SAN BERNARDINO -- This
time two years ago, the Grand Jury raised "serious questions" about
management practices, internal controls and other issues at San
Bernardino International Airport, and the airport passed a budget with a
$982,400 deficit.
This month, a follow-up by the Grand Jury
concluded that SBIA has implemented all of the county panel's
recommendations, and the budget for the 2013-14 projects a $4.5 million
profit. As with previous years, however, the budget includes an
"investment" from the agency responsible for development around the
airport -- $5.5 million for 2013-14, the same as last year.
Officials say things are indeed turning around.
"What's
important is we focused on real opportunities for the airport, not
imagined or fraudulently represented opportunities, and in doing that we
are gradually building a positive reputation," said Interim Executive
Director A.J. Wilson. "We basically adopted our budget last week at the
commission meeting and that budget for the first time begins the process
of building operating reserves so it can some time in the near future
become self-sustaining."
Wilson's answer alludes to serious
problems the airport had with developer Scot Spencer, who in March was
charged with multiple felonies, including criminal conspiracy and
perjury in connection with alleged corruption at the airport.
County
Supervisor Josie Gonzales, who sits on the board of the Inland Valley
Development Agency -- the body that develops land around the airport --
criticized the airport and its relationship with Spencer in the past,
calling it "a mess."
She was guardedly optimistic Friday.
"We
need to be cognizant of past actions and decisions and situations, and
we need to be mindful of how we move forward, making sure those actions
and missteps are not repeated," she said. "I think the Grand Jury did a
great job of addressing the entire situation, and while it's not a
complete bill of health, if you will, it is definitely encouraging and
mandates that we continue to be transparent and progressive as we move
forward."
This year's three-page review of SBIA is one of four
follow-ups to earlier Grand Jury investigations, and is headed by Ed
Burgnon, who was also foreman in 2011 when the Grand Jury blasted the
airport management.
Problems identified in 2011 included
questionable practices in regard to its finances, construction
management and how it awards developer contracts, according to the
report, as well as recommendations about how to address those issues.
"SBIA has implemented all of the Grand Jury recommendations," concludes this year's report.
Only
about a quarter of the $43 million budget goes to the general fund,
which reports a surplus of $305,711. That includes a $5.1 million
transfer from the property management fund and $5.5 million from the
IVDA, with operating revenue of $455,000 -- including landing fees,
filming revenue and fuel flow fees.
The property management fund
had a surplus of $2 million, after spending $23 million on improvements
and the transfer to the general fund. Its revenue comes largely from
leases and grants.
"We are in many ways still modernizing the
airport facilities and overcoming past hiccups," said San Bernardino
Mayor Pat Morris, who is also head of the SBIA board. "A lot of
capital-improvement projects are still in progress that will do well for
us in the future, and all those projects are on their way to
completion."
Morris points to new grants from federal agencies
that withdrew their support in previous years as a sign of their faith
in the airport.
Airlines have expressed interest in the
international terminal under construction, and meetings with five
commercial airlines in Atlanta last month "opened doors" toward future
investment, Wilson said.
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