Resident won’t go to Washington, D.C.

Laura Sturza

While Glendale City Council members gave the green light to allow

a community representative to attend a meeting with federal officials

to discuss the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport, Burbank council

members voted against the proposal.

Representatives from the three city councils, state legislators

and members of the Airport Authority plan to fly to Washington, D.C.,

for a Feb. 26 meeting with Federal Aviation Administration

Administrator Marion Blakey to ask for guidance about development at

the airport.

“We are not opposed to having community members go,” Glendale

Mayor Rafi Manoukian said of Tuesday’s decision.

However, the only citizens to ask to attend are from Burbank,

leading Manoukian to say the final decision rests in Burbank’s hands.

Burbank City Manager Bud Ovrom said while Glendale is free to

invite its residents, he doubts that city will invite Burbank

residents who were voted down by their own City Council.

The Burbank council plans to ask an FAA official to come to the

city as soon as possible to meet with the public.

Burbank officials have taken the lead on planning the Washington

meeting, which will focus on continuing discussions about replacing

the airport’s terminal, which does not meet federal guidelines for a

750-foot distance from terminal to runway.

The airport announced in November that it would stop pursing a new

terminal. The following month, the FAA said the terminal is safe and

any decision to replace it should be a local one. City officials

still want federal input on any prospective replacement terminal and

support for noise and passenger limits.

Howard Rothenbach, who coauthored Measure A -- a voter-approved

initiative to limit airport noise and expansion that was deemed

illegal in court -- asked the three City Councils to invite a

community representative to attend the meetings so a third party

would be privy to the talks.

Representatives scheduled to attend the meeting include Burbank

Vice Mayor Stacey Murphy, Burbank City Councilman Dave Golonski, Rep.

Adam Schiff, Rep. Brad Sherman, Airport Authority President Chris

Holden, Burbank Airport Authority Commissioner Charlie Lombardo, and

two representatives each from Glendale and Pasadena.