ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : Popejoy Delays Scheduled Takeoff of Airport Sale Study : Recovery: Supervisors reluctantly postpone vote but urge task force to determine whether it’s even doable.
A proposal to explore the feasibility of selling John Wayne Airport was reluctantly postponed Tuesday, but the Orange County Board of Supervisors still urged a task force to determine once and for all whether an airport sale is even possible.
The supervisors had been scheduled to vote on a request by Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy for authorization to advertise the county’s interest in selling the airport, but Popejoy pulled the item from the board agenda for further study.
Some question whether an airport sale is even possible, because of the legal obstacles posed by strict federal aviation policy against using airport revenue for other purposes.
Several supervisors expressed disappointment Tuesday with the decision to scuttle the vote, saying that moving forward with a “request for qualifications” might help determine the feasibility of such a move, as well as a measure of the interest among potential buyers.
“Those questions are not going to be answered until we get this out there,” said Supervisor Roger R. Stanton.
Some county officials have expressed the hope that selling the airport might help raise immediate cash that could be used to help the bankrupt county recover from its $1.7 billion in losses. But overcoming federal obstacles to an airport sale could take months if not years.
The trade association representing the nation’s commercial airlines has also threatened litigation to block a sale, which could ultimately result in higher air fares for the traveling public.
A task force was created earlier this year to study the feasibility of a sale, but had only begun its work when Popejoy asked the airport director to begin a search for qualified buyers. It will pick up where it had left off, and report back to the supervisors in 60 days.
Despite some concerns that the county might be able to get a better deal from another contractor, the supervisors also approved a two-year extension of the county’s contract, worth nearly $12 million annually, with Martin Marietta Technical Services Inc. for computer services.
The county hasn’t invited competing bids to operate its Data Service Center since Martin Marietta took over in 1985, even though some of its performance reviews have been negative.
Before casting his vote against the contract’s extension, Supervisor William G. Steiner described it as a “sweetheart deal” for Martin Marietta.
Steiner pointed out that GTE, which provides county communication services, has offered to assist in the county’s recovery efforts by allowing it to defer payments for one year and then averaging out those costs over the four remaining years of the five-year contract.
“I don’t see any break” from Martin Marietta, Steiner said, adding that the bankruptcy should push county administrators into finding new ways to obtain services at lower cost or on more favorable terms. “They have to play ball,” Steiner said.
