ELECTIONS / BURBANK : Foe of Airport Expansion Sweeps to Easy Victory

A staunch foe of plans to expand Burbank Airport swept to victory in Tuesday’s election, moving the City Council closer to a majority skeptical of the controversial multimillion-dollar project.

Newspaper columnist Bob Kramer, nearly doubling the vote tally of his nearest rival, campaigned on a promise to oppose the plan to triple the present size of the 163,000-square-foot terminal.

“My position on the airport is real simple: Keep it the same size as it is right now,” Kramer said. “Voters are tired of having people on the council who don’t represent them.”

The project has been opposed for years by neighbors who claim they are already plagued by noise that would only increase with expansion. The city of Los Angeles has also regularly challenged expansion, which airport boosters contend is needed to handle natural growth in the air traveling public in the area.

The second of two council positions up for grabs Tuesday was left undecided as former mayor Mary Lou Howard came in second but failed to poll a majority, thus forcing a runoff election on April 11 against Ted McConkey, a retired aerospace worker.

City Clerk Marge Lauerman declared former professional football player Mike McDonald and incumbent Elena Hubbell the winners in the school board race.

Kramer cruised to an easy victory, nearly doubling the tally of Howard, the next-most popular candidate.

Best known as one of the council’s most vocal critics, Kramer walked precincts for up to six hours a day and knocked on what he estimated to be 12,000 doors.

“We worked very hard and didn’t want to lose because we didn’t work hard enough,” said Kramer, a columnist for the Burbank Leader who has written several articles critical of city officials.

“I wrote a lot of pieces and tried to defend the people and I think people agreed with the stories I wrote.”

Kramer lost a 1993 bid for a seat on the Burbank City Council by less than 100 votes.

Howard served three consecutive terms on the council from 1979 to 1991. She was the first woman elected to the council. She has been endorsed by Mayor Bill Wiggins, Vice Mayor Dave Golonski and several labor unions.

Airport officials are pushing for approval of their expansion financing plans before May 1, when new council members take office. The Burbank City Council’s approval is needed for issuance of $100 million in tax exempt bonds. A public hearing on the matter is set for March 21.

If the council approves, the decision over the bonds would be up to the airport’s nine commissioners representing Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena. A two-thirds vote from each city is required.

While acknowledging that new council members may not take office soon enough to stop the bonds’ issuance, Kramer said he favors measures that would help Burbank residents who are worried about increased aircraft noise and traffic a larger terminal might bring.

Kramer wants to name three new airport commissioners from Burbank who live directly under the airport’s flight path, while Howard hopes to put the controversial project to a popular vote--a sentiment shared by Golonski and Councilwoman Susan Spanos.

“I will do anything in my power to hold up plans (airport officials) have right now,” Howard said.

Retiring from the council are Robert Bowne and George Battey Jr., who are also airport commissioners. When they leave office in May, the new council will name their successors on the airport’s nine-member operating board.

“Regardless of whether or not we may be in favor of (airport expansion), you’ll see a different approach to airport issues in general,” Spanos said. “Come May, the council will take a fresh look at a lot of issues that have to do with the airport. A ballot initiative is one.”

This year’s political season has been characterized by many as “kinder and gentler,” with mostly low-budget campaigns and few strong differences among the candidates on major issues. Howard, the campaign’s top fund-raiser, collected $11,568 in contributions, while candidate Jules Kimmett claims he has accepted no money at all.

“Economically, things are kind of at a low point. People have been laid off. It (the campaign) just kind of matches the overall tone of the times,” said Ron Smith, head of the Burbank Management Assn., a labor union.

A third and final school board seat will be decided in a runoff election on April 11. One candidate will be David Nos. His opponent had not been determined late Tuesday, as 30 absentee ballots remained to be counted, according to Lauerman.

In one of the few controversies to emerge during this year’s race, one candidate was charged last month with illegally possessing a cable box that enables viewers to watch premium channels without being billed.

The cable box was found during a raid of Gary Sutliff’s home last April. But he was not charged until recently because prosecutors said they needed time to analyze computer chips found inside the box and hundreds of others like it seized elsewhere.

“I made a stupid mistake. I bought a box at a swap meet. The whole thing was blown out of proportion. I still think I’m viable,” Sutliff said before the election.

Chen is a Times staff writer and Ryfle is a special correspondent.

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Election Results

100% of precincts reporting

CITY COUNCIL

(2 open seats)

Candidate Votes Bob Kramer 5,973 Mary Lou Howard 2,711 Ted McConkey 2,410 Gary L. Sutliff 2,181 David Gerred 1,346 Bob Dunivant 1,021 Jerry C. Augustine 534 Jules Kimmett 447 William Thomas Barron III 359 Peter R. Torres 206

BOARD OF EDUCATION

(3 open seats)

Candidate Votes Mike McDonald 5,274 Elena Hubbell * 4,733 David A. Nos 4,050 William (Bill) Abbey * 2,553 Malcolm S. Kelman 2,539 Steve Tannen 2,101

* Incumbent