Airport Panel Tells Gee to Speak for Herself at FAA Hearing

Burbank Airport Commissioner Margie Gee lost her bid to express a second opinion of the commission at a federal hearing later this week. Her colleagues decided Monday that the outspoken noise critic can say anything she wants--but can’t speak for the commission.

In spite of Gee’s repeated efforts to draw comments from commissioners on a prepared statement she proposed to read at the hearing, only one other member showed interest.

Several others said they disagree with the statement, which criticized the federal government’s record on airport noise.

Official Statement

At a special meeting Monday to prepare for the hearing, the commission adopted an official statement drafted by its president, Robert W. Garcin, and staff.

Garcin will read the four-page statement at a hearing being held by the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday and Thursday in El Segundo. The hearing is on a proposed FAA policy that would establish a nationwide standard for noise-control measures at airports.

The statement adopted by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority opposes several points in the proposal, claiming that they would make it harder for airports to control noise.

“Our position is that a national policy is fine as long as it does not prevent the ability of the local citizenry to have some voice in the matter,” Garcin’s statement read.

A spokesman for the authority said that the proposal would require airport operators to prove any anti-noise measures they institute are the “best way” of controlling noise.

‘Unreasonable Burden’

“Since there is no ‘best way’ of controlling noise, this is an unreasonable burden,” Garcin’s written statement said.

The statement also attacks the FAA for suggesting that better land-use planning--such as stopping residential development under flight patterns--is the preferred solution to noise problems.

“The Burbank noise problem developed long after the property around the airport had been put in use,” Garcin said.

Gee, a Burbank homeowner and critic of airport noise for 18 years, said she found Garcin’s statement inadequate and cast the only dissenting vote.

She sought support for a broader critique of the FAA’s performance on noise.

“Very basic and important parts of living are disrupted every day and every hour and in far too many instances many times an hour,” said a typewritten statement she handed out to other commissioners.

14-Point Program

Gee’s statement offered a 14-point program for reducing noise, largely based on the use of newer and quieter jet engines. She urged the FAA to pressure all airlines to phase out older, noisier aircraft and chastised the federal agency for its failure to do so.

“The FAA policy suggestions as now stated show an obvious bias towards the airline industry at the expense of the public and the airline proprietors,” the statement said.

Burbank Mayor Mary Lou Howard, who at times has been Gee’s only ally on the commission, suggested that Gee remove several references in her draft to the Burbank Airport Authority to avoid the appearance that she was speaking on behalf of the commission.

Gee first asked the other commissioners if they would agree to any part of her statement. When that failed, she asked for suggestions that she might incorporate into it to gain support.

Other than Howard, no one suggested any changes.

“I am very much against being associated with your statement,” Commissioner J. C. Schwarzenbach finally said curtly. He called it “inflammatory and exaggerated.”

Commissioners Carroll Parcher, a Glendale councilman, and Jo Heckman, a Pasadena councilwoman, said that they too found the statement unacceptable as an official position.

“I have no objection to Mrs. Gee saying what she wants there, but I certainly don’t want her voicing the authority’s views,” Parcher said.

When Gee persisted in seeking comments, Garcin eventually cut off the discussion, saying that he did not think it was proper for the commission to publicly debate a position it was not endorsing.

Garcin suggested that Gee talk to board members privately.