Airport Chief Criticizes Officials’ Latest Action

A letter from the city of Burbank indicating that plans for a new Burbank Airport terminal meets city conditions was criticized Friday by the airport’s top official, who said it fell short of a solid guarantee.

Joyce Streator, president of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, said Friday that she needs a stronger signal of support than the letter faxed from Burbank City Manager Robert R. “Bud” Ovrom.

That letter said the terminal plan “is basically consistent with long-standing city policy,” but that final approval could only come after public hearings and a majority vote of the Burbank City Council.

“This is too vague,” Streator said at meeting the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., shaking a copy of the letter. “We wanted something concrete, something with specific dates for public hearings. And we wanted it from council members, not staff.”

The airport authority must decide by Monday if it is going to pay $30 million to Lockheed Martin toward the terminal site. Streator said the authority should have been given a clear thumbs-up before the deadline from Burbank’s five elected council members, since they are the ones who will ultimately approve or reject the terminal plan.

Streator says that she is not sure what action the authority will take Monday.

Burbank officials, however, stand by the letter, saying it is as solid a signal of support as the airport is going to get. The letter says the scaled-down 14-gate terminal is “basically consistent with long-standing city policy.”

“We’ve told [airport officials] that they’re going to get their terminal,” said Burbank Mayor Stacey Murphy, who is a member of the council. “But they want more. They want us to look them in the eye and say, ‘Yes,’ before we even have a public hearing. We can’t do that.”