Shot Down Before He Even Got Off the Ground

Talk about being ridden hard and put away wet. Talk about sleepless in Seattle. How about defenseless in Burbank? My situation started innocently enough. Three weeks after my retirement from the television news industry in August, a friend called. Why don’t you apply for the vacant seat on the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Commission? After all, I had served eight years on the Burbank Transportation Board.

A testing of City Council waters indicated that a council majority simply sought a person with “reasonableness.”

Little did I know the foolishness of anyone attempting “reasonableness” in the long-running, divisive debate over building a new and larger terminal at Burbank Airport.

I was told early on that backers of my ousted predecessor immediately began planning my demise. They wanted someone more in tune with their anti-expansion militancy.

It took them 98 days.

When they struck, they did so on an innocuous issue. I voted in a 6-3 majority to stop the bidding process for an airport management contract. Commissioners had been unanimous in their praise of the longtime current contractor.

Unfortunately, I was the only one of the three commissioners from the city of Burbank to see it that way.

Long-standing allegations of document leaks provided the rationale for my vote. Some commissioners claim airport documents were being leaked to the city of Burbank during the ongoing court battles over the terminal. They feared more document leaks from bidders for airport management contracts.

Concerned over another source of counterproductive acrimony, I joined the majority.

The rumbles began within minutes of my vote. By the time I stood before the City Council the next week to explain myself, I told them I felt like I was “lecturing the firing squad on marksmanship.”

Despite Burbank having no legal say in day-to-day airport operations, despite there being no tax money involved, on Dec. 2 the council voted 3 to 2 to remove me from the airport commission.

The commissioner chosen for having no preconceived notions was dismissed for not knowing enough to have the proper preconceived notions.

I had been talking to a variety of players, urging that anger and hurt be put aside and constructive dialogue begun.

New negotiations did begin this month. But the wagons of the two camps are still circled.

In the meantime, may your new year be blessed with understanding.