Airport

AS IF YOU ASKED Ding-dong, the measure's dead. As has been forecast by city officials, lawyers and other smart-alecks for two years, yesterday a judge squeezed a few minutes from his busy schedule to finally toss Measure A into the trash. Turning that into the sort of moronic spectacle everything having to do with Burbank's local airport becomes, the ruling came down at virtually the same time a city building inspector was issuing a "stop work" order to an airport demolition crew starting a new building project without city permits.

Airline passengers have had it far too easy for far too long. Those days of easy, leisurely trips to and from the airport were bound to end. And they have. No longer will those aiming for the skies above be able to speed through the airport parking lot and dash from the car to the terminal, coattails flapping, luggage bouncing. How many of you -- you know who you are -- have gotten to the ticket counter with barely enough time to make it to the gate, and by mowing down everyone along the way?

Laura Sturza Residents favored City Council candidates who live close to their precincts in this month's general election, but also cast their ballots based on the experience of those running for office. "I think that my expertise in dealing with airport and port authorities had something to do with [my strong showing near the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport,]" said Todd Campbell, the policy director for the Coalition for Clean Air. Campbell, who won the second open seat on the council, and incumbent Jef Vander Borght, the top vote-getter, earned more than 40% of the votes in some precincts -- Campbell in one and Vander Borght in four.

Charlie Lombardo doesn't have a clue as to what motivated thousands of Burbank voters to back two attempts to guide the City Council of Burbank as they engage in renegotiations for a new airport terminal. The framework agreement claimed to be the city and airport's formula for accomplishing a final settlement of lawsuits. It was to be a vehicle to reduce increased rancor between the negotiators. The framework contained glaring omissions not satisfactory to the residents.

Mandatory airport curfew makes sense I think the curfew is great and there should be one for those of us living near the airport (?Airport planning on curfew,? March 8). JAN KESSLER Burbank Latest water rate increase is too much Regarding your Wednesday question, ?Do you think the increase in water rates is justified?? No. No! I?ve lived in my apartment complex 25 years, and seven of the last 10 or 15, we?ve had to pay extra to a company called Minol Water for about $15 a month.

Karen S. Kim AIRPORT DISTRICT -- Business goes on as usual today at 2650 and 2700 Hollywood Way. But just one year ago, a 108,000-pound Southwest Airlines jetliner skidded onto Hollywood Way and came to rest just 39 feet away from the two businesses -- a gas station and a restaurant. "Oh, it's not much of a concern at all anymore because we weren't here when it happened," said Cai Yi, owner of Silver Lake Chinese Fast Food. When the Boeing 737 skidded to a stop in front of Yi's business the evening on March 5, 2000, the restaurant was closed.

I was pleased to see that Mr. Vanderford seemingly agreed with my observation that the language of Measure A is subject to varying interpretation and could (based upon his comments about Prop. 13) be considered flawed. He says it requires that "our City Council exercise judgment," and they did; three judged the language to prohibit their acting on the Southwest proposal, and two judged that it did not. Now, I personally feel the three did not exercise desirable aspects of leadership by overcoming their concerns about judging the textual interpretation in this particular case.

Councilman David Gordon shouldn't take as a positive any similarities between him and former Councilman Ted McConkey ("Council treatment of Gordon is familiar," May 22), who was a fine fellow personally, but a flop as an office holder. McConkey was swept into his council seat on a wave of anti-airport sentiment, but for all his speechifying about Thomas Paine and curfews, I don't know one thing he set out to do that had any direct bearing on the airport, or for that matter, anything else.

Will Rogers In September, Airport Executive Director Dios Marrero was hustled into an operating room for critical heart bypass surgery that he hadn't even suspected he needed just a short time before. Formerly the airport's comptroller, Marrero assumed duties as the interim chief executive in June 1999, later accepting the appointment on a permanent basis. Marrero inherited a board of nine political appointees, three each from Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena.