Council to Discuss Airport Privatization

Upset that Ventura County officials did not inform them about a plan that could allow the Camarillo and Oxnard airports to be leased to a private firm, Camarillo City Council members plan to discuss the issue at their meeting Wednesday.

Lin Koester, the county’s chief administrative officer, sent a letter to Camarillo’s city manager last week assuring him that the county will include everyone in the review of a proposal to apply to a federal pilot program that would allow privatization of the airports.

But Ventura County Airports Administrator Rodney L. Murphy recently announced his plan to present a report on the Federal Aviation Administration’s program to the Camarillo Aviation Advisory Commission Oct. 29 and to the Board of Supervisors Nov. 4.

When Camarillo officials found out about this plan, they accused the county of using “back-room politics” to push through the proposal without their knowledge or input.

The FAA will begin accepting applications for the pilot program Dec. 1. If selected, the county would be allowed to contract with a private firm to operate the two airports and use revenues to finance other projects.

Council members plan to decide what message the city’s airport authority representatives, Councilmen Bill Liebmann and Mike Morgan, should convey at the Oct. 30 meeting.

“I suspect that as much as anything the council will raise a lot of questions that we will be asked to pass on and get answers to at the meeting,” Liebmann said. “But with the timeline the county is trying to impose on us, it leaves us at a disadvantage even if we can get answers to these questions. We won’t be able to go back to the council with answers before Murphy takes the proposal to the Board of Supervisors.”