Lucas Robinson:

The director of the Dane County Regional Airport was routinely unavailable to make key decisions about the airport, neglecting messages from her staff as well as representatives of Southwest Airlines who had reached out about starting service at the airport, according to documents obtained by the Wisconsin State Journal.

Kim Jones’ leadership of the airport grew so poor in recent years that three top airport officials complained to county leadership, leading to a 3-month investigation in 2023 that corroborated 12 complaints against Jones.

At a time when the airport was working to rebound from the pandemic, airport staff often waited weeks to get responses from Jones on airport business and never got a response while she was purportedly working from home, according to the investigation.

“There is a high level of frustration due to lack of communication, lack of time management, lack of vision, lack of organization, a status quo attitude and because no one feels heard,” the airport officials wrote in their complaint. “When staff have tried to move the airport forward, it is always met with resistance.”