He reveals what all of us who live here already know… Milwaukee County is dysfunctional.

Q: Did going away give you more of an appreciation for Dayton?

A:”Before I left, people here did a lot to try to keep me. So I knew I was leaving a good situation to go up there, to go to a bigger airport. I think the perspective I got from being in Milwaukee is just how much easier it is to get things done (in Dayton). We have a city commission and mayor, good leadership, that’s on the same page. You don’t have a lot of infighting. Up there, they had a board of supervisors that are at each others throats. It was a completely different political environment.”

Q: How tough was the decision to leave and come back, both personally and professionally?

A: “It was hard, but it was the right thing for me to do for my family. Also, the situation up there wasn’t a good environment for me. I didn’t have a lot of autonomy. I was being pretty heavily managed by my boss. I’ll be curious to see how they fill that job because I think they’re going to have a hard time getting a professional airport director who is seasoned. They really had a lot of ideas about what they wanted that I just don’t think fit our business.”