Voters May Decide Airport’s Future : Elections: Seven of 10 candidates vying for two City Council seats oppose any plans to build a larger terminal. Burbank electorate will also decide who fills three school board seats.

Although it doesn’t say so on the ballot, the fate of Burbank Airport appears to be inevitably linked to the outcome of Tuesday’s primary election and the April 11 general election in this city.

Among the 10 candidates vying for two seats on the Burbank City Council, seven say they are against any plans to build a larger terminal at the airport.

The others support the idea if council members are given a greater say on the issue.

But regardless of the results, the five-member council is almost certain to gain a new majority ready to assume stronger control of the airport just as airport officials want to proceed with plans to triple the size of the 163,000-square-foot terminal and add five aircraft gates to the current 14.

The future of the airport, which has grown increasingly popular with air travelers, has emerged as one of the most important issues in the campaign.

As a sign of how heavily used the airport has become, Burbank Airport ended the 1994 fiscal year with a record-breaking 4,656,523 passengers, up 57% since 1990.

“The bottom line is it’s a big opportunity for individuals feeling the effects of the airport to be put on” the Airport Authority, the airport’s operating board, said Neil Hancock, president of the Burbank City Employees Assn.

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The cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena each appoint three commissioners to the Airport Authority. Often, the commissioners have also served as elected officials in their respective cities.

When Burbank Councilmen Robert Bowne and George Battey Jr. leave office in May, they will be forced to give up their positions as airport commissioners. Burbank’s third airport representative, Brian Bowman, is not an elected official and can be replaced by the Burbank City Council at any time.

Because Bowne and Battey served simultaneously as council members and airport commissioners, some contenders for their seats have accused them of having a conflict of interest.

In the past, on matters before the council related to the controversial project, Bowne, Battey and Mayor Bill Wiggins have generally voted to move forward. Vice Mayor Dave Golonski and Susan Spanos have sided against moving ahead quickly.

Battey defended his record on both panels, saying, “I have rigid personal morals and, according to my analysis and the analysis of the chief legal authority in Burbank, there is no conflict.”

Council candidates, both those who support and oppose the project, have advocated a number of ways that Burbank city officials can exert more control over the airport, including selecting new commissioners who live directly under the airport’s flight path and controlling the operating hours of the airport.

“The race is definitely going to change the way the airport does business,” said Mary Lou Howard, a former two-time mayor and the top fund raiser in the campaign. “We need to give Burbank more leverage.”

What kind of impact the new council will actually have on the Airport Authority remains to be seen, others say.

“Potentially, the table is set for change, but I don’t want to speculate on what that’ll be,” airport Commissioner Robert Garcin of Glendale said. “If some of those candidates carry forth with being antagonistic to the airport, certainly that is potentially damaging to the airport and the Airport Authority.”

Under an agreement signed by the cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena in 1991, the Airport Authority must have a two-thirds vote from each city to approve issuing bonds or expand the area impacted by aircraft noise.

Airport issues aside, the Burbank City Council race is relatively low budget compared with the 1993 campaign. Financial disclosure statements show that many candidates have raised less than $4,000 in contributions, while 1993’s top fund raiser, Mayor Bill Wiggins, collected $55,000 in campaign donations leading up to the general election.

Active donors such as the Lockheed Corp. and Warner Bros. say they are purposely taking low profiles this year.

Lockheed has faced strong opposition to its plan for cleaning up contaminated soil by pumping contaminants into the air at the site of its former B-1 plant, at 1705 Victory Place.

“The feeling is we’d be better to stay out of this race,” said Steve Chaudet, Lockheed’s vice president of public affairs. “It just makes sense. We would not want to become a bigger issue in the community.”

A spokesman for Warner Bros. said his company is less active because “the issues aren’t as big as they were in the past” for the Burbank studios.

In the race for three of the five board seats representing the Burbank Unified School District, the board’s performance has become one of the biggest issues.

Four of the six candidates say they have lingering doubts about the trustees’ effectiveness in leading the school district’s efforts to rebuild and renovate aging facilities.

The remaining two candidates are incumbents who defend the board’s record and urge the public to vote in favor of experience.

Burbank residents will be able to cast one vote for each of the two council seats and three school board seats. Any candidate with more than 50% of the votes automatically wins.

If nobody wins, the four top vote-getters in the council race and all six candidates in the school board race move on to the April 11 general election.

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Burbank Municipal Elections

City Council candidates (two seats to be filled):

* Jerry C. Augustine, 57, a financial secretary and accountant.

Opposes airport expansion.

* William Thomas Barron III, 40, unemployed former power plant operator.

Supports first phase of airport expansion--adding five aircraft gates to the current 14--but does not approve of going beyond 20 gates.

* Bob Dunivant, 59, school board member.

Opposes airport expansion.

* David Gerred, 42, glass company owner.

Supports airport expansion, but believes hours of operation for the airport should be controlled.

* Mary Lou Howard, 57, former two-time mayor.

Opposes airport expansion and wants to put the multimillion-dollar project to a popular vote.

* Jules Kimmett, 74, a former janitor.

Opposes airport expansion.

* Robert Kramer, 47, paint contractor and newspaper columnist.

Opposes airport expansion and wants to name three new airport commissioners from Burbank who live directly under the airport’s flight path.

* Ted McConkey, 65, retired aerospace worker.

Opposes airport expansion and wants to name three new airport commissioners from Burbank to the Airport Authority.

* Gary Sutliff, 53, retired fire battalion chief.

Supports first phase of airport expansion, but believes council members should not serve on the Airport Authority.

* Peter R. Torres, 24, former gang member and manager at a sporting

goods store.

Opposes airport expansion.

School board (three seats to be filled):

* William Abbey, 50, deputy attorney general for California.

Incumbent who has served on the board for 10 years.

* Elena Hubbell, 51, real estate agent.

Incumbent who has served on the board for four years.

* Malcolm Kelman, 53, home security systems salesman and member of the board of directors for the Burbank Educational Foundation.

* Mike McDonald, 36, real estate agent and former professional football player who was the Los Angeles Rams’ center from 1983 to 1991.

* David Nos, 43, small-business owner and past president of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce.

* Steve Tannen, 46, artist and former professional football player who was a defensive back for the New York Jets in 1970 and 1976.

Ballot measures to amend the wording of the Burbank city charter:

Charter Amendment No. 1: Clarifies language to state that a newly formed Burbank City Council shall meet on the first regular working day in May after the general election.

Charter Amendment No. 2: Clarifies language to state that ordinances shall become effective at 12:01 a.m. on the 31st day after public notice is made.

Charter Amendment No. 3: Eliminates city clerk’s duty to conduct and keep records of correspondence between the Burbank City Council and the public.

Charter Amendment No. 4: Clarifies language defining the power and duty of Burbank’s police chief.

Charter Amendment No. 5: Requires all elected officials to be residents of Burbank and registered voters in the city.

Charter Amendment No. 6: Requires the city clerk to publish a list of election precincts, polling places and election officers for each precinct at least 20 days before any election.

Source: Burbank city clerk’s office.