Vote to Check Burbank Airport Growth Is in the Mail

Burbank officials will learn Tuesday whether efforts to restrict the size and scope of Burbank Airport will fly with voters in the first mail-in municipal election in Los Angeles County.

Apart from the long battle over the airport, the election is of keen interest to other Southern California cities looking to boost voter participation while cutting balloting costs.

Burbank officials opted for the mail-in method--which follows the same procedures as absentee voting--because voter turnout for municipal contests in Burbank is generally from 10% to 15%.

Roughly a third of Burbank’s eligible voters had mailed or hand-delivered ballots to the city clerk’s office by Saturday. That is the highest mark for a Burbank city election in more than 20 years, according to the clerk’s office.

Still, supporters of Measure A--the sole item on the ballot--say they are not happy with the experiment. “This is not the time to try a brand new method in Burbank,” said Ted McConkey, a former Burbank councilman and co-author of the measure. “I still think we’re going to win, but it skews the election.”

Called vague, irrelevant and even illegal by critics, Measure A would require that all expansion or improvement projects at the airport be approved by two-thirds of Burbank voters.

Known as ROAR, or Restore Our Airport Rights, the measure would also limit the number of flights and impose an overnight curfew before any improvements could be made.

Critics say it could undo the progress the city has made in hard-fought legal battles over airport growth.

They say the measure could face lawsuits by the airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration or the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority.

“Does it contain protections the city wants to provide the residents? Absolutely. Is this the way to go about it? Absolutely not,” said Charles Lombardo, one of Burbank’s three commissioners on the nine-member airport authority.

The authority has been trying for more than two decades to remodel and relocate its 70-year-old terminal, which the FAA says sits too close to the runway. Burbank has successfully waged a $10-million legal battle to block the plans unless the airport imposes a curfew from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. to limit jet noise.

But the FAA says the airport cannot impose a curfew without first conducting a federal noise study, which is underway but will not be completed for at least another year.

If Measure A passes and is challenged in court, the city will have to defend it, a prospect City Manager Bud Ovrom called “a hopelessly losing cause.”

“I think ROAR is a well-intentioned, misguided action,” Ovrom said. “All of us want what ROAR strives to achieve--a nighttime curfew, controls on future growth--and I think it might very well pass. But I don’t think there’s a chance it will hold up in court.”

Should ROAR become law, the airport authority would have to set a curfew and limit flights if it wanted to make any improvements, such as building handicapped-accessible restrooms or a new terminal entrance, Ovrom said.

“Nonsense,” Measure A co-author McConkey said. “Those are red herrings. We’re not trying to interfere with routine operations. We’re not taking on the federal government and we’re not taking on the FAA. We’re taking on the Burbank City Council because they’re not being responsive to the residents.”

More than 17,500 ballots had been received by Saturday, Burbank City Clerk Judie Sarquiz said.

Each ballot must be returned to the clerk’s office in an envelope signed by the voter. The envelope is time-stamped when it is received. Signatures are then verified and the ballots are sorted by precinct.

Of the 56,000 ballots mailed out, 9,000 were returned as “undeliverable,” which could mean the voters died or moved outside Burbank.

The city is spending about $100,000 to conduct the election and $10,000 for signs, posters, mailers and advertising, Sarquiz said.

Costs were slightly higher for the mail-in special election, but because of the increase in voter participation, the cost per vote went down, Sarquiz said.

If Measure A passes, it will supersede Measure B, which was passed by voters last November and prohibits the city from approving any plans to expand or move the terminal without a simple-majority vote of the electorate.