Airport commissioner elected president

Ben Godar

A Burbank representative to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport

Authority was elected president Monday, despite garnering no support

from Glendale commissioners.

Burbank Commissioner Charles Lombardo was elected president by a

6-3 vote. Outgoing President Chris Holden of Pasadena and Burbank

Commissioner Bill Wiggins were nominated for president, but both

declined.

The nine-member commission governs the airport, which serves more

than four-million passengers annually and has a budget of about $50

million.

Glendale Commissioners Gerald Briggs, Carl Meseck and Carl

Povilaitis voted against Lombardo’s appointment.

Attempts to reach all three Glendale commissioners for comment

Monday and Tuesday were unsuccessful.

Lombardo said the Glendale commissioners were entitled to their

votes, and he doesn’t expect their opposition to his election to in

any way hinder the progress of the commission.

“The position of president is largely ceremonial,” he said. “You

get a title, but no one vote is more influential than the next.”

Lombardo was appointed to the commission in 1998 and has served

two terms as vice president and one as secretary.

He said he was honored to have been elected president, and looks

forward to helping the commission continue to move its focus back to

operational issues put on hold following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

He will serve a one-year term.

The commissioners Monday also elected Holden as vice-president and

Povilaitis as secretary.