Lack of Interest, Participation Threatens Board Survival --
Again
In order to make good on some political promises, Los Angeles
mayor Antonio Villaraigosa resurrected an aviation-oriented panel
that dissolved in 2003 from lack of interest from its members.
History seems destined to repeat itself.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Villaraigosa is attempting
to embrace his promised regional mentality when it comes to
aviation. In short, he wants to send some flights coming to Los
Angeles International Airport to other area airports.
So, he reconvened the Southern California Regional Airport
Authority to help facilitate that. Trouble is, the board was
re-launched about a year ago and has yet to even define its
mission. The last meeting was six months ago.
"It's just going nowhere," said county Supervisor Don Knabe, one
of four voting members and whose district includes LAX. "It's
really been at a snail's pace, this whole process, so obviously I'm
disappointed."
The SCRAA has scheduled its next meeting for Sept. 13
-- which will be only its fourth meeting since June
2006 -- after canceling its meetings in May, June and July,
according to the Times. But, no one is holding their breath.
"I don't even pay attention to it now, because literally the
last I heard was that all they were doing was talking about
organizing," said David Voss, a former airport commissioner under
former L.A. mayor James Hahn.
The purpose of the SCRAA was to implement Villaraigosa's plan of
"regionalization" and becoming a metropolitan area with more than
one major airport.
"We're doing what we can, as fast as we can, to regionalize air
travel by encouraging expansion at Ontario and other airports,"
Villaraigosa spokesman Matt Szabo said.
The mayor's office would reportedly
like to see SCRAA move passengers to the regional airports --
Palmdale Regional and Ontario International Airport -- by rail and
bus by working for an extension of the Metro Gold Line east to
Ontario, Szabo said, a project likely to take several years.
Villaraigosa's camp remains optimistic about the board, though,
saying it has already made some "critical" progress by getting a
single flight by United Airlines to PMD as well as 30 daily direct
flights to ONT.
For now, the Times reports, much of the board's time, should it
successfully meet again, will be focused a 29-page report outlining
ways to structure a board.