"Makeover of San Diego Airport Authority Sought"

Friday, September 8, 2006

Makeover of airport authority sought 
Kehoe wants 'better way' to get job done
By Jeff Ristine
The San Diego (CA) Union-Tribune


State Sen. Christine Kehoe says the Legislature needs to consider
restructuring the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, the agency
that runs Lindbergh Field and that identified Miramar as the best potential
new airport. 

Kehoe, D-San Diego, said yesterday the authority's divisive decision to
recommend Miramar Air Station and its other work on land-use issues
suggested it was too far removed from the public it was created to serve. 

"We need to figure out a better way to get the job done," Kehoe said in an
interview. 

She plans to call for hearings beginning next month to discuss legislation
aimed at a more "efficient and effective" structure for the 4-year-old
agency, possibly dismantling its policy-setting board. 

"Some other governance structure might be more directly accessible to the
people and be more representative of the region as a whole, and just do . .
. a more effective job of planning for a new airport," said Kehoe, who has
served as a San Diego city councilwoman and state Assembly member. 

Kehoe said she was keeping an open mind, but possibilities included
eliminating the agency's nine-member board of directors and transferring its
planning functions to some other body, such as the San Diego Association of
Governments. 
 
She said there also was a need to improve access to and from San Diego's
airport, an issue the authority was ill-equipped to solve on its own. 

Kehoe signaled her intentions in a letter to the board, dated last week and
signed by four fellow senators and three Assembly members from the county.
Her main partner on the issue is George Plescia, the Assembly GOP leader
whose district includes Miramar. 

Airport authority board members, some of whom only got word of the letter
Wednesday, said any drastic changes would be a mistake. 

"There is an old adage - if it works, don't fix it," said Paul Peterson as
the board convened yesterday for its first meeting in more than a month. 

Board member Xema Jacobson said the public has benefited from having an
independent agency devoted to the airport. 

Kehoe said both hearings regarding the authority will be in San Diego. She
hopes to schedule the first for October; the second likely after the Nov. 7
advisory ballot measure on Miramar, Proposition A. 

"The hearings will culminate in recommendations for state legislation to be
introduced in January 2007," her letter says. 

Kehoe said she sympathized with the difficulties the agency faced in
searching for a new airport site, but she faulted it for what she called a
confusing ballot measure. The search ended with a 7-2 board vote calling for
discussions with the military on the possible use of a portion of the base,
despite steadfast military opposition. 

"If the voters accept it," she said, "I'm not sure we know exactly what
they've accepted." 

Kehoe said the authority also mishandled its effort to update land-use
documents to ensure that development around airports was compatible with the
operations there. Its initial proposals, which use noise and safety criteria
to guide jurisdictions in development plans, were attacked by "almost every
city in the region and many private companies." 

A large advisory committee is now reshaping the work. 

Board member William D. Lynch said the most important part of the land-use
compatibility project was the outcome. 

"Take a look at the process we put together and talk to some of the people
that have been involved in it," Lynch said. "They might just become pleased
with the way we've handled that very difficult task." 

In her letter, Kehoe said the authority "must work closely with regional
transportation planners so that enhanced access to the airport is possible
via transit options as well as local highways." 

Those references in particular prompted some at the authority to speculate
that Kehoe might be considering transferring some of functions to SANDAG,
the regional planning and transportation agency. SANDAG already has taken
over planning duties of the county's two public transit operations. 

Kehoe said she also might want to look to the county Board of Supervisors or
the city of San Diego for certain airport functions. 

The Airport Authority was created in 2003 through legislation authored by
then-state Sen. Steve Peace, so only the Legislature would be empowered to
change its functions. The authority assumed control of Lindbergh Field from
the San Diego Unified Port District. 

It is run by a nine-member board of directors, three of whom - Joseph W.
Craver, Lynch and Jacobson - are executive members with annual salaries of
$150,696. All three will complete four-year terms at the end of 2006. The
other six serve for stipends paid for each meeting they attend. 

Regional elected officials appoint all but one board member; one of the
executive seats is a gubernatorial appointee. Then-Gov. Gray Davis appointed
Jacobson.

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