Congressman Joe Baca

Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 05/18/2012 12:01:03 PM PDT

Rep. Joe Baca has introduced a bill to expedite the transfer of L.A./Ontario International Airport to local control.

The Transfer Control of Ontario Airport Now Act gives Los Angeles World Airports, which manages ONT, 60 days to turn over operations and ownership.

It also calls on the Federal Aviation Administration to withhold all funding from LAWA if no action is taken within the first 60 days after the bill’s enactment.

“If LAWA is not going to give our airport a fair shot at success, then we must do everything in our power to return Ontario to local control,” said Baca, D-San Bernardino.

A commission also would be created to determine a fair market value for the sale of ONT.

LAWA would then be forced to sell the airport to Ontario at the commission’s determined, fair market price, according to the bill.

“LAWA’s continued mismanagement of Ontario airport has led to exorbitant operating costs, large reductions in flight traffic, weakened security, and a significant loss of jobs and revenue for our local Inland economies,” Baca said.

Earlier in the week, speaking to a group in the Inland Empire, LAWA Executive Director Gina Marie warned those pushing for Ontario to regain operations of the airport.

“Local control, in and of itself, is not going to be a panacea,” she said.

ONT saw about 4.2 million passengers in 2011, figures not seen since the late 1980s. It’s a drastic decline from the peak traffic of 7.2 million in 2007.

Addressing the continued decline in ONT passenger traffic figures, Lindsey said airlines are retreating from smaller hub facilities like ONT.

Introduction of the legislation was news to Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner, who has been the city’s liaison on the issue.

“We’ve very supportive of what the congressmen is trying to do,” he said.

Wapner noted that Baca has backed Ontario throughout the entire process but said he looks forward to speaking to the congressman and updating him on Ontario’s latest efforts.

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LAX/Ontario International Airport Terminal (Courtesy: The P-E)

By Liset Marquez
Created: 05/16/2012 03:23:20 PM PDT

DIAMOND BAR – A lively discussion about LA/Ontario International Airport, which was supposed to focus on the medium-hub facility’s importance to the region’s economy, quickly turned into a debate on the merits of local control.

For more than an hour Wednesday, a five-member panel discussed a bevy of issues and circumstances facing ONT at the Four Corners Coalition 2012 Economic Summit at the Diamond Bar Center.

The discussion pitted Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports – which manages ONT – against proponents of local control, including Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner. Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge, Michael Armstrong with Southern California Association of Governments, and Denny Schneider, whose group Alliance for a Regional Solution to Airport Congestion has long battled LAWA over Los Angeles International Airport’s growth, also participated.

“It is silly that we are fighting with each other over who owns the airport, we ought to be leaning in together and figuring a path forward on how to make this airport thrive in a very challenging economy,” Lindsey said in a stern voice.

But Lindsey went on to warn those pushing for Ontario to regain operations of the airports.

“Local control, in and out of itself, is not going to be a panacea,” she said.

For this year, month-over-month, ONT has lost between 4 and 7 percent in air traffic, Lindsey said. The economy, however, is not a reflection of that drop, rather it’s a shift in the way airlines do business, she said.

Addressing the continued decline in ONT passenger traffic figures, Lindsey said airlines are retreating from smaller hub facilities like ONT.

“So what is it that we should be doing different together? Let the local versus L.A. control of the airport, let that battle fight itself out, but, in the meantime, we ought to be working together to see what we can do to stem exodus,” she said.

Wapner, who met Lindsey for the first time at the spirited discussion, said he saw it differently. Calling LAWA an absentee landlord, Wapner argued Ontario’s motives in getting involved in the local control effort.

The interest that the city has isn’t about any financial gain, it’s in the region which could have seen a $20 million economic boost if passenger traffic was up, Wapner said.

“I want to commend Gina Marie because I think she is doing an excellent job as the executive director of Los Angeles World Airport,” he said, adding that she is doing her job, given to her by the policymakers in Los Angeles, which is to get the expansion completed of Tom Bradley Terminal International at LAX.

“Unfortunately, it’s been at the expense of Ontario.”

ONT has long been viewed by officials in Ontario as the region’s largest economic engine.

City officials said they are fighting to regain control not only to stop the hemorrhaging of passenger traffic but to control their economic destiny.

Michael Armstrong, who handles the transportation and aviation issues for Southern California Association of Governments, presented figures in Ontario’s favor.

Using factors developed by a regional economic impact study completed for SCAG in 2004, Armstrong said ONT was on pace to reach 31 million annual passengers by 2030. It’s also a figure the agency is continuing to forecast for the airport in its latest study.

“It would no doubt be a tremendous economic boom to the Inland Empire,” he said.

According to the forecast, had Ontario continued to grow, it would have generated a projected 134,000 of direct and indirect jobs and injected about $20 billion into the local economy, he said.

Calling ONT an important piece of the overall aviation puzzle for Southern California, Lindsey said it also remains a very important and long-term strategic asset for LAWA.

“I understand the sentiment and concern, and I think we are the easy target – we may have even done some things that made us an easy target. Our intent is absolutely to see this airport thrive,” Lindsey said.

Officials in Los Angeles are focusing on airlines, and trying to provide more seats and more routes but have not been successful, she said.

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ONTARIO – There are two entrenched sides in the L.A./Ontario International Airport ownership saga.

Ontario officials contend regaining local control of the airport could reverse a five-year trend that has seen passenger traffic increasingly drop.

Officials from Los Angeles World Airports, which owns and operates ONT, said they believe the airport will improve once the Inland Empire economy bounces back.

But these competing visions are having an adverse impact on passenger traffic and part of the blame rests with Ontario, according to one airline expert.

“As negative as the dialogue is in the Inland Empire, it has an effect on the expectation of the customers of what they are going to see in Ontario,” said Edward Shelswell-White, an airline industry expert and consultant to LAWA.

Shelswell-White was alluding to Ontario’s public relations campaign – Set ONTario Free – that endorses local control of the airport.

ONT saw about 4.2million passengers in 2011, figures not seen since the late 1980s. It’s a drastic decline from the peak traffic of 7.2million in 2007.

Ontario officials have even gone so far in recent months to voice concern about ONT shutting down if passenger traffic doesn’t improve.

That perception, said Shelswell-White, who has been tasked by the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners to look at ONT’s marketing situation, is having a negative effect on the mindset of customers and is creating a turbulent environment for airlines at ONT.

“There’s little confidence that the situation will get better,” Shelswell-White said. “In the minds of our target customers, they don’t see a competing vision that they believe.”

Shelswell-White gave an update on Monday to the airport commission, a seven-member civilian board that governs LAWA airports such as ONT and Los Angeles International Airport.

An airline industry expert for two decades, Shelswell-White said there isn’t a strong enough brand identity at ONT to allow it to thrive.

Discussing marketing strategies that could turn things around at the struggling airport, Shelswell-White has suggested the board consider a rebranding effort.

Ontario’s public relations campaign is not the sole factor in driving down passenger traffic, Shelswell-White said.

He also noted the economy and a switch in how airlines do business.

“Right now, the only vision out there is in order to fix Ontario, it has to revert to local control until we are able to show them a vision of how to make Ontario succeed,” Shelswell-White said.

Ontario City Manager Chris Hughes said he was not convinced that his city’s plan is a factor.

“Based on what facts can (Shelswell-White) make that statement?” Hughes said. “Our PR campaign only started a few months and passenger traffic, since ’07, has been declining and is expected to decline through October.”

Set ONTario Free was launched by Ontario at the start of 2012.

More than 80 cities, organizations and elected officials have passed resolutions backing the city’s efforts to wrest control of the airport from Los Angeles, Hughes said.

To read entire story, click here.

Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 05/07/2012 05:31:41 PM PDT

A marketing plan that was supposed to address the steep decline in passenger traffic at LA/Ontario International Airport was criticized by Los Angeles World Airports’ governing body Monday.

Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, a seven-member civilian board that governs LAWA airports – such as ONT – and staff, including a longtime airline industry expert, discussed marketing strategies that could turn things around at the struggling airport.

But a proposal, which looked at rebranding ONT as a high-end facility, was met with criticism from the commission.

After more than an hour discussing the plan, the board directed staff to continue to research marketing strategies for ONT and come back with a report.

“If we want Ontario airport to thrive or grow at a faster rate than the economy would allow it then we have to do something unusual,” explained Edward Shelswell White, who has been tasked with addressing the marketing situation at ONT.

White, who is a senior director of market strategy and performance with The Aloft Group, has been in the airline industry for more than two decades with expertise in rebranding and commercial service.

Among White’s suggestion was that ONT offer valet parking and VIP amenities to attract more customers and airlines.

“Ontario has a weak brand in the minds of customers and airlines,” White told the board.

But commissioners quickly questioned the direction, citing the fact that Inland Empire has been hit hard by the recession. In addition, LAWA staff has long cited the economy as one of the reasons for the downturn in air travel out of ONT.

Monday’s discussion was in response to a request made by the commission in late December after the departure of a LAWA employee who handled the marketing for medium-hub facility.

During the discussions, Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of LAWA, told the board that they were seeking its endorsement as well as guidance on further direction on the marketing proposal.

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State Senator Bob Dutton

Liset Márquez, Staff Writer
Created: 05/03/2012 06:01:14 PM PDT

ONTARIO – A local senator may soon revive a bill aimed at helping this city gain autonomous control of the struggling LA/Ontario International Airport.

Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, created Senate Bill 446 in early 2011 in an effort to move discussions along between officials from Ontario and Los Angeles World Airports, which operates ONT under a 44-year joint-powers agreement.

The bill creates an Ontario International Airport Authority that is comprised of four directors from the city of Ontario and three directors from San Bernardino County.

Dutton tabled the bill in 2011 after negotiations between Ontario and Los Angeles officials had improved.

A Los Angeles City Council subcommittee in March agreed to analyze Ontario’s proposal to regain control of ONT.

“If the report is not favorable, then Dutton will revisit the bill,” Dutton’s spokesman Larry Venus said.

The subcommittee also agreed to produce a mid-report by the middle of May and a complete report in 90 days from when it was approved.

“He is not going to move the bill forward until after the report is released and dependent on what direction it goes, then (the) bill will move forward,” Venus said.

The bill has been approved by the Senate but has not reached the Assembly.

Using an urgency clause, the earliest the bill could come back for discussion would be in late June.

It would need two-thirds approval to pass, Venus said.

If the bill doesn’t move forward in a first try, Venus said they would have until late August.

“As long as discussion continues and there is a resolution between the parties, then Dutton would not move forward,” Venus reiterated.

San Bernardino County Supervisor Gary Ovitt – whose district includes Ontario – has been closely following the development of Dutton’s bill.

Last year, Ovitt testified before a Senate committee in support of Dutton’s bill. The supervisor said he would do so again if needed.

“Sen. Bob Dutton’s legislation has been great in terms of bringing statewide attention and focus onto this issue,” Ovitt said.

To read entire story, click here.

May 3, 2012 | 4:30 pm

Moving swiftly after a judge dismissed its case, the district attorney’s office refiled 24 perjury and voter-fraud charges late Thursday afternoon against Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife, Flora Montes De Oca Alarcon.

The new charges make the same allegations as a case thrown out by Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy on Thursday morning, accusing the Alarcons of lying about living in a house in Panorama City so that the councilman could run for his 7th District office.

It was not immediately clear when the Alarcons would be arraigned.

Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley’s action came just hours after Kennedy’s ruling. The judge threw out a July 2010 indictment of the couple on 24 felony charges after finding the prosecution failed to properly instruct grand jurors of their duty to consider exonerating defense evidence.

Cooley disputed her legal reasoning, saying the judge ignored legal precedents when she dismissed the grand jury indictment.

“The grand jury transcripts clearly show that our prosecutors did indeed present evidence submitted by the councilman and his wife,” Cooley said. “The grand jury chose not to consider it, as is their right.”

There was no immediate comment from Alarcon.

Thursday’s charges mirror the earlier indictment against Richard Alarcon, including two felony counts of filing false candidacy papers in 2006 and 2008, seven counts of voter fraud and nine counts of perjury. Montes de Oca Alarcon is again charged with three counts of perjury and three counts of voter fraud.

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State Senator Bob Dutton (File Photo: The P-E)

By PE Politics
April 16, 2012 4:37 PM

State Sen. Bob Dutton stood up from his table at a recent economic forecast event to announce he planned to push ahead with his long-tabled bill that would create an Ontario International Airport authority made up of local leaders and facilitate the transfer of the Inland airport from the city of Los Angeles to that local authority.

It sounded imminent, but it’s more like a maybe.

Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, made the announcement at the 2012 State of the Region conference in Ontario on April 6, the same event where economist John Husing was applauded after suggesting Inland residents should file a class action lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles for being forced to drive to LAX to catch a flight instead of Ontario airport, where fares are often higher.

Dutton, whose SB 446 bill passed the Senate last year but has yet to go before an Assembly committee. The bill was introduced to spur negotiations between Inland leaders, mainly the city of Ontario and San Bernardino County, and the city of Los Angeles.

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In a March 2 hearing in the case against Richard Alarcon, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jennifer Lentz Snyder was scolded for being ‘very dismissive’ of defense evidence submitted to a grand jury in 2010. A lawyer says Alarcon and his wife are ‘heartened’ by the turn of events. Councilman Richard Alarcon (Irfan Khan, Los Angeles Times / August 4, 2010)

By Catherine Saillant, Los Angeles Times
April 8, 2012, 8:51 p.m.

A high-profile perjury and voter fraud case against Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife could be in trouble based on a judge’s warning at a court hearing last month, transcripts show.

In the March 2 hearing, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy sharply criticized the prosecution’s case and scolded Deputy Dist. Atty. Jennifer Lentz Snyder for being “very dismissive” of defense evidence submitted to a grand jury in 2010. Those jurors returned a 24-count felony indictment against the Alarcons, who have pleaded not guilty.

“What I got from reading the transcript of these proceedings was a kind of cavalier suggestion to the grand jury from you [saying] oh yeah, the target has some papers here,” Kennedy said in transcripts obtained by The Times last week.

“It was very dismissive, the way that it was done, extremely so.”

The district attorney’s Public Integrity Division alleges that the Alarcons lied about where they were living so that the veteran San Fernando Valley politician could run for the council seat representing the 7th District.

Beginning in 2006, Alarcon had listed a tract house in Panorama City as his residence, just as he was contemplating a return to the council after an eight-year absence. Prosecutors contend, however, that the Alarcons were actually living in Sun Valley, outside the district.

Kennedy, according to the transcripts, suggested that Lentz Snyder had stacked the deck against the Alarcons during the grand jury proceeding by making light of documents submitted by the defense that purportedly showed the couple was indeed living at the house in question.

The judge also chided the prosecutor for her reaction to witnesses that the defense said would testify that the Alarcons regularly ordered fast food, picked up prescriptions and shopped at the local Home Depot for materials needed to renovate the ranch-style home on Nordhoff Street. That house as well as the Sun Valley one are owned by Alarcon’s wife, Flora Montes de Oca Alarcon.

Neighbors, relatives and workers were also prepared to testify that the Nordhoff home was the Alarcons’ primary residence and that they were frequently there.

Kennedy also felt compelled to remind Lentz Snyder that with no judge or defense lawyers present during a criminal grand jury, the burden is on prosecutors to make sure grand jurors are aware of evidence that could undercut their case.

“There’s nobody there to, you know, balance that off….” Kennedy said. “You guys are running the show.”

To read entire story, click here.

L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in
April 6, 2012 | 4:18 pm

Los Angeles’ top budget official raised the specter of bankruptcy on Friday in a sweeping report in which he called for new taxes, major pension reform and possibly layoffs.

Chief Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said rising employee costs combined with flat-lining revenues have left the city in a precarious position. Even after reducing its workforce by 4,900 positions in recent years, the city faces a $222-million budget shortfall, he said, a number that is expected to rise to $427 million by 2014-15.

“We’re always in crisis mode; we’re always trying to close that shortfall,” Santana said in an interview. Without cuts to the city’s expenditures and gains in its revenue stream, he said, “we’re facing the complete devastation of city services, including public safety.”

Santana says about $150 million in new revenue is needed. Doubling the so-called documentary transfer tax imposed on the sale of property could bring an additional $100 million, he said. Raising the parking tax by 10% to 15% would bring in $40 million. Additional revenue could come from improved collection of parking ticket fees and ambulance billing, he said.

Santana’s report comes just a few weeks before Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is set to release his proposed budget for 2012-13. Last week, Villaraigosa said a “large number” of layoffs might be necessary to eliminate the $220-million deficit.

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Developer Philip Anschutz is ready to write a check for a downtown stadium and a team if he can get a good deal with the NFL, his top executive says.

By Kate Linthicum and Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times
April 2, 2012, 9:31 p.m.

Billionaire developer Philip Anschutz is committed to the idea of an NFL stadium in downtown Los Angeles and is willing to buy a team himself in order to make the deal work, his top executive said Monday.

Speaking to Times reporters and editors, Anschutz Entertainment Group President Tim Leiweke downplayed recent reports that NFL executives are dissatisfied with the terms of AEG’s proposal for a team, as well as talk of possible competition from a Chavez Ravine football stadium now that ownership of the Dodgers has changed hands.

Leiweke said Anschutz is ready to write a check for both the downtown stadium and a team as long as he can get a “reasonable” deal out of the football league.

His pledge to buy a full stake in a team marks a new level of commitment for Anschutz, who Leiweke had previously said was willing to buy only 50% of an NFL franchise. But the company is also exploring backup plans if the NFL deal stalls.

One of them involves the aging, city-owned Convention Center that abuts the proposed stadium site and AEG’s Staples Center and L.A. Live sports and entertainment venues.

A plan to use new tax revenue generated by the stadium to finance a major upgrade of the Convention Center was crucial to garnering City Hall support last year. Leiweke said that his company is now considering how to revamp the exhibition center even if a pro football stadium is not built.

Leiweke did not say how AEG would finance a Convention Center makeover without the new taxes generated by a stadium, but he reiterated his view that making the center more competitive with other cities is critical to the city’s economy. His firm’s investments in the area, which include the J.W. Marriott hotel, also would benefit, he acknowledged.

L.A.’s top budget official said he also hopes the Convention Center rehab goes forward “if for some reason the stadium does not work out.” Chief Administration Officer Miguel Santana said privatizing management of the center could help fund the reconstruction.

Leiweke said that AEG would bid on a contract to manage the center. He also said that the estimated price tag of renovating the Convention Center has risen and would require about $20 million more in bonds than the $195 million called for under a draft agreement with the city.

Leiweke acknowledged that it’s possible that the new owners of the Dodgers could propose a football stadium at the baseball team’s home in Chavez Ravine. Leiweke said he was in talks with Magic Johnson and his co-owners at Guggenheim Baseball Management, although he did not specify what the talks were about.

To read entire story, click here.

Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has announced an agreement Tuesday to sell the bankrupt team for $2 billion to a group that includes former Los Angeles Lakers Magic Johnson and former Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals President Stan Kasten in Los Angeles on Tuesday, March 27, 2012. (Keith Birmingham/Staff Photographer)

By J.P. Hoornstra, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/27/2012 11:13:05 PM PDT
Updated: 03/28/2012 12:15:12 AM PDT

The road was rocky, but the end was Magic.

A saga for control of the Dodgers more than a year in the making culminated with Tuesday’s announcement that a group led by Magic Johnson had been selected to purchase the team from outgoing owner Frank McCourt.

The group, Guggenheim Baseball Management LLC, will acquire the team for $2 billion upon completion of the closing process, according to a joint statement released late Tuesday. The group includes Johnson, former Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals president Stan Kasten, controlling partner Mark Walter, Mandalay Entertainment chief executive Peter Guber, Bobby Patton and Todd Boehly.

According to the statement, McCourt and certain affiliates of the purchasers will also form a joint venture that will acquire the Chavez Ravine property for an additional $150 million. The deal will allow McCourt to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with all creditors paid in full.

The previous record sales price for a North American sports franchise was a reported $1.1 billion for the Miami Dolphins in 2009.

“I am thrilled to be part of the historic Dodger franchise and intend to build on the fantastic foundation laid by Frank McCourt as we drive the Dodgers back to the front page of the sports section in our wonderful community of Los Angeles,” Johnson, the former Lakers star, said in the statement.

McCourt purchased the team, Dodger Stadium and the surrounding land in 2004 for $430 million. He retained sole ownership of the team in the wake of a bitter divorce with his wife, Jamie McCourt, who was fired from her position as CEO of the Dodgers in 2009.

But those problems only scratched the surface. Major League Baseball assumed day-to-day control of the Dodgers in April 2011. At the time, commissioner Bud Selig cited “his deep concerns regarding the finances and operations of the Dodgers.”

It was worse than many imagined: The Dodgers filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in June and McCourt, awash in debt, agreed to sell the team in November. Citing a court filing, The Associated Press reported that the team’s debt stood at $579 million as of January.

The transfer in ownership represents a reversal of the team’s financial fortunes and is certain to inspire optimism from a beleaguered fan base.

“This agreement with Guggenheim reflects both the strength and future potential of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and assures that the Dodgers will have new ownership with deep local roots, which bodes well for the Dodgers, its fans and the Los Angeles community,” McCourt said in the statement.

To read entire story, click here.

Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 03/19/2012 05:19:46 PM PDT

ONTARIO – A Los Angeles City Council committee is set to discuss Ontario’s proposal to transfer control of LA/Ontario International Airport in a special meeting Tuesday morning.

Ontario city officials have been waiting for the Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee to take up the issue since it was introduced by Los Angeles Councilmen Dennis Zine and Bill Rosendahl in late January.

The motion asks the city’s administrative officer, Miguel Santana, to determine the fair market value of ONT, as well as the process to sell or transfer ONT to Ontario. A report would be expected within 90 days.

Ontario City Manager Chris Hughes said he and Councilman Alan Wapner will speak to the three committee members about the proposal.

“We’re going to stress the need to take action and have the CAO review the proposal,” Hughes said. “We want the chance to work with the CAO on the report”

The committee, which is comprised of councilmen Bill Rosendahl, Tom LeBonge and Joe Buscaino, will discuss whether the committee will move forward with the motion and call for a report.

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By Liset Marquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 02/18/2012 04:36:28 PM PST

Ontario officials produced 600 flash drives bearing the slogan “SetONTariofree.com” on one side and “local control” on the other. The flash drive is packed with information on the city’s three-year campaign to take back ONT. City officials are in the process of giving away 600 of the USB flash drives to city managers and mayors throughout Southern California.

The map above is a collection of cities, lawmakers and organizations that have voiced support for the initiative to restore local control of L.A./Ontario International Airport. Pushpins represent cities, balloons indicate individual officials, and balloons with points indicate parts of a organization, such as the League of California Cities, Inland Empire Division. Green indicates supporters; red indicates those parties against the initiative.
Keep up: LA/Ontario International Airport news developments | Online | @DBOntarioNow

Ontario’s efforts to wrest control of LA/Ontario International Airport from Los Angeles is gaining traction with a wave of cities throughout Southern California — spanning Laguna Niguel to Barstow and various cities in between, all passing resolutions backing the Inland Empire initiative.

In recent weeks cities in the Inland Empire such as Claremont, Chino Hills, Norco and Rancho Cucamonga have voiced their opinions about the battle over the struggling medium-hub facility. They have been joined by cities in the east San Gabriel Valley that are weighing in on the financial significance the airport has to their region.

“Ontario airport is an economic stimulus to this region, and we as municipalities, as regions and governments, as those who do business in this area, need to support this effort to regain Ontario International Airport as it used to be,” said Chino Hills Councilwoman Gwen Norton-Perry.

For the past couple of years, Ontario officials have lobbied for local control, claiming they would be able to convert ONT — which serves four counties — into a competitive regional airport again.

The decline in air service at ONT from 2007 to 2011 led to a $494 million blow to the Inland Empire’s economy and the loss of more than 9,000 jobs, according to new figures released by Ontario.

“The philosophy of many cities is that local control is the best thing. Today, it’s Ontario but tomorrow it can be them,” said Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner.

The recent push comes less than a month after Ontario launched a public-relations effort to sway Los Angeles voters in the quest to regain control of ONT.

Included in those efforts were 600 USB drives sent to city managers and mayors, which provide them with a sample letter that can be sent to their local politicians urging their support for local control.

Area politicians have been using those sample letters in recent weeks to adopt their own resolutions. In most cases the action has been taken with one sweeping vote while others have sparked discussions and even debates from the dais.

“It’s an appropriate thing and there is no reason why someone else should be governing what goes on in a major facility like that, that isn’t in our same geographic area,” said Chino Hills Mayor Art Bennett, whose city this week passed a resolution supporting Ontario.

Bennett described Los Angeles’ involvement with the airport as “an absentee landlord

“The airport is a viable economic component for the Inland Empire and one of the assets to get out this recession.”

GWENN NORTON-PERRY
Chino Hills Councilwoman
on a piece of property.”

Since 2007, the peak of travel at ONT, the facility has lost more than 40 percent of its seat capacity.

In 2011, about 4.5 million passengers flew out of the airport. New traffic figures indicate ONT has seen a 9 percent drop in December compared to the same month last year.

Cities such as Diamond Bar and Walnut have supported Ontario because of the economic burden they may experience without a thriving airport, Wapner said.

“It does impact each city that is getting involved, because it doesn’t just impact residents, it impacts their local businesses as well,” he said.

In 2005, the airport saw 544,600 tons of cargo go through its facilities. But with fewer passenger flights, some of which carry freight and cargo, only 417,000 tons passed through ONT in 2011.

Claremont’s resolution received support from its council in part because of ONT’s importance to regional transportation efforts in the future.

It also marked the first time Councilman Corey Calaycay said he has ever supported a resolution which was not directly city-related.

“I do recognize that a big part of the effort in getting Gold Line (light rail) to this community – which is very, very important — is the fact we’re having the Gold Line go to the Ontario airport,” he said. “And the other reality, and this has been mentioned several times, is this is our airport. We don’t have any other airport in Claremont.

To read entire story, click here.

Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 03/02/2012 02:42:46 PM PST

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has said he would not approve the sale of LA/Ontario International Airport until the real estate market bounces back. The mayor cited his financial obligation to taxpayers as a reason.

The mayor made the comments to City News Service.

Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner lashed out at the mayor’s comments.

“We’re not offering to buy the airport, not by any means. The mayor of L.A. has been disengaged from the process from the very beginning,” Wapner said. “We’re working with the (L.A.) City Council and the City Council can overrule the mayor.”

Ontario officials have been pushing Villaraigosa and Los Angeles World Airports, the agency which oversees ONT and Los Angeles International Airport, to either transfer control of the airport or amend the joint powers agreement between the two cities.

The statement made by Villaraigosa shows the mayor has no idea what the issue is, Wapner said.

“An airport is a public utility and isn’t affected by the real estate market,” he said. “The airport has no value except as an airport.”

Ontario has offered a $250 million transfer proposal. A portion of the offer, $50 million, would go to dissolve the existing agreement. The remaining amount would be all financial obligations, outstanding debt and liabilities of the slumping facility which the city would assume.

Wapner said Ontario officials have often received conflicting reports from various Los Angeles officials, which has made the process difficult.

The news comes as Villaraigosa and the Los Angeles City Council recently met with a delegation of western Riverside County officials to discuss the importance of ONT to their region.

Peter Sanders, spokesman for Villaraigosa, would not comment on the mayor’s statement other than to say, “The mayor had a very cordial meeting with the Inland delegation.”

Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge said the meeting between himself and eight other prominent Riverside officials was well received by the Los Angeles delegation.

Loveridge said the group had a 30-minute session with the mayor as well as individual meetings with members of the council.

“We were trying to emphasize that we have high stakes in the success of Ontario airport,” he said. “That success is dependent on local control.”

Wednesday’s meeting at Los Angeles City Hall was not meant as a negotiation effort for Ontario, Loveridge said.

During the Riverside delegation’s visit, there was a change that could help Ontario, he said.

In late January, Los Angeles councilmen Dennis Zine and Bill Rosendahl asked for a report on the airport’s fair market value and the possibility of sale, with a response due within 90 days.

The motion was approved and sent to a subcommittee. But on Wednesday, councilmen Tom LaBonge and Herb Wesson introduced a motion to redirect the lead on the report from Los Angeles World Airports to the city’s administrative officer. It was referred to the Trade Commerce and Tourism Committee which is expected to take up the motion in late March or April.

Wapner applauded the move, adding the city had made that request.

“We wanted an objective third party to conduct the report, obviously (LAWA executive director) Gina Marie made her position known, and we didn’t feel it would be responsible for her to lead the report,” he said.

While Wapner said he appreciates the efforts from Los Angeles, he is losing a little of his patience. It’s been more than a month since the motion was introduced and it has yet to be discussed.

To read read entire story, click here.

Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 02/22/2012 06:18:30 PM PST

View: Ontario’s response to financial request

ONTARIO – It was a figure that turned many heads – $250 million – which was what Ontario was willing to offer in hopes of gaining autonomy of LA/Ontario International Airport.

Most of the multi-million package would be paid back from revenues received once the city had ownership of the airport.

But there was still the $50 million offer to dissolve the Joint Powers Authority between the city of Ontario and Los Angeles World Airports.

Just where would that money be coming from?

One city official was not ready to specify.

Cory Briggs, an attorney for the Ontario Mountain Village Association, is asking that same question – in the form of a California Public Records Request.

“The public is entitled to know where the city is hiding $50 million,” Briggs said.

Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner was quoted in the Daily Bulletin earlier this month saying, “We have the money,” referring to the $50 million offer.

On Feb. 8, the day after the article was published, Briggs filed the request asking that the city identify the source of funding.

On Feb. 16, city attorney John Brown, responded to Briggs, denying the request.

To read entire story, click here.

By Liset Marquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 02/18/2012 04:36:28 PM PST

Ontario’s efforts to wrest control of LA/Ontario International Airport from Los Angeles is gaining traction with a wave of cities throughout Southern California — spanning Laguna Niguel to Barstow and various cities in between, all passing resolutions backing the Inland Empire initiative.

In recent weeks cities in the Inland Empire such as Claremont, Chino Hills, Norco and Rancho Cucamonga have voiced their opinions about the battle over the struggling medium-hub facility. They have been joined by cities in the east San Gabriel Valley that are weighing in on the financial significance the airport has to their region.

“Ontario airport is an economic stimulus to this region, and we as municipalities, as regions and governments, as those who do business in this area, need to support this effort to regain Ontario International Airport as it used to be,” said Chino Hills Councilwoman Gwen Norton-Perry.

For the past couple of years, Ontario officials have lobbied for local control, claiming they would be able to convert ONT — which serves four counties — into a competitive regional airport again.

The decline in air service at ONT from 2007 to 2011 led to a $494 million blow to the Inland Empire’s
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economy and the loss of more than 9,000 jobs, according to new figures released by Ontario.

“The philosophy of many cities is that local control is the best thing. Today, it’s Ontario but tomorrow it can be them,” said Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner.

The recent push comes less than a month after Ontario launched a public-relations effort to sway Los Angeles voters in the quest to regain control of ONT.

Included in those efforts were 600 USB drives sent to city managers and mayors, which provide them with a sample letter that can be sent to their local politicians urging their support for local control.

Area politicians have been using those sample letters in recent weeks to adopt their own resolutions. In most cases the action has been taken with one sweeping vote while others have sparked discussions and even debates from the dais.

“It’s an appropriate thing and there is no reason why someone else should be governing what goes on in a major facility like that, that isn’t in our same geographic area,” said Chino Hills Mayor Art Bennett, whose city this week passed a resolution supporting Ontario.

To read entire story, click here.

Los Angeles World Airports says it wants to set the record straight about its management of the struggling LA/Ontario International Airport.

It is doing so through a newly launched page on its website called “LA/Ontario – The Facts.” The launch is an effort to debunk any misconceptions the public may have about the situation at ONT and LAWA’s management of it, said Gina Marie Lindsey during the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners meeting on Monday.

“For each of the questions, we have provided answers grounded in facts. While we do not expect that this information will end debate about the future of ONT, we hope it will add to the quality of data that frames this debate,” the website states.

The move comes less than one month after Ontario embarked on its own public relations campaign known as “Set Ontario Free” to wrest control of the midsize airport from Los Angeles.

Ontario city leaders have claimed Los Angeles city leaders have allowed ONT to struggle while focusing on efforts to boost traffic at LAX.

But Lindsey told the seven-member civilian panel that oversees Los Angeles International, ONT and Van Nuys airports that LAWA staff will be be focusing on “aggressive management techniques to market ONT, and we will bring those ideas forward within 60 days.”

Lindsey also told the board LAWA is working on bringing in a new marketing consulting firm “with a fresh approach in marketing the airport.”

Just like Ontario, LAWA’s campaign has its own website, Facebook page and Twitter account.

Lindsey also informed the commissioners she has decided to postpone a resolution that would have put a hold on any negotiations with Ontario.

At the Jan. 23 meeting, the president of the commission called for a resolution stating that ONT would not be available for a transfer or sale for at least two years.

But the following day, two Los Angeles councilman introduced a motion that would ask for a report on the airport’s fair market value and the possibility of sale, with a response due within 90 days.

To read entire story, click here.

BY KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
STAFF WRITER
kpierceall@pe.com

Published: 24 January 2012 09:02 PM

The last time a Los Angeles councilman proposed taking a serious look at what it would take to transfer control of Ontario International Airport back to the city of Ontario, the Inland city didn’t have a serious proposal.

Now it does.

With Ontario’s offer of $50 million on the table, a Los Angeles city councilman has, for the second time in less than two years, proposed that his city research what it would take to cede control and ownership of the airport to the Inland Southern California city and if it would be worth it.

On Tuesday, Councilman Dennis Zine, along with Councilman Bill Rosendahl, proposed a motion for city staff to determine the fair market value of the airport and how it could be transferred, as well as analysis of the city of Ontario’s current proposal to take control of the airport.

Ontario has proposed giving Los Angeles $50 million for its general fund and taking on $75 million in debt to get back the airport. It’s a proposal that was publicly rebuffed by the executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that owns and operates the airport, LAX and Van Nuys Airport. The city of Los Angeles has managed the airport since 1967, taking ownership in 1985.

In a statement Tuesday, Ontario City Councilman Alan Wapner said the city was, “extremely pleased” about the motion introduced by Zine and Rosendahl.

An email from Zine’s press secretary indicated that the councilman was invited to tour the airport by a member of Ontario’s City Council who is a colleague on the Southern California Association of Governments council.

“We are confident that when all the facts are known and carefully considered that the LA city government will recognize that our offer is fair,” and better than what has been provided in other airport transfers, Wapner said.

The motion, simply a starting point for consideration, was sent to the city of Los Angeles’ Trade, Commerce & Tourism Committee. No action could be taken until the committee sends it back to the full City Council for a vote. Even then the committee could modify it or kill it before it gets a chance to go to the council for a full vote. Rosendahl and another councilman, Greig Smith, made a similar motion in May 2010 to look at the feasibility of transferring the airport.

“Resources are scarce and the need of LA residents is for the focus to stay at LAX to promote a maximum economic growth for Los Angeles City,” the most recent motion states.

To read entire story, click here.

LA/Ontario International Airport has has suffered a 32 percent decline in airline passengers since 2007. The airport had once been projected to server 30 million passengers by 2030. (Bulletin file photo)

Liset Márquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 01/19/2012 09:15:13 AM PST

ONTARIO – The battle has begun in earnest.

Officials on both sides of the LA/Ontario International Airport dispute this week lashed out at each other for information they say is misleading and a misrepresentation.

Late Wednesday night, Ontario officials angrily responded to Los Angeles World Airport’s strong criticism of their attempt to take back control of the struggling facility.

“Not only did you misrepresent Ontario’s proposal,” City Manager Chris Hughes said about LAWA’s comments, but “you prematurely commented on terms of an airport transfer prior to allowing policy makers sufficient opportunity to explore negotiation terms and consider all options.”

Until now, Ontario had engaged in private talks with officials of Los Angeles and LAWA, which operates ONT as well as Los Angeles International Airport, in an effort to regain control of ONT.

Things changed earlier this week when Ontario launched a media campaign to sway Los Angeles voters in their quest to regain control of ONT.

The campaign includes a website – SetOntarioFree.com – as well as a Facebook page and Twitter account. On Thursday, city officials announced they had also launched a YouTube channel.

Included in the efforts was poll results that city officials say shows a majority of voters support the transfer of ONT to Ontario from Los Angeles.

The poll results prompted LAWA Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsey to fire back at Ontario, saying the agency does not intend to abandon its fiduciary responsibilities of ONT.

Lindsey said she rejected Ontario’s $50 million deal to buy back the airport, referring to the offer’s amount as a “foreclosure price.”

She also referred to Ontario’s poll as “misleading and an attempt to deflect the truth.”

“LAWA expects to continue to focus its work on building ONT to its potential, rather than be distracted by repeated attempts to engage in a process to sell an airport that is not for sale,” Lindsey said.

Ontario officials had refrained from disclosing their offer because they were in negotiations with LAWA.

Hughes publicly released a letter, addressed to Lindsey, outlining “numerous factual errors” she made in her statement.

Hughes said Ontario is not proposing to buy ONT, but is seeking a transfer of the operator from one public agency to another.

In its negotiations with LAWA, Ontario said they have offered Los Angeles officials a “comprehensive financial package,” which assumes all debts and financial obligations of the airport.

The package included a “generous and unprecedented payment” to Los Angeles to pay back any transaction costs associated in the transfer as well as the dissolution of the 1967 Joint Powers Agreement between the two agencies, Hughes said.

The airport’s history with LAWA dates back to 1967, when Los Angeles, at the request of Ontario, began managing and developing Ontario Airport, which at the time was serving less than a million passengers, Lindsey said.

Since then, more than $560 million in airport capital improvements have been made utilizing funds from a combination of LAX and ONT revenues, Federal Aviation Administration grants and bond proceeds secured by LAWA, she said.

“At the time, these investments and improvements were being made at ONT, LAX was deteriorating and not enough money was being re-invested for capital improvements,” she said.

Lindsey said Ontario’s offer does not come close to either the value of the airport today or address the value of the significant investment Los Angeles has dedicated to ONT.

To read entire story, click here.

A survey from the city of Ontario asked LA voters what they knew about Ontario International Airport’s control. Los Angeles officials accuse the city of wanting to buy the airport at a “foreclosure” price

BY KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
STAFF WRITER
kpierceall@pe.com

Published: 17 January 2012 09:27 PM

The Los Angeles agency that owns and operates Ontario International Airport fired back Tuesday evening at leaders of the city of Ontario for offering to buy the airport back, “at a foreclosure price,” according to a statement from Los Angeles World Airports.

The city of Ontario has been in a tug-of-war for control of the airport since elected officials and staff began accusing Los Angeles of neglecting the Inland airport in favor of LAX, also owned and operated by LAWA. Ontario’s passenger traffic has plunged by about a third since 2007.

In LAWA’s statement, the agency’s executive director Gina Marie Lindsey said Ontario had offered $50 million for the airport, “that doesn’t come close to either the value of the airport today … or the value of the significant investment the city of L.A. has dedicated to (Ontario airport).”

The city of Los Angeles has been managing Ontario airport since 1967.

The statement followed the release of results from a survey commissioned by the city of Ontario.

To read entire story, click here.

Customers are few at ticket counters inside Terminal 4 at Ontario International Airport.

BY KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
STAFF WRITER
kpierceall@pe.com

Published: 21 November 2011 09:44 PM

Two Inland congressmen, fed up with the increasingly empty terminals at Ontario International Airport, on Monday asked U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for help.

Reps. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, and Ken Calvert, R-Corona, sent a letter Monday to LaHood and a second one to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa asking for them to improve Ontario’s worsening condition. The city of Los Angeles has owned Ontario airport since 1967.

“Without action, we are precariously close to losing the airport, a vital component to the economic health of San Bernardino and Riverside counties,” the congressmen wrote to LaHood.

Passenger traffic has fallen by a third in the past four years to fewer than 5 million annual passengers, a level unseen since 1988. In 1998, twin terminals were built with the expectation they would hold 10 million passengers annually.

The city’s Los Angeles World Airports agency owns and operates LAX, Ontario and Van Nuys airports.

“It is now past time to begin consideration of whether LAWA should continue to manage three separate airports. The ability to effectively support, promote, and market multiple airports in a fair manner would be difficult even in the healthiest of economies,” the two wrote to Villaraigosa.

Lewis went further in a separate news release, saying it was time that the airport is placed under local control, either the city of Ontario or an Inland airport authority.

“We need aggressive management now that will work for the improvement of Ontario, and not have to worry if more flights in one location might result in fewer somewhere else,” Lewis said in the statement.

In an emailed statement attributed to Gina Marie Lindsey, LAWA’s executive director, the agency’s leader attributed Ontario’s decline to the economy.

“We empathize with the congressmen’s concerns,” Lindsey said. “LAWA does not regulate where planes fly, and when the economy falters, airlines restrict their flights and schedules to locations where they can make the most profit. Accordingly, secondary airports and communities are disproportionately impacted. At the request of Ontario city leaders, LAWA has made significant progress in reducing its operating costs while continuing to aggressively market the airport to attract more air carriers.”

A chorus of Inland officials have called for the city of Los Angeles to cede control of the Inland destination to a local authority, pointing to the severe drops in the number of passengers using the airport and the number of flights offered. Neither decline appears to be letting up. In September, passenger traffic was down 5 percent compared to a year ago while traffic was up 6 percent at LAX.

For two years, Ontario leaders have been seeking to regain control of the airport, which they say the city of Los Angeles has neglected in favor of LAX.

To read entire story, click here.

BY KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
STAFF WRITER
kpierceall@pe.com

Published: 25 October 2011 03:54 PM

Traffic at Ontario International Airport dropped 5.15 percent in September compared to a year ago, according to statistics from Los Angeles World Airports. The airport had a total of 360,307 passengers use the airport last month.

Cargo shipments at the airport were up nearly 30 percent to 38,855 tons.

To read entire brief, click here.

At the Los Angeles Convention Center on Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown announces a new law that will help speed AEG’s plan to build an NFL stadium downtown. (Katie Falkenberg / For the Los Angeles Times / September 27, 2011)

By Kate Linthicum and Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times
September 28, 2011

Tim Leiweke, the chairman and chief executive of Anschutz Entertainment Group, stood in front of the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center on Tuesday and told a roaring crowd: “Tear it down!”

The order was a bit premature, given that Leiweke will probably have to wait until June at the earliest to break ground on the 72,000-seat NFL stadium that AEG hopes to build at the site.

Still, the massive project inched closer to execution Tuesday when Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a controversial bill that limits lawsuits that could delay it. Speaking at a news conference with Leiweke, labor leaders, a gaggle of lawmakers and two high school football teams, Brown said California’s high unemployment demands “big ideas and big projects.”

Along with the stadium legislation, he also signed a similar but more far-reaching bill that grants certain large construction projects faster judicial reviews of environmental issues. Both bills are focused on “cutting red tape all over the state,” Brown said. “There are too many damn regulations.”

But not everyone cheered Brown’s move.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors said public and nonprofit projects should also be eligible for expedited judicial review. And the environmental community has found itself divided over the bills, even though both require projects to include green features.

The stadium bill was supported by the Natural Resources Defense Council but opposed by other environmental groups, including the Sierra Club.

Kathryn Phillips, the Sierra Club’s California director, said the governor and Legislature are “flailing” about in an attempt to find ways to create new jobs but have chosen the wrong method.

To read entire story, click here.

The city’s Fire and Police Pensions board has been advised that retiree healthcare benefits are guaranteed, prompting one employee group to ask that a cap on benefits be blocked from going into effect.

By David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times
September 28, 2011

The cornerstone of L.A. City Hall’s recent plan to fix its finances and rein in soaring retirement costs has been thrown into jeopardy.

Faced with a growing pension burden, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council moved this summer to freeze the amount of healthcare benefits given to thousands of police and firefighters once they retire. Those benefits would not increase in coming years, Villaraigosa said, unless employees contribute more toward retirement from their paychecks.

But in a reminder of the risks faced by local agencies when they tinker with public pension benefits, a law firm retained by the city’s Fire and Police Pensions board concluded this month that those benefits were already guaranteed — and that the city is legally obligated to cover the cost of rising healthcare premiums for its retirees.

One group of retirees has already begun calling on the pension board to block the cap on health benefits from going into effect. Meanwhile, civilian city workers have begun demanding their own legal opinion to determine whether they too should be spared from new limits on their retiree healthcare.

City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, the city’s top budget official, said the decision to freeze the monthly medical payment for retirees was the single most significant step toward balancing this year’s budget. If that decision is reversed, the city will face a $100-million hole in its budget, Santana said.

Villaraigosa went further, describing the arguments in the legal opinion provided to the pension board as “absolutely ludicrous.” The pension board has nine members, five of them selected by the mayor.

“I believe we’re absolutely on strong legal ground,” he said.

Pension and retirement costs have been steadily rising in recent years, consuming $769 million of this year’s general fund budget, which pays for basic services such as parks and public safety.

Retired police officers and firefighters now receive a monthly healthcare stipend of $1,097 per month, enough to cover a monthly premium for two people enrolled in either Kaiser or a Blue Cross HMO, according to city officials.

To read entire story, click here.

L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in
September 7, 2011 | 4:29 pm

The state Assembly on Wednesday approved legislation to smooth the way for construction of a $1.2-billion football stadium in downtown Los Angeles after Democratic leaders promised it would provide thousands of jobs for an economically distressed city and would set new standards for reducing traffic and air pollution.

Assembly Speaker John Pérez (D-Los Angeles), a coauthor of the special bill, said the project by Anschutz Entertainment Group would comply with the state’s tough environmental laws even as it provides court review of any lawsuits challenging the 72,000-seat stadium project in a “timely manner.”

“Farmers Field will be the most far-reaching and environmentally friendly stadium in the United States,” Pérez told his colleagues.

Pérez said other projects also will be able to benefit from the special, speedy review that AEG would receive. An additional bill is being mulled in the state Senate to expand the exemption to new projects with a price tag over $250 million that win special environmental certification as green buildings. It would be joined to Pérez’s bill in order for it to clear the upper house.

SB 292 was approved in the Assembly on a 59-13 vote. It would require any environmental lawsuit against the project to be filed directly in the court of appeal and for a decision to be made within 175 days. That would allow investors and the NFL some confidence that the project will not face years of costly delays, supporters say.

Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Silver Lake) said the project, which also includes modernizing part of the Los Angeles Convention Center, is critical to help the state out of its economic slump.

“Folks, we are in a crisis” Gatto said. “We have tremendous unemployment. ”

To read entire story, click here.

Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 09/06/2011 03:45:17 PM PDT

ONTARIO – City officials have once again discussed the possibility of suing Los Angeles World Airports over control of LA/Ontario International Airport.

City Council members discussed in closed session recently whether to pursue litigation in their effort to regain control of ONT from LAWA, which runs ONT and LAX. The council did not take any action.

“We’re going to continue to do everything and anything it takes to get that airport back to Ontario and that includes litigation,” said Councilman Alan Wapner.

Ontario officials had hoped by now to be managing the financially struggling airport. But despite missing their self-imposed July 1 deadline, Wapner has vowed not to give up.

Officials at LAWA did not want to comment on Ontario’s legal musing.

It is not the first time the city has discussed the topic of suing LAWA. In December the council first authorized the city manager to explore suing Los Angeles for alleged violation of its joint powers agreement over the airport.

Wapner said there was no reportable action from the closed session last week but said the city’s stance on the option to sue has not changed.

“Hopefully it doesn’t come to that point,” Wapner said. “I’m hoping we can come to some amicable resolution.”

Ontario may be running out of options. When negotiations hit a wall earlier this year, state Senate Republican Leader Bob Dutton of Rancho Cucamonga introduced a bill that would create an Inland Empire-based authority that would oversee the transfer of the airport from the city of Los Angeles.

Ontario officials have continued to meet with L.A. city officials and even offered to buy the airport about five months ago. Wapner said they are still waiting for a city’s response on their proposal.

Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has not changed his stance on selling the airport.

“Any future meaningful conversation about the disposition of the airport will be based on willingness to compete with the private sector,” said Michael Collins, director of communications for LAWA.

At the same time, Collins said LAWA has made a “huge” investment over the years and that such a sale would require the agency to adhere to fiscal and federal policies.

“It would require that we get fair market value,” Collins said.

Ontario officials contend they could more efficiently operate ONT, which has seen a 30 percent drop in air traffic in recent years.

To read entire story, click here.

California official says developer AEG probably overstated the financial boost. He speaks at a hearing on the fiscal effect and a possible bill to let AEG curtail legal challenges on environmental issues.

By David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times
August 27, 2011

The office that advises the California Legislature voiced doubts Friday about the level of economic benefit that would come from an NFL stadium in downtown Los Angeles, saying studies commissioned by the project’s developer “likely overstated” the financial boost it would deliver.

Speaking to a state Senate panel reviewing the plan by developer Anschutz Entertainment Group, policy analyst Mark Whitaker warned that football stadiums typically have a minimal effect on a region’s economic growth, largely because they become a magnet for household entertainment dollars that were already being spent elsewhere in the area.

In many cases, families that have bought tickets to events at the Home Depot Center in Carson, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and other local venues would probably shift those same dollars to the proposed Farmers Field in downtown Los Angeles, said Whitaker, who works in the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

“This wouldn’t be the case with all events…. There’s no NFL team in L.A. right now, so that would be new economic activity,” he said.

Whitaker gave his testimony during a three-hour hearing of the Senate’s Select Committee on Sports and Entertainment, which was reviewing the economic benefits of the project and the potential for a bill that would allow AEG to curtail legal challenges to the project on environmental grounds. The written report received by the committee was even more blunt, with analysts saying the state and region would see “minimal” economic benefits from the project.

“The overall economic activity across the region would not necessarily increase but instead shift to Los Angeles … with little net benefit to the region or state,” it said.

Tim Leiweke, AEG president and chief executive, also appeared and said his company “will not move forward” with its stadium plans unless a bill is passed. And he criticized “those who occasionally come out of classrooms and question whether or not sports facilities have an economic impact,” saying his company provides $100 million a year in tax revenue.

“Not only have we been an economic juggernaut for the state, the city and the county, but this organization has given back almost $80 million in charity and through our foundations, back to this community,” said Leiweke, whose company owns Staples Center and the L.A. Live entertainment complex across from the stadium site.

The committee’s chairman, Sen. Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles), arranged the order of the speakers so Leiweke would immediately follow Whittaker. Although he would not divulge his legislative plans, De Leon sympathized with AEG’s fears that the stadium would become a target for out-of-state litigants, such as a Texas businessman who is at odds with the company and cities upset over possibly losing their NFL team to L.A. “They could abuse this process,” he said.

Still, the proposal drew opposition from county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who said state officials should rewrite environmental law in a way that benefits government construction projects, not just AEG. He sent letters to lawmakers Friday urging them to oppose AEG’s request.

The question of the statewide benefit from a stadium could influence questions about the rationale for altering the California Environmental Quality Act, long a target of business interests and chambers of commerce, exclusively for AEG.

To read entire story, click here.

The rating firm recently downgraded L.A.’s $7-billion investment portfolio to AA from AAA. ‘We have really lost faith in S&P’s judgment,’ Interim Treasurer Steve Ongele said.

By Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times
August 18, 2011

Los Angeles, which recently saw its $7-billion investment portfolio downgraded by Standard & Poor’s, has decided to no longer hire the rating company to rate the soundness of the city’s investments.

“We have really lost faith in S&P’s judgment,” Interim Treasurer Steve Ongele said.

After its downgrade of U.S. debt last week, S&P cut its rating of L.A.’s general investment pool to AA from AAA. It also downgraded dozens of other municipalities with large investments in U.S. Treasury notes.

One of them, Northern California’s San Mateo County, has decided not to renew its contract with S&P. Florida’s Manatee County has also dropped its contract with the company, according to news reports.

Speaking before the City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee meeting Monday, Ongele said Los Angeles should be proud for cutting ties with S&P.

“The market crash that came with the real estate debacle, it happened because folks like S&P rated AAA corporations that were not worth much of anything, corporations that are no longer there today,” Ongele said. “The fact that we have the courage to do this, the fact that we are the first city, I think that’s a big bragging right.”

To read entire story, click here.

By Art Marroquin Staff Writer
Created: 06/30/2011 08:25:49 PM PDT

For decades, Los Angeles World Airports had managed a relatively happy family, leading four airports under a single banner.

But that relationship has fractured in recent years amid allegations that LA/Ontario International Airport and two smaller siblings are neglected while all the attention is lavished on the agency’s breadwinner, Los Angeles International Airport.

LAWA finds itself embroiled in a custody dispute with community leaders in Ontario, Palmdale and Van Nuys, who believe they can bring their respective airports back to prosperity.

While there isn’t an outright call to break up the agency, stakeholders living near LAWA’s outlying airports are seeking a semblance of local control, rather than allowing the shots to be called by executives based at LAX.

“We already feel like the stepchildren of LAWA because we’re the only general aviation airport in the family, so it doesn’t feel like our concerns are understood,” said Don Schultz, a longtime member of the Van Nuys Airport Citizens Advisory Council.

“It just makes good sense to have local control of the airports,” Schultz said. “Without local control, you’re at the mercy of an agency that focuses 99 percent of its time on the airport that makes the most money.”

Efforts to gain local oversight of LAWA’s smaller airports appear to be gaining momentum.

Ontario officials have for some time sought to take over ONT, saying they could operate it more efficiently than could LAWA.

After nearly three years of negotiations, Palmdale Regional Airport will likely be transferred this summer to the city of Palmdale.

Last week, an alliance of nearly two dozen San Fernando Valley neighborhood councils called for a study to examine whether an independent panel should oversee Van Nuys Airport, taking direct control away from the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners.

But the simple desire to operate an airport is vastly different from having the ability to operate one, said Michael Collins, communications director for LAWA.

“It’s not surprising that a local interest would want to have things get better, especially when the economy is rough,” Collins said. “Frankly, I can’t think of any local entity that has the level of skill, financial capacity or experience to operate these airports other than Los Angeles World Airports.”

Regional flights languish

Palmdale and Ontario airports were viewed as part of LAWA’s regional plan to shift flights from LAX to other Southern California airports.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had promised to make the idea of “regionalism” one of his priorities during his successful run for mayor in 2005, but critics say the idea has fallen by the wayside.

Efforts to launch regular commercial service at Palmdale never took off, while the national recession has caused air traffic to drop more than 30 percent over the past few years at Ontario airport.

“Those airports are important assets that the city wants to be successful, and LAWA works hard to ensure that success,” mayoral spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said.

Despite that promise for success, Palmdale Mayor James Ledford has expressed years of frustration with LAWA’s failure to retain a major airline at Palmdale Regional Airport.

A total of eight carriers have attempted to launch service from Palmdale since 1971, but each pulled out after a brief run.

Palmdale facility dormant

The final straw for Ledford came in December 2008, when United Airlines canceled daily flights between Palmdale and San Francisco due to a lack of demand. The small Antelope Valley airport has remained dormant ever since.

The airport’s terminal, taxiways and parking lot sit on property owned by the Air Force, while the city of Los Angeles owns 17,500 acres of surrounding property.

While a management transfer is close to being finalized in Palmdale, a similar deal might not be so easy for ONT.

The city of Los Angeles assumed management of the Ontario airport in 1967, mostly to serve as an alternate landing site when it was too foggy for jetliners to land at LAX.

Over time, commercial service grew along with the Inland Empire’s population, prompting the city of Los Angeles to purchase ONT in 1985 to build a pair of new terminals for $270 million.

Unlike Palmdale, passenger service and demand grew at ONT, which saw a peak of 7 million travelers in 2007. But like many midsize airports across the country, Ontario airport has not recovered from a recession-fueled loss of flights and passengers.

“I can’t figure out anything L.A. gets out of Ontario airport other than to control the local competition and intentionally drive traffic back to LAX,” said Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner, who waged his city’s fight last year to gain control of the airport from LAWA.

Wapner’s effort was fueled in February, when state Senate Republican Leader Bob Dutton of Rancho Cucamonga introduced a bill that calls for creating an Inland Empire-based authority to negotiate a transfer plan for ONT. The state Senate has approved the measure, but it was delayed this week by Dutton while negotiations between LAWA and Ontario resume.

Earlier this month, the Los Angeles City Council opposed Dutton’s bill and vowed to protect its asset. Before a transfer back to the Inland Empire can take place, Los Angeles city officials want to know the fate of 300 ONT employees who work for LAWA.

L.A. wants Ontario to pay

Additionally, city leaders want assurances that a management transfer would “satisfactorily compensate” LAWA’s investments in the airport, including the new terminals.

“Any transfer that did not acknowledge the value of this as a city asset, absent of a sale, is not on the table,” said LAWA spokesman Collins.

Wapner said his city shouldn’t have to pay anything to regain control of Ontario airport. Previous improvements, including the new terminals, were funded by a mix of bonds paid by airlines that operated at ONT, along with passenger fees collected by airlines that served both LAX and ONT, he said.

Despite that, Wapner said his city approached Villaraigosa’s office three months ago with a “significant monetary offer” worth “tens of millions of dollars” for ONT. Wapner declined to disclose the exact amount because his city is attempting to restart negotiations with LAWA.

Villaraigosa’s office said the city of Ontario has not made an offer to buy the airport, but noted that LAWA is “engaging in ongoing conversations” for the facility.

“The only reason we made an offer was because we want to expedite this process,” Wapner said. “The local economy is going down day by day in Ontario, and this airport is our main economic engine.”

Along with a fight over its two commercial airports, LAWA is also facing a challenge to retain Van Nuys Airport, the agency’s sole general aviation facility.

Van Nuys seeks control

Van Nuys had once proudly held the title as the nation’s busiest general aviation airport, but was eclipsed in recent years by Deer Valley Airport in Phoenix.

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By Liset Márquez and Art Marroquin, Staff Writers
Created: 06/30/2011 08:22:12 PM PDT

ONTARIO – City officials are not fretting that their self-imposed deadline to regain control of LA/Ontario International Airport has passed without success.

Ontario officials had hoped by now to be managing the financially struggling airport. But despite missing the July 1 deadline, a local city councilman is vowing not to give up.

For more than a year, Ontario officials have been pushing Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles World Airports Ö which manages ONT Ö to either transfer control of ONT or amend the Joint Powers Agreement between the two cities.

“We will continue to work to transfer Ontario airport back to local control,” said Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner, who has led his city’s fight to gain control of the airport from LAWA, the agency that operates LAX and Ontario airports.

Wapner said the city’s deadline was based on “good faith negotiations with LAWA” which never took place.

When negotiations hit a wall earlier this year, state Senate Republican Leader Bob Dutton of Rancho Cucamonga introduced a bill that would create an Inland Empire-based authority that would oversee the transfer of the airport from the city of Los Angeles.

Last month, the Los Angeles City Council announced its opposition to the bill. The city of Los Angeles assumed management of Ontario airport in 1967.

Despite that opposition, Wapner said language in the resolution indicated to Ontario officials that the L.A. council was willing to discuss negotiations.

As a gesture to L.A. officials, Wapner said he approached Dutton and asked him to delay the bill.

“From the start, the bill was introduced to spur negotiations. Sen. Dutton has received assurances from officials at the city of Ontario that it has,” said Larry Venus, Dutton’s press secretary.

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