AV representative sought on airport panel

Antonovich, whose 5th District includes the Antelope Valley, is asking Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan to appoint a person with Antelope Valley ties to one of the two open positions on the Los Angeles World Airports commission. The other, he says, should go to a San Gabriel-Pomona Valley advocate.

"Commissioners from the Antelope and San Gabriel-Pomona Valleys understand the air transportation needs of their communities," Antonovich said. "They would provide vital input in developing a regional airport system that our region urgently needs."

Before that happens, though, Antonovich is going to need a little help from the L.A. City Council, because their administrative code precludes any non-Los Angeles resident from serving on the commission.

"We think they should change that," said Lori Howard, a deputy with the supervisor's office. "It's not like the U.S. Constitution. They can change the code."

"The airport is in Palmdale," Howard added. "It is not in the city of Los Angeles and that is why there should be a member on the commission from Palmdale."

Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford, who has discussed the future of the Palmdale Regional Airport with the L.A. City Council and its airport agency, is not convinced an Antelope Valley representative would make a difference on the agency.

"It's not a big concern," Ledford said. "We have an excellent relationship with (Los Angeles World Airports) right now and it's the regional outlook that is driving that agency right now.

"I'm not as focused on representation as I am with cooperating with the commission."

For now, Ledford is content to participate as a member of the Los Angeles International Airport Expansion Task Force, a LAWA-organized group whose members come primarily from the Antelope Valley. The task force is currently awaiting the results of a strategic plan that would list the steps necessary to make Air Force Plant 42 ready for passenger service.

The report will be finished in the next few months and after it is presented to LAWA, Ledford says it's just a matter of reminding them to keep the schedule.

"Once that document is completed it just comes down to implementing the plan," he said. "We may have to show up to encourage the commission, and I think this is the most effective means of getting an airport in Palmdale."