ELECTIONS / BURBANK CITY COUNCIL : Race for 2 Seats Focuses on Future of Airport

BURBANK —  In this year’s race for two Burbank City Council seats, the question on some minds is not just how much the council will change, but how the elections will change the future of Burbank Airport.

Most of the candidates in the 10-person field say they are against plans to build a larger airport terminal, and those who support the idea say they will give their endorsement only if the council has a greater say in the issue.

No matter who wins the Feb. 28 primary or April 11 general election, the City Council will almost assuredly gain a new majority that will be highly skeptical of the terminal project and poised to appoint three new airport commissioners with similar views.

When Councilmen Robert Bowne and George Battey Jr. leave their seats in May, they will be forced to give up their positions as airport commissioners. Brian Bowman, president of the airport’s nine-member operating board, is not an elected official and can be replaced at any time by the City Council.

Before a televised public forum Wednesday, some candidates criticized the Burbank contingent for failing to speak forcefully against the aircraft noise, pollution and vehicular traffic that a larger terminal might bring.

“Obviously, we have three airport commissioners who don’t listen to the city of Burbank,” said candidate Bob Kramer, who lost an election bid in 1993 by less than 100 votes. “I want to appoint three new commissioners--two who live directly under the flight path.”

For all of the candidates’ differences in background--one is a 24-year-old former gang member and another is a two-time mayor of Burbank who held office for 12 years--they share a surprisingly similar list of priorities.

All of them, for instance, say the council must take a more active role in airport commissioners’ plans to triple the size of the 163,000-square-foot terminal and add five aircraft gates to the current 14 by 1998.

Vice Mayor Dave Golonski, the council’s most outspoken critic of the plan, tried to put the project to a popular vote in November. But he failed on a council vote of 3 to 2.

Other concerns shared by the candidates include the deteriorating condition of Burbank’s public schools and a controversial plan from Lockheed Corp. to clean up contaminated ground water by spraying it into the air to cleanse it.

“We all pretty much agree,” said candidate Gary Sutliff, a retired fire battalion chief. “There isn’t a nickel’s worth of difference between the candidates in their positions on issues.”

The candidate who garners more than 50% of the votes in the primary election automatically wins a council seat; the next two top vote-getters go on to compete in the general election. If no winner is declared Feb. 28, the top four candidates will appear on ballots April 11.

Airport Commissioner Joyce Streator said she was unsure how the race results will impact the Airport Authority, made up of three commissioners each from the cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena.

“I would hope whoever is elected comes with an objective point of view and works for the betterment of the airport and community as a whole,” she said. “No one on the board is in favor of expansion for the sake of expansion.”

Airport Authority President Bowman agreed. “There’s a misunderstanding that we’re trying to build some colossal palace and that couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said.

The race results, he added, “won’t change the project.”

Besides Kramer and Sutliff, the council candidates are: Jerry Augustine, an aerospace worker; William Thomas Barron III, a retired city employee; Robert E. Dunivant, a member of the Burbank school board; David Gerred, owner of a glass company; Mary Lou Howard, a two-time mayor and the city’s first female council member; Jules Kimmett, a former janitor; Ted McConkey, a retired aerospace engineer, and Peter Ray Torres, a former gang member and manager at a sporting goods store.