The 3-2 vote Monday means the county will probably take overoperation of the airport and the job of restoring airline serviceby July.
Airport Manager Michael Shouse, hired 10 months ago, said heexpects to lose his job. He and two authority members at themeeting denied wrongdoing.
Commission Chairman Paul Helms was appointed to the authority inSeptember after questions arose about financial problems.
According to a written statement Helms provided after themeeting, auditors investigated bookkeeping errors and alleged fraudat the airport. The authority paid utility and tax bills late,misappropriated money and did a poor job filing records, thestatement said.
During the meeting, authority member Donald Delauter said theairport has been bombarded with new regulations since Sept. 11.Computerized financial records were nearly destroyed by a formeremployee, which has taken months to correct.
Shouse and the authority have worked with US Airways Express torestore service after CCAir, the sole carrier, pulled out in April.
Shouse said the vote was a mistake and puts in jeopardy $1million in federal funding.
"Their timing is very poor given the loss of air service," hesaid. "The industry is a whole different ballgame, and I don'tthink they have a clue what's ahead of them."
Helms said the county ran the airport until 10 years ago.
"This is not rocket science," Helms said.
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