Burbank Seeks Talks Over Airport Authority Impasse

Seeking a way around their impasse with the Airport Authority, Burbank City Council members have invited their counterparts in Glendale and Pasadena to help discuss solutions.

The three cities co-own the Burbank Airport, which is operated by the authority, now locked in battle with the city of Burbank over expansion and jet noise.

“We are getting further and further apart in our views,” Vice Mayor Susan Spanos said. “I am disappointed in the stance and tactics employed by the Airport Authority.”

The Burbank council on Tuesday named Spanos and Mayor Dave Golonski to a committee it created to sit down with the Glendale and Pasadena representatives to discuss the controversy. The Airport Authority, made up of nine members evenly divided among the three cities, was not invited to participate.

The suggestion to form the committee came from Councilman Bill Wiggins.

“Our relationship is almost like a marriage,” said Wiggins, who originally asked that a professional mediator be hired. “If you have problems, you go get outside help.”

Councilman Bob Kramer supported the committee but said he was unsure of how much of an effect it will have.

“The Glendale City Council claims they have nothing to do with their Airport Authority commissioners,” Kramer said. “I see that as a major stumbling block.”

The move comes at a time when discord between the Burbank City Council and the Airport Authority is at an all-time high.

In the most recent battle, in a letter dated last month, Airport Authority President Carl W. Raggio Jr. said he intentionally kept Burbank commissioners off a committee planning airport expansion because the council has forbidden them to talk about purchasing land until a mandatory curfew on flights is in place.

Some city officials, including Golonski, believe the two bodies are headed toward litigation.

“At some point we are going to have to give up and try a more drastic measure,” he said.