Burbank Airport Director to Step Down

Saying he wants to return to his old job as chief financial officer, Dios Marrero said Monday that he will step down after 1 1/2 years as executive director of Burbank Airport.

One of the key negotiators of an ill-fated 1999 agreement between the airport and Burbank for construction of a new terminal, Marrero cited personal reasons for his decision. He said he will remain at the helm until a successor is found.

Marrero steps aside as relations between the airport and the city have been deteriorating. The latest issue was Burbank’s insistence on a new environmental impact report for a proposed terminal to be built on the 130-acre Lockheed Martin plant B-6 site.

Airport Authority President Carl Meseck said he would miss Marrero’s leadership, citing his contributions during negotiations between the city and the airport over the new terminal.

“He came at a crucial time and has provided a steady hand in a very uncertain environment,” Meseck said. “While the authority regrets his decision, we understand it.”

Charles Lombardo, one of Burbank’s three representatives on the nine-member Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, has had his differences with airport officials, but said he hoped Marrero would reconsider.

“With his work on the terminal issue, Dios has done a fine job and has earned the respect of the entire Airport Authority and the myriad of constituencies affected by it,” Lombardo said. “I wish he would recognize the progress that has been made and look to the future in hopes of reaching a solution that everyone will be happy with.”

Such sentiments weren’t expressed for Marrero’s predecessor, Thomas E. Greer, who was forced out in May 1999 after resisting efforts to forge better relations with Burbank.

Under Marrero’s guidance, city and airport negotiators signed a tentative deal last year to build the terminal and settle litigation between the parties.

But the plan quickly came under attack from neighbors, airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration and others. To assuage Burbank residents, the City Council agreed to get voter approval on any terminal plan. Burbank and the airport failed to reach a proposed development agreement by May 24, 2000, and, although negotiations continued, the airport was required to put the Lockheed property up for sale.

Marrero’s successor will inherit a new round of escalating tensions between the airport and Burbank.

Although airport officials are still considering the Lockheed property for a terminal, they have suggested to Burbank city leaders that they have an alternate site on airport property. Burbank, in turn, has threatened to require a new environmental impact report for the Lockheed property, arguing the existing review is outdated.