Despite there being only one item up for discussion at Thursday’s inaugural meeting of the Airport Operations and Performance Compliance Committee of the San Bernardino International Airport Authority, there was plenty to discuss.
Sure the three members – San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris, San Bernardino County Sup. Josie Gonzales and Highland city councilman Sam Racadio – were there to discuss how to go about picking a new interim executive director and they did, emphasizing that they must do it swiftly, and “it better not be anybody’s friend, or someone’s uncle,” Gonzales said. But somewhere along the way, the discussion turned to Gonzales’ growing frustration with the way things have been handled at the airport.
“I no longer believe we were on the right track,” she said at Thursday’s sparsely attended 1 p.m. meeting at Loma Linda City Hall. She said decisions had been made in a vacuum by a select few and not the full board.
“I am beyond angry,” she said.
Here is some of what Gonzales demanded Thursday:
Post agendas online (“And I mean now,” Gonzales said)
The page has long been “under construction” and anyone wanting a copy of the full agenda complete with staff reports would have to stop by the airport’s offices for one. Staff said they would start posting the agendas online starting today, Friday, with the Oct. 12 agenda. As of 3:06 p.m. the page was still “under construction.”
Answer the phone
Anyone calling San Bernardino International Airport’s offices would undoubtedly get a recorded voice that would recite the hours of operation and prompt the caller for the extension of the person they wished to reach, or else they’d be forced to leave a message in the general voicemail box. Gonzales said she left several voice messages in the general box and none were returned. She said it represented deplorable customer service. Gonzales said there should either be a live person answering the phone Friday morning or she’d answer the phones herself. Staff said it would fix that starting Friday. As of 3:10 p.m., the airport’s main line was still being picked up by recording.
Respond to public records requests
Gonzales said the airport staff’s inability to provide documents and information in a timely manner to the media would lead to distrust, “like we’re hiding something.” She said it was embarrassing that Press-Enterprise columnist Cassie MacDuff was forced to contact each of the boards members after multiple attempts to secure public documents from the agency. Gonzales suggested the agency could create its own “Sunshine Law” much like San Bernardino County did. Morris suggested hiring an outside public relations firm. Racadio said the agency needed a “culture change” more than to hire a PR firm when it came to media relations.
“Never again take direction from any one member,” for policy decisions
Gonzales said that every policy decision would need to come before the full board from now on and action could only be taken based on the votes in full meetings. She said she’s come to learn that there were “omissions” and abridged versions of what staff had presented her and others in the past.
Gonzales took responsibility for the present situation the airport was in, acknowledging that she like others sits on numerous boards and it’s a lot of information and responsibility to balance.
Racadio tried to reassure staff toward the end of the meeting.
“As staff, you’re probably feeling down,” he said addressing assistant director Mike Burrows and clerk of the board Kelly Berry. “We appreciate the work you have to do.”
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