases in which the method of eviction is requiring an unobtainable (or unaffordable) insurance policy.

Blues,
Dave

That's one nice thing about Texas... you can just get a big enough flat ranch (and there's no shortage of those)... pile a colieche strip, go through the regulatory process and boom--private DZ. Screw the muni port.

____________________________________________________________
I'm RICK JAMES! Fo shizzle.

[mikeigo 0]

Chile is absolutely right. I have never been a plaintiff in a lawsuit and I made a very stupid procedural error. Unfortunately, I'm not as sharp as I used to be. I retained an attorney today who said the error I made could have been easily corrected by the judge if she felt like hearing the case. Obviously, she didn't. There's no one to blame but myself and I feel terrible for letting down the people that were in attendance today. It certainly didn't help my cause for the law library to be closed Tuesday and Wednesday for Mardi Gras. Maybe my review of civil procedures would have caught the error. I actually left the courtrrom so upset that I was ready to just throw in the towel. Then I thought about my Dad and how disappointed he would be in me if he knew what I was feeling. Suddenly the spirit and fight came back. Yea, I lost round 1, but this is a 15 round fight and I will win it. I have alot of people depending on me and I won't let them down again.

[freakyrat 1]

If it's the military that wants you out you may get them to pay to move and build you a new operation. There is precedence for this with Skydive Arizona.

Chris
Skydive Houston

[ChileRelleno 0]

You rock, Mike!
And I know as do alot of others here that you're a fighter, and we stand as moral support for you.

ChileRelleno-Rodriguez Bro#414
Hellfish#511,MuffBro#3532,AnvilBro#9, D24868

[freeflir29 0]

Pick yourself up.......dust yourself off and go back at it. I have certainly been in court FAR more than I wanted to be in my time but the fight IS worth it. Good luck bro!

[BillyVance 35]

Mike!

You know hindsight is always right...

You will kick their asses with your lawyer at your side! If I lived closer, I'd be in the middle of it with you, probably chanting "hell no, we won't go!" but if you do end up chaining yourself to the building, get it on video.

Give 'em hell, Mike! If there's anything we DZ.commers can do for you, just ask!

Blue Skies
Billy

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[freeflir29 0]

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but if you do end up chaining yourself to the building, get it on video.

As funny as that would be............a better idea is to try to get your cause on the local media. Just call up the station and ask for their investigative reporter. If you can get them to take an interest it can have an AMAZING effect on judicial proceedings.

[BillyVance 35]

a better idea is to try to get your cause on the local media. Just call up the station and ask for their investigative reporter. If you can get them to take an interest it can have an AMAZING effect on judicial proceedings.

[skybill 22]

Hi Mike,
Go For It!!! I used to skydive at Hammond Airport Louisiana back in the 60's. Leon Riche and the locals got into it ('Never got all the details) and moved to Covington, La. If he would have stood his ground (Herb Golden {southern conference champ} retained a lawyer for the fight) we might still be skydiving there!!! The bitch about it is that Skydiving is the bastard red haired stepchild of General Aviation!! We're the ones that the Big Guys always start with by saying,"Lets get those guys out of 'our' sky!!!" Little does the next guy( experimental avia buffs, aerobatic pilots, sunday Cessna pilots, etc) realize but they are next!!!! The Big Guys tried to "Sanitize" the skys of us rif-raff backin the 60's and 70's (Look in old Parachutist mags!!) and they havn't stopped,---yet!!!!!

P.S. I've written my share of letters to the FAA in opposition to Notices of proposed Rule Making. Now, rather than the big guys going after all of us in a group, their new tactic is to knock us off one at a time!!! They are taking lessons from and no better than Terrorists!!

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out