"Stockton's airport plan crashes to a halt in vote"

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Stockton's airport plan crashes to a halt in vote  
By INGA MILLER
The Modesto (CA) Bee


STOCKTON — An all-but-done plan for international flights between Stockton
Metro and Mexico screeched to a halt Tuesday when three San Joaquin County
supervisors voted against a required customs station.

The 3-2 decision effectively ends plans by Aéromexico for direct
Stockton-based flights to and from Guadalajara and Morelia, Mexico. U.S.
Customs and Border Protection required the airport first build an inspection
station for baggage and passengers.

Supervisor Larry Ruhstaller made a motion to reject a $4.6 million bid to
build the inspection station and $317,000 for site preparation after saying
he had trouble understanding where the money would come from.

"I can't support this project because I don't see the big picture in this,"
he said. "And I can't wrap my mind around the financing. And so I guess it's
up to me to vote against it."

Supervisor Ken Vogel, who like Ruhstaller took office in January, joined
longtime plan critic Leroy Ornellas in the vote.

Both cited worries about spending money on the service without assurance it
would come back to the county as revenue.

Under the funding plan, the Federal Aviation Administration would have paid
95 percent of the roughly $6 million total cost of designing and building
the station. The county would have been responsible for the remaining
$300,000.

The county would have had to pay to operate the customs station at the
beginning. County consultant Campbell-Hill Aviation Group calculated an
operating loss of $226,308 the first year. It projected that the customs
station ultimately would have been a moneymaker, however, generating a
$16,432 surplus for the first two years combined under a worst-case
scenario.

Under a best-case scenario, the county would have made $1.7million
cumulatively in the fourth year.

Aéromexico had an agreement with the county to offer flights for at least
the first year. Ruhstaller pointed out they couldn't be forced to continue
after that.

"This board made a big mistake — as big as the noses on their faces,
including mine, which is a big one," Supervisor Steve Gutierrez said after
voting for the station. "I'm sorry the board doesn't have the confidence. We
had a great opportunity."

He and Board Chairman Victor Mow commended Airport Director Barry Rondinella
for doggedly pursuing an uphill battle to win federal approval for
international travel.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection rejected an initial bid in May based
on the size of the station. Rondinella and other county officials traveled
to Washington, D.C., to meet with local representatives and customs
officials and eventually won approval for the revised station before
supervisors Tuesday.

But there are still future opportunities to expand airport business, such as
cargo service, Gutierrez said. "It is disheartening. But it isn't the end of
the world. Our airport is a diamond."

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