Airport Officials to Face Criticism

Hard-hitting criticism of city officials and their failure to respond to issues affecting Van Nuys Airport will be leveled tonight at an open meeting of the airport’s citizens advisory council, said the group’s new chairman, George Jerome.

Jerome complains that in his six years on the panel, the 14-member appointed advisory group “has served as nothing but a whipping post” for complaints from the public while officials of the Los Angeles Department of Airports have repeatedly ignored the group’s recommendations.

“All we do is get screamed at and hollered at by people with legitimate complaints,” Jerome said. “But none of what we do is listened to by anybody who gives a damn. The Department of Airports is happy to have us because we act as a buffer for them. I see my time as being wasted and that angers me.”

Several airport officials are expected to be on hand to respond to the criticisms.

Because of overcrowding at recent advisory council meetings, today’s 7 p.m. session is scheduled to be held in more spacious quarters, in the Mulholland Room of the North Building at the Airtel Plaza Hotel, 7277 Valjean Ave., Van Nuys.

In addition to discussion of the advisory group’s status, the agenda includes the following items:

* Possible adoption of a long-awaited recommendation for a 20-year airport master plan, the first in its 70-year history.

* Discussion of a city proposal to replace a popular community garden area, which residents say also serves as a buffer, with a parking lot for storing new cars.

* A presentation on a plan to turn over filming operations at the airport to a joint city-county agency.