Airport Chief Picked for High County Office

Murry L. Cable, administrator of John Wayne Airport during one of the most tumultuous periods in the airport’s history, was named assistant county administrative officer Tuesday, the second highest administrative post in county government.

Cable, 39, was appointed to the recently created position after more than five years at John Wayne Airport, a period when the airport became a national leader in noise abatement efforts, launched a $150-million expansion plan and reached an unprecedented settlement with airport neighbors in Newport Beach after more than 15 years of disputes.

“He (Cable) has been in a tremendously difficult position for some time as director of the airport,” said County Administrative Officer Larry Parrish, who made the appointment. “He’s had pressure from all those forces at work in the planning and development of that airport, and he’s handled it with some grace and honor.”

Parrish said Cable was selected from more than 70 applicants throughout the nation. As operations chief for the county administrative office, he will oversee a major overhaul of the county’s administrative functions.

He will earn $70,907 in the job, a significant increase from the $58,115 he receives as airport manager.

Cable was appointed airport manager in 1980, a time when the county was facing demands from air carriers and the federal government to open up the airport to increased airline service. At the same time, Newport Beach homeowners threatened lawsuits to restrict jet service even further.

The Board of Supervisors assumed direct control of the airport from the county General Services Agency and, on the same day, handed the responsibility of running it to Cable, a former Army helicopter pilot and military airport director. During his seven years with the county administrative office, he had earned a reputation as a tough, aggressive administrator in charge of medical services.

Somewhat Informal

As airport manager, Cable’s management style has been described as direct, occasionally blunt and somewhat informal. On days when he is not appearing at a Board of Supervisors hearing, Cable can usually be seen breezing around the airport office in a flashy Hawaiian shirt.

Under his stewardship, John Wayne Airport became the first in the nation to phase in new, quieter jets like the MD-80. The airport lost a court battle with Newport Beach over a 1982 expansion plan but reached an agreement with airport neighbors earlier this year that will allow the construction of a new terminal and runway system to accommodate 8.4 million passengers per year.

Jet flights at John Wayne increased last spring from 41 to 55 daily, yet the move to introduce even quieter jets has shrunk airport noise even more, despite the increase in flights.

“The support the board (of supervisors) gave me and the policy decisions they made I think have finally put to rest some of the major controversies that have surrounded this airport for the past 20 years,” Cable said.

Cable said the airport has moved ahead as a result of “the board’s commitment to quieter aircraft, to a master plan process to ensure that as much as possible we met the environmental needs of the citizens of Orange County and the maintenance of local control” over the airport even after federal airline deregulation made that more difficult.

Relations Stormy at Times

His relations with the Board of Supervisors have been occasionally stormy, primarily when various board members complained that Cable was taking too much initiative in running the airport and failing to consult them on decisions that might generate political heat.

In one case, supervisors severely reprimanded Cable for giving a contract for up to $10,000 to a good friend to promote Ontario Airport as an alternative to traffic congestion. They complained when Cable wanted authority to approve operating agreements with new commuter airlines, rather than face the delays of a full board hearing.

And board members were incensed when Cable reportedly told American Airlines officials that they should be dealing with him, not board members, on negotiations for access to John Wayne--a charge Cable denied.

Yet most of the criticisms leveled at Cable over the years are targeted at the same qualities Parrish cited Tuesday in his decision to promote him: Cable’s tendency to say what he means, make quick decisions and then set about putting them into effect.

‘A Very Honest Guy’

“He’s a very direct and yet a very honest guy who doesn’t seem to end up offending people by his directness,” Parrish said.

What about the Hawaiian shirts?

“I sent him over this afternoon to my tailor,” Parrish confided. “He (the tailor) threatened to jump off a tall building after having met Murry.”

The Board of Supervisors is expected next week to name an interim airport manager pending a nationwide recruitment effort to select a permanent replacement.

Dennis Horn, chief of operations at John Wayne, is considered the leading candidate for interim manager. Stephen Kozak Jr., airport administrative officer, and John Sibley, Orange County employee relations manager, have also been discussed as potential candidates.