At the direction of 4th district Councilmember Daryl Supernaw, with the support of city attorney Charles Parkin, our airport manager has been instructed to develop a plan for increasing late night  fines for those commercial carriers violating our 1995 noise ordinance. 

A new fine structure may look good on paper or in sound bites, but could it jeopardize what we have had in place for the past 27 years?

Jet Blue is the #1 offender of these late night flights with 110 violations in 2016 and 233 violations in 2017.  The total for all four other carriers in 2016 was 9 violations, in 2017 a grand total of 14 for the current five additional carriers. 

Some of you may not know that Jet Blue is under a 2003 consent decree that now allows $6K fine for each offense. In 2016, Jet Blue paid over $510K in fines and by November 2017 they had paid over $1.2M.  Since it appeared that these dollars simply became a part of their doing business at LGB, our city prosecutor renegotiated what was meant to offer Jet Blue the incentive to reduce those late night flights.  Instead, after agreeing to the new fine levels of $6K per offense, Jet Blue has challenged their obligation.  On what ground?  They say that their interpretation of our noise ordinance allows for this to occur without penalty. 

Page 3 - LBMC 16.43
Violations occurring during the period between ten p.m. and eleven p.m. which are the result of unanticipated delays beyond their reasonable control of the aircraft Owner/Operator shall be waived upon the presentation of evidence satisfactory to the Airport Manager that the delayed arrival or departure resulted from such circumstances. Delays caused by mechanical failure (but not by routine maintenance), by weather conditions or by air traffic control conditions will be considered beyond the Owner/Operator’s control.

Jet Blue is arguing that if a JB aircraft is held up in Seattle for their flight to JFK due to air traffic control issues and thereby delays the scheduled flight from JFK - LGB they are not to blame. 

It is our opinion that it is the carriers responsibility to arrange for proper aircraft utilization throughout their system.  The flight that begins in Seattle is obviously not a connecting flight to Long Beach, CA. 

This appeal is working its way to city council for their decision on March 13th, 2018.  Should the city council deny their appeal ( and yes they should) JB will move up the legal ladder to the FAA and the courts.  What impact could this action have on our coveted noise ordinance?  Two merging LGB issues ( the Jet Blue appeal and the LGB fine increases) meet head on putting our neighborhood communities at great risk.

I do not believe that any seated elected official wants  their legacy to be that their move(s) destroyed our noise ordinance!!  Do let them know how you feel prior to the 3/13 hearing.

Please pass the word and mark your calendars to attend this very important hearing. 

There are two additional community meetings for public input on the proposed fine increases.  They are on
Wednesday, February 7th 6:00p.m. at Gas & Oil and Saturday, February 10th, 10a.m. at The EXPO.

Tomorrow the AAC (Airport Advisory Commission) will vote to ask the city council to reconsider their January vote to deny the FIS facility here in Long Beach.

This is being revisited at the suggestion of AAC commissioner, Jeff Rowe (9th district resident), who believes the council made a mistake when they decided it was most important to stand up for neighborhoods!

If you have some free time and want to remind those who sit in both elected and appointed positions that their first responsibility should be to address quality of life concerns of all LB residents, then join us at Skylinks Golf Course 4800 E. Wardlow Rd. (parking off of Lakewood Blvd.) at 4:00 p.m. 

Stay Tuned.....Stay Involved!

The article below is from the Councilmember Supernaw's 4th district newsletter dated 2/24/17. 

  Three Recent Airport FIS Issues
Just when you thought the "international terminal" decision had been finalized, three new issues surfaced last week that are causing concern for many residents. In an effort to allay any fears of the council decision being overruled, I asked our City Attorney, Charles Parkin, to weigh in on these potential challenges:
 
#1:  Airport Advisory Commission - on Thursday, 2/16, the AAC decided to place an item on their March agenda asking City Council to reconsider the FIS vote. I asked Charles Parkin if this unprecedented action to "second guess" a council vote falls within the purview of the AAC. He referenced Municipal Code Section 2.27.030 that describes the duties of the AAC.  In part, the duties are "to study and analyze, for the purpose of evaluation and recommendation of policy, problems which have been referred to it by the City Council...". It may be important to note that the Jacobs FIS study was presented to the AAC at the request of the City Manager, not the City Council.

#2: FIS telephone survey - also on Thursday, 2/16, a telephone survey was conducted that some speculated was a prelude to a ballot measure asking voters to approve an FIS/international terminal. City Attorney Parkin opined that it is unlikely the FIS issue could be legislated by stating: "An initiative directing the City to build, operate and maintain an FIS, the answer at this time is we have serious doubts about the legality of an initiative for the FIS, it will require the analysis of the proposed measure as written, but I think it will be difficult to prepare an initiative to require the City to provide international services at the airport that would meet the legal requirements that it only extend to a legislative act and does not direct administrative acts or the management of the financial affairs of the City."

#3: Public Records Act request by AAC member - yesterday, we received a PRA request from Commissioner Jeff Rowe asking for "copies of all emails, telephone messages summaries and written correspondence regarding the Long Beach Airport sent and received by the mayor and all members of the city council between the dates of January 12, 2017 and January 26, 2017. I ask that this request include not only emails sent on the city email service but also emails sent on private email services regarding the airport in the timeframe indicated. I ask for a  determination of this request within ten days." Jeff Rowe is the same commissioner who made the motion to ask city council to reconsider their FIS vote.
This is Councilman Supernaw's reaction, not Charles Parkin's: Our council office is required, by law, to comply with this request, and it will have an overwhelming impact on office staff. The time spent compiling these records, at tax payer expense, is time taken away from the normal duties of the council office that we try to run as efficiently as possible.

So, the HUSH2 interpretation of all of this "new"  LGB activity is as follows:

#1 Jeff Rowe, AAC commissioner, has been attempting to influence his colleagues since his agenda item in December 2016 to support the Jet Blue FIS request. He wanted his colleagues to support his 2016 annual report to city council that included a bashing on the HUSH2 organization and full support for the Jet Blue FIS facility.  The AAC declined since they had not had that open discussion and Jeff was visibly beside himself.

With this latest coercion I am inclined to think he must have some heart strong attachment to either JB or aviation in general.  Although, I too love the aviation world, love air travel, appreciate all the incredible opportunities it brings to us, I admit I feel stronger about protecting residents quality of life and protecting home values.  Maybe Jeff is one of those passionate, can't let it go types.  Let's hope he can realize the voice of the community should be far more important than that of the corporate world.  Especially when it comes to an issue that will have a daily impact on a persons life, each and every day.

#2  The phone survey to gather support for the JB requested FIS facility has been making the rounds across our city.  I will assume it is being orchestrated by the LB Chamber of Commerce and perhaps funded by JB. We'll  try to confirm that next week.

​ The phone survey itself is misleading.  They ask questions without giving the full details or specifics that are currently available.  The city attorney indicates that a private entity cannot demand action be taken on city owned land.  That should stop this effort, but let us know if you still are receiving these calls.

#3 Jeff Rowe, AAC commissioner, seems to be filled with boundless energy and focused on a mission for the  Jet Blue requested facility.  Not sure what he expects to find with his PR request, but we would happily provide him with copies of all of our documentation that explains the reasons to deny the FIS in Long Beach.  What is his association with air travel?  commercial carriers?  airline industry?  

So, keep your signs handy.....take a mental break, but always stay posted.  Lots can happen in just a few days here in Long Beach :)  

COMING SOON!