Airport Commissioner Says Councilman Defamed Him

Burbank Airport Commissioner William M. Paparian filed a $100,000 claim against the city of Burbank on Monday, saying he suffered from mental distress and a damaged reputation after a Burbank city councilman alleged he and others had misused public funds while traveling on airport-related trips.

Paparian, the 46-year-old mayor of Pasadena, is one of three commissioners representing Pasadena on the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, the nine-member board that oversees the airport’s operations.

Paparian did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment Monday and his field representative, Jay Blackshaw, could not be reached.

But in a one-page handwritten claim, Paparian stated he first became alarmed by Councilman Ted McConkey’s allegations after reading a newspaper article published Thursday that quoted McConkey as saying: “These people [airport commissioners] are just misusing public funds as far as I’m concerned.”

The claim, filed at Burbank City Hall, could be the precursor to a lawsuit if it is denied by Burbank officials. The city has 45 days to respond to the claim.

Last August, McConkey formally protested the authority’s longstanding policy of providing first-class air travel and other free perks to the commissioners’ spouses.

Less than two weeks ago, the Los Angeles County grand jury served the airport authority with a subpoena seeking all of the commissioners’ 1992-1995 expense reports. It is not clear whether the probe is tied to McConkey’s complaint, however.

McConkey said he was surprised to get a copy of Paparian’s claim when he returned to his office at City Hall after lunch. The claim was filed at 8:40 a.m. Monday, just minutes before Paparian and other commissioners convened for a meeting at the Burbank Airport.

“I don’t know anything about Paparian,” McConkey said. “I wasn’t talking about individuals and still maintain it’s a misuse of public funds. I’m shocked the guy would do it.

“I don’t think I defamed him. I certainly didn’t do it intentionally or maliciously. I was responding to a reporter’s question about the D.A. issuing a subpoena. She didn’t ask me about any individuals, and I didn’t volunteer any.”

Paparian’s claim is the latest indication that the relationship between the airport authority and Burbank City Council remains frayed, even though controversial plans to build a larger terminal that could handle more flights and passengers are at a standstill.

Of all the commissioners involved in the heated debate over airport expansion, Paparian has appeared to be one of the most willing to compromise, urging his colleagues on the airport authority to work more closely with the council.

Since 1978, when the authority first took control of Burbank Airport, the board has had a policy of providing first-class air fares, hotel rooms, food and other expenses to the spouses of commissioners traveling on airport-related trips more than 500 miles from Burbank.

Airport records show that Paparian traveled with his wife to a conference last year in Toronto, spending $3,835 in first-class airplane seats and another $765 in food, lodging and other miscellaneous items over six days. Other commissioners also brought their spouses, but Paparian was the only one who had the airport authority pay his wife’s air fare, according to an airport spokesman.

In 1993, he and his wife attended a conference in Nashville, Tenn., spending $3,555 in air fares and $58.50 on a limo ride from the airport to Opryland Hotel, among other things.