Rogan Circling Burbank Airport Expansion Issue

As usual, Rep. James E. Rogan was on the move.

The first-term, fast-track Republican from Glendale had been in his office, talking about his weighty new assignment on the Judiciary Committee--to help Congress respond to special prosecutor Kenneth Starr’s anticipated report on his investigation of the Clinton Administration. Now we talked as we walked to a hearing where actors Michael J. Fox and Paul Reiser would testify in support of anti-paparazzi legislation.

Time was short when I sought his views on the Burbank Airport expansion stalemate.

“If I can come up with a solution,” Rogan said, “I’d deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.”

In other words, the three cities that jointly own what is properly named the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport shouldn’t expect their local congressman to throw heart and soul into this debate. To the Airport Authority’s dismay, this issue is and has always been a much better issue for Rogan’s congressional neighbor to the west, Rep. Howard Berman (D-Mission Hills), who has nimbly exploited the NIMBY-ness of it all.

Berman himself acknowledges that, from a purely political standpoint, he’s benefited from the airport in his backyard. Berman has long been a nemesis to the Airport Authority and its dreams of a new, larger terminal with more gates and the prospect of more flights in a facility that now serves about 5 million passengers a year. Residents upset with noise and concerned about aviation safety are expected to help Berman win a ninth term in his safely Democratic district.

Rogan, meanwhile, steers clear of the airport issue in his frontyard. For him, it’s a no-win situation.

These observations are not meant as criticism. The political considerations here are predictably prudent and funny just the same. Berman and Rogan, after all, are both considered “players” on Capitol Hill. Sometimes they’ve even been the “go-to guys.”

Berman is known for his influence on the International Relations Committee and as the senior Democrat on the House Ethics Committee, a not-exactly-coveted appointment that party leadership asked Berman to assume. In this role, he helped negotiate the penalties last year against Speaker Newt Gingrich after Gingrich submitted false statements to the committee during an investigation into the tax-exempt status of a college course he taught.

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Closer to home, meanwhile, the North Hollywood resident long has been at the forefront of the airport controversy that has spawned eight current lawsuits. The Airport Authority and Berman have traded charges that the other has obstructed progress since the Federal Aviation Administration recommended construction of a new terminal for safety reasons more than 15 years ago.

In an interview, Berman was asked whether he had benefited politically from the long-running feud. He paused, stammered a bit, laughed and finally answered, “Yes.” Later Berman emphasized that he wanted the airport to get a new terminal while respecting the interests of the community as a whole.

“I take my greatest pride in trying to get things resolved,” he said. “Truly, I don’t want a fight to rage on simply for the political benefits of waging a fight.”

As Burbank airport watchers know, Berman, Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) secured a promise from new FAA Administrator Jane Garvey to appoint an official to oversee airport growth issues at Burbank and Los Angeles International.

The Airport Authority has since touted a letter signed by Garvey that states the FAA could not impose curfews for takeoffs and landings, one of the many finer points in the dispute. Berman and Sherman contend the letter is a bureaucratic artifact that bears no resemblance to their discussion with Garvey.

Note now that Rogan--appointed to the Judiciary Committee after Sonny Bono’s death, then given his weighty assignment on the Starr investigation--was out of the airport loop.

“I got wind of it later,” he told me, waiting for the anti-paparazzi hearing. His tone was one of mild annoyance. Rogan said he wrote to Garvey to ensure that the FAA keeps him informed of the developments at the airport within his district.

“I wasn’t angry,” he added. Rogan said that he welcomed the FAA’s playing a role. “I figure it can’t hurt and it might help.”

In the classic conservative spirit, Rogan noted, however, that one of his objectives in Sacramento and now Washington is to transfer power to local authorities. Ultimately, he added, the best resolution would be for the cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena to work out their differences among themselves.

One problem, of course, is that the Burbank City Council, formerly an avid booster of airport expansion, has in recent years adopted a slow-growth stance, in effect aligning itself with Berman’s district.

But the bigger problem, as Berman emphasizes, is that Valley communities outside Burbank and Glendale have as much and often more at stake in this fight than the cities that own the airport. As the skies get more crowded with air traffic, the odds of a midair collision increase. Remember Cerritos? The odds of Pasadena taking a tragic hit like that from an airliner flying into or out of Burbank are practically nonexistent.

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Yet Pasadena, far removed from the roar of jet engines, has votes on the Airport Authority while North Hollywood, Van Nuys, Sun Valley, Studio City and Sherman Oaks do not. And so the Angelenos have no recourse but to file lawsuits. “And that,” Berman noted, “is the most expensive form of representation.”

Some people seem to still cling to the notion that, somehow, Rogan will yet be the hero, personally brokering a compromise. The business community wouldn’t mind Rogan’s at least providing a pro-growth counterbalance to Berman.

One airport official, however, ruefully recalls a joint meeting of the Burbank and Glendale city councils some weeks ago that was convened by Rogan. The official figured the airport would be high on the agenda. Instead there was a lot of talk about cable TV, and only when Rogan was leaving for another event did somebody ask him for help on the airport dispute. Rogan, the official recalled, said it would probably be settled in the courts.

And just before the Judiciary Committee convened to talk about paparazzi, that’s what Rogan told me too.

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Scott Harris is on assignment in Washington. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Readers may write to him at The Times’ Valley Edition, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311, or via e-mail at scott.harris@latimes.com. Please include a phone number.