Grand Jury Hears From Senior Airport Executive

A senior airport executive and an official with one of Los Angeles World Airports’ largest consulting contractors testified before a Los Angeles County grand jury Tuesday, as prosecutors continued to look into millions of dollars of contracting at the airport department.

Citing laws protecting the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, prosecutors have declined to discuss their ongoing probe, which follows a Times investigation and a highly critical audit of airport contracting by the city controller.

And though airport officials have strenuously defended their contracting against Controller Laura Chick’s accusations, they also would not comment on the grand jury’s investigations.

Both witnesses who testified Tuesday have been involved in the department’s multibillion-dollar plan to upgrade Los Angeles International Airport.

Tony Skidmore, who testified in the morning, is a vice president with Camp, Dresser & McKee, a Cambridge, Mass., consulting firm that has more than $19 million worth of contracts with the airport for work on the LAX master plan. Skidmore declined to comment after his testimony.

Also testifying Tuesday was Jim Ritchie, the Los Angeles World Airports deputy executive director who is overseeing the airport’s master planning process.

Their testimony follows grand-jury appearances by Deputy Mayor Troy Edwards, who oversees the airport for Mayor James K. Hahn, as well as a former airport executive who supervised concessions contracts at the airport.

The Times investigation in October focused on political favoritism in the awarding of a lucrative concessions contract. Chick has made general allegations that there was an environment in which campaign contributions could play a role in the contracting process.