June 27, 2014 -- Aviation
interests who want nearly all Santa Monica Airport decisions to go
before voters are repeating their earlier claim that opposition from
City officials is due to a plan for major redevelopment on the property.
Anti-airport activists and a City Council member say the allegation is
not true.
A press release was
issued this week from a group called Santa Monicans for Open and Honest
Development Decisions in opposition to the City Council’s instruction on
Tuesday to the City attorney that she and her staff draft a ballot
measure to compete with one sponsored by the group and financially
backed by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA).
“This new tactic is a
charade, just the latest attempt by City politicians to achieve their
development plans while keeping voters out of it,” said John Jerabek,
board member of Santa Monicans for Open and Honest Development
Decisions, according to the press release.
While the group’s
proposal calls for a requirement that nearly all changes to the airport
receive voter approval, the City’s measure would only have residents
decide on full closure of the facility and future development on the
property, which is owned by the Santa Monica government.
Although the City’s
measure would give voters an opportunity to decide on development of the
property, Santa Monicans for Open and Honest Development Decisions
maintains it is an attempt to keep residents out of the discussion.
“Our message for City
politicians is clear,” said Jerabek, according to the press release. “If
the City has a plan for 227 acres of the most valuable land on the
Westside, let them get it approved by Santa Monica voters. It’s that
simple.“
Airport2Park, a group
that wants a park built on the airport property, issued a press release
saying Santa Monicans for Open and Honest Development Decisions is
actually being dishonest.
“The council asked the
City attorney to prepare a proposal that that would address concerns
about development, while allowing the City to continue to manage the
airport,” Airport2Park wrote. “The AOPA, obviously concerned that voters
will realize the aviation lobby is the real ‘special interest,’ not
city residents, is already crying foul.”
City Councilmember Kevin
McKeown had challenging words for Santa Monicans for Open and Honest
Development Decisions in an email response to a question from The
Lookout.
“The special interests
who profit from squatting on land owned by Santa Monicans clearly hope
voters won’t notice that the only place ‘development’ is addressed in
their efforts is in the deliberately deceptive name of their committee,
which more properly should be ‘People Who Want To Keep The Airport
Absolutely Unchanged Because It Benefits Us Personally.’”
He continued, “Our
community initiative will not only specify real limits on development at
the airport, which the AOPA measure does not, but allow us to continue
on whatever path our community supports to deal with airport safety and
air quality concerns.”
The people behind the
AOPA-supported measure say they collected thousands more signatures than
the amount required to qualify for the ballot. County officials are
determining if there are enough.
The council must approve
the City’s measure at its July 22 meeting for it to qualify for the
November ballot. The City attorney is expected to present proposed
language to the council at the July 8 meeting.
Source: http://www.surfsantamonica.com
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