The Sun Valley Area Neighborhood Council (SVANC) hosted Supervisor Lindsey Horvath for a Q&A event with the public on 8/1 from 6-7 pm. Arriving 21 minutes late, Horvath tardily joined the crowd at 6:21 pm to respond to public inquiries, centered mostly on three local topics (one being Whiteman Airport).
Horvath was witnessed as notably evasive on Whiteman amid several attendees’ questions about the airport:
Horvath stated she has ordered Public Works to not take FAA funding, attributing this move to the County’s noncommittal about Whiteman Airport’s future
The Supervisor remained adamant that her funding freeze directive is ‘not a final judgment’ on the airport from the BOS or herself
Reaction to that point among the airport-related attendees was observed to be extreme skepticism.
Horvath acknowledged the recent LA County Department of Public Health, and also the South Coast AQMD studies that were conducted regarding lead near WHP which concluded that levels found were well below safe allowable standards.
Horvath did not concede lead pollution hysteria is baseless; instead, she signaled an interest in more studies—Critics interviewed felt she seemingly wanted to “shop” for a particular study result.
Although the Supervisor briefly spoke about the County Advisory Committee and its vote, she spoke more about pursuing further studies on ‘what the community wants’
Horvath’s insistence about this was made despite the observed unanimous expression of support for the airport from public speakers at the event.
A common theme throughout the event was Angelenos’ frustration with festering issues such as homelessness, crime, and NGOs, which seemingly boast lavish sums of taxpayer dollars with alleged little accountability. A desire for governmental change was palpable while support for the airport remaining operational was also consistent and strong.
As local San Fernando Valley NGOs Pacoima Beautiful and ICONCDC have spent considerable time and taxpayer-funded resources proposing the shutdown of Whiteman Airport some observers alleged they have done so whilst turning a blind eye to homelessness, crime, and other issues, causing neighborhood anger at current conditions, and NGO activities, and the perceived direct ties to Whiteman politics.
Comments in the form of Letters to the Editor are always invited. Send responses to contactus@scauwg.org.
Posted Wed, May 15, 2024 at 3:12 pm PT|Updated Wed, May 15, 2024 at 5:32 pm PT
Banning Municipal Airport (City of Banning)
BANNING, CA — After a years-long effort to close the city-owned Banning Municipal Airport, it is finally happening.
On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2024. The federal legislation now headed to President Joe Biden’s desk for signature includes an amendment introduced last week by U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D) that paves the way for the shutdown. Democratic Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-25) also authored language for the closure.
“I am proud to have successfully fought for legislation that will finally provide a pathway for the closure of the Banning Airport,” Padilla said in a released statement. “For too long, the Banning Municipal Airport has been a financial drain on the community, preventing redevelopment and economic growth. Now, after years of work, the City of Banning and Morongo Band of Mission Indians can finally unlock untapped economic opportunity blocked by the airport. This is a significant milestone for the City and Tribe — and a major step toward creating good new jobs for local residents.”
“This bipartisan bill represents a turning point for my constituents in the City of Banning that has the potential to create jobs and bring hundreds of millions of dollars in economic development to the City,” Ruiz’s released statement read. “The inclusion of my legislation,H.R. 8216, to close Banning Airport is a monumental win for the City of Banning and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. This closure will provide economic growth for the district by allowing the City to repurpose the airport property to bring in new investments and jobs to the region. I applaud Senator Alex Padilla for championing this effort, City of Banning Mayor Alberto Sanchez for his steadfast leadership, and Chairman Charles Martin of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians whose tireless advocacy helped make this effort a reality.”
Under the legislation, the city of Banning is released from all obligations to the FAA, and the airport at 200 S. Hathaway Street can close as long as the following conditions are met:
The city repays fair market value to the FAA for 20 acres of airport land received in a 1983 grant. This is the only airport land from the federal government.
The city repays all unamortized federal airport grant money it has received.
All salvageable airport and aviation equipment is redistributed to other airports.
The Banning Municipal Airport opened in 1945. In recent years, the approximately 250-acre site has seen declining operations that have made the facility a financial drain on the community. According to city and federal officials, flights have decreased by 68% since 2010, and 40% of the airport’s bays are unusable.
For more than seven years the city has attempted to close the airport, calling it inefficient and unsafe. After commissioning a feasibility study in 2016 to analyze the airport’s future, the city passed a resolution in 2017 to shutter the facility and upheld that document again on June 13, 2023.
The city cannot close the airport without federal approval, however, and the FAA was not keen on doing so.
Banning City Manager Doug Schulze worked with federal lawmakers and tribal leaders to find a solution, and on Wednesday those efforts paid off.
“We’ve had so much support from our congressional leaders,” Schulze said.
The Morongo Band of Mission Indians supports the airport closure because it wants to develop land adjacent to the airport. The tribal land is situated in the airport’s crash zone, which has significantly limited development in the area.
“On behalf of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, I want to thank Congressman Ruiz and U.S. Senator Padilla for their hard work to help close the Banning Municipal Airport so that both the Tribe and the City can pursue new economic development opportunities that will create jobs and support the regional economy as a whole,” read a statement from Vice Chairman James Siva, Morongo Band of Mission Indians.
The airport closure will not happen overnight — it will take months, maybe more. When it does, however, the city’s plans are already laid.
In December, Banning City Council approved an exclusive negotiating agreement with Texas-based Hillwood, a company experienced in airport redevelopment, including the Rialto Municipal Airport, which shuttered in 2014. The agreement lays out that Hillwood pays the city for exclusive negotiating rights to develop the airport property. The five-year ENA includes two optional one-year extensions.
According to Schulze, Grandave Studios is among the businesses looking to land at the airport property. The independent film studio wants to house offices, sound stages, outdoor filming facilities, rentable storage space, retail stores and parking.
Warehousing and manufacturing facilities are also planned on the airport property. The businesses are anticipated to lure additional support service industries to the site, Schulze explained.
Residential development is not planned on the property, but Schulze said the city has several housing projects in the works elsewhere, with about 15,000 new homes coming this year.
San Bernardino International Airport has begun using the RNAV Rwy 24 Visual approach. You will see heavy aircraft operating around KREI. PLEASE be vigilant when operating near KREI. See and avoid is our best tool at the moment. If you encounter any conflicts with heavy aircraft, please email Redlands Airport Supervisor Adarian (AJ) Lawson – alawson@cityofredlands.org Please provide:
The press release below prepared by the Southern California Airspace Users Working Group contains information that counters claims made by various individuals and CA Senator Menjavar about lead in aviation gasoline hurting kids near Whiteman Airport (KWHP).
SCAUWG.ORG associated with SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AIRSPACE USERS WORKING GROUP
NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 19, 2024
Good News for Pacoima – Bad News for Disinformation Campaigners LOS ANGELES, CA – New Data from the LA County Department of Public Works and the County Department of Public Health in addition to data from the South Coast AQMD discredit the often-reiterated criticism that might propel certain “Shutdown Whiteman” Campaigners.
LA County Board of Supervisors as a matter of due diligence on Nov.7, 2023, directed the Department of Public Health Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch (CLPPB) to perform an analysis of blood lead levels around the Whiteman Airport. Critics of the airport might suggest that children are endangered because of existing lead levels.
The following official reports are meant to document certain Whiteman Airport highlights and discount negative messaging.
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH DATED FEB.5, 2024
Based on the analysis completed by CLPPB, the percentage of children under 6 years old with a blood lead level equal to or greater than the CDC Blood Lead Reference Value (BLRV) of 3.5 mcg/dL within 1.5 miles of Whiteman Airport is 1.75% compared to 2.26% for rest of Los Angeles County.” RESULT: Children’s endangerment messaging should cease immediately, and valid information should be substituted.
REPORTS FROM SOUTH COAST AQMD – We believe these studies are overlooked.
The Multiple Air Toxics Exposure Study V (MATES V – 2018-2019 – Whiteman Airport Results were substantially lower than the U.S. EPA Lead National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) – similar to lead concentrations found in other parts of the South Coast Air Basin
2022 – Ten 24-hour samples were collected at Whiteman airport and analyzed for lead at South Coast AQMD’s laboratory. Results were substantially lower than U.S. EPA’s national standard (150 ng/m3) – RESULT: Skewed Whiteman Airport lead messaging should cease immediately. Valid information should be substituted.
REPORT FROM LA COUNTY DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS DATED FEB 5, 2024
UNLEADED FUEL IS ON THE WAY- Public Works will provide Swift Fuels UL94 unleaded aviation gasoline. All LA COUNTY AIRPORTS WILL BE SERVED once the master agreement is finalized and the needed equipment is installed.
SCAUWG.ORG believes that good people armed with good information will make good decisions. Those truly interested in the welfare of the Pacoima community should be truly interested in ceasing any possible false statement of facts and instead embrace the opportunities that a local airport important for the National Airspace System, for community emergency services, for pilot safety, and for community economic vitality has to offer. For additional airport information and aviation safety education, you are invited to visit www.scauwg.org
We had another successful toy drive! Most of the businesses that collected toys for our drive outdid themselves this year. Quite a few of them filled their boxes. Thank you to the following organizations and businesses that collected toys for our Stuff a Plane Charity Toy Drive:
Ark Christian Preschool 34558 Ave. E Yucaipa
Arthurs Restaurant 1913 Mentone Blvd. Mentone
Best Choice Products 15101 Red Hill Ave. Tustin
Citrus Valley High School Computer Science 800 W. Pioneer Ave, Redlands
City of Redlands Airport Lobby – 1745 Sessums Dr. & City Hall – 35 Cajon St. Redlands
Crown Ace Hardware 12157 5th St. Yucaipa
Denny’s Restaurants 2442 Highland Ave. Highland, 1190 S. Mt. Vernon Ave. Colton, 1180 Alabama St. Redlands, 110 W. Redlands Blvd. Redlands
Fitness 19 34448 Yucaipa Blvd. Yucaipa
Indian Motorcycle of Redlands 215 E. Redlands Blvd. Redlands
Kuehne + Nagel 9425 Nevada St. Redlands
Lovely Nails & Spa 34060 W County Line Rd. Yucaipa
RASelectronics 1032 Orange St. Redlands
Tractor Supply 1060 Calimesa Blvd. Calimesa
Redlands Elks Lodge #583 663 New York St. Redlands
Rialto Rotary Club & Fontana-Rialto Elks Lodge
SoCal Jeep Gladiator Owners
Attendees from our local communities that came to our event were also very generous with their toy donations. Additionally, RAA members also donated toys and $600 that were used to buy toys at Mattel and Amazon. In general, we did not collect as many toys as we did last year, but we still filled The Salvation Army San Bernardino Corps truck. We also had some very generous cash donations to The Salvation Army from RAA members and the Redlands Police Officers Association. Thank you to all that donated.
Saturday was a picture-perfect day to finish our toy drive. We started the grill at 8:30 with sausages and pancakes and switched over about 10:30 to start grilling burgers and hotdogs. We had some really good cooks and servers!
We had some great volunteers this year. In addition to RAA members, we had CAP cadets from Redlands Cadet Squadron 411, and a couple of volunteers from the Coast Guard Auxiliary. All these volunteers helped everything go smoothly. EAA Chapter 845 had 4 pilots who flew 22 kids, so they were very busy. The LifeStream blood mobile was on site for those wishing to donate blood.
The Salvation Army was onsite all day, and they were very happy with the outcome. If you would like to help them with their distribution efforts, the Salvation Army would welcome volunteers. You simply need to show up on December 12th thru the 15th from 9am – 3pm at their leased facility at 295 North Leland Norton Way in San Bernardino. It’s on the north side of San Bernardino Airport. They will be sorting toys for families that have registered to receive help for the holidays. Volunteering for something like this is very rewarding during the holiday season.
Finally on December 19th, from 9am – 3pm at the same address, you can witness the distribution to the families. The Salvation Army gives each family toys and a box of food. It’s nice to see those in need receive this help.
The October 7th fly-out to Guido’s at the Hangar, Rosamond Skypark was a great success. Nine planes and 21 people made the flight. We couldn’t ask for better weather for the morning flight. It was a great day to fly, it was severe clear with a light breeze. The food was great and the service was excellent. Everyone visited and talked “airplanes”. By 11:00, all headed back to their respective airports. A good time was had by all.
To receive notifications of FlyKREI fly-outs, please send an email to: flykrei@gmail.com
