California Airports

Referendum may derail SLO City Council vote to override airport commission Kevin P. Rice is organizing a campaign against the City Council’s possible override of the safety plan for development around the airport

Kevin P. Rice, a San Luis Obispo resident and frequent City Council critic, is mounting a campaign against an expected council vote to override the Airport Land Use Commission’s safety plan, which limits the city’s future growth.

The Santa Monica Airport has long been embattled. City officials and nearby residents have made no secret of the fact that they are weary of it, especially as larger and larger private jets take off from and land on its single runway. Neighbors, some living no more than 300 feet from the runway, worry over safety, noise, and air pollution. The city has been in and out of court for decades, dueling with the Federal Aviation Administration — which oversees the city’s compliance with federal rules on aircraft and airport operations — for the right to close the airport or curtail its activities.

Now, the City Council has bypassed the courts and gone to its voters. Measure LC, which asserts that it is up to the City Council to decide how to manage the airport and whether to close all or part of it, passed decisively on Tuesday.
lRelated Your 405 exit is closed, but will Metro or Caltrans tell you?

Mountain View, CA – In a deal that promises to restore Moffett Field’s beloved Hangar One, Google on Monday said it would spend more than $200 million to rehab that and two other hangars, create an educational center and assume management for much of the historic air base, drawing cheers from preservationists.

Saying it will use the airfield to conduct research in space exploration, aviation, robotics and other emerging technologies, Google’s subsidiary, Planetary Ventures, also agreed to pay NASA $1.16 billion to rent about 1,000 acres on the site from the federal agency over the next 60 years.

A city sponsored ballot initiative — Measure LC — has passed in Santa Monica, Calif., leaving the future of Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO) in the hands of the City Council. The measure passed with 59% of voters saying “yes” with 90% of precincts reporting Tuesday. At the same time, voters rejected a separate measure…

Voters agree to leave fate of Santa Monica Airport to City Council Westside Today

In a step that could move Santa Monica Airport closer to closure, voters agreed to allow the City Council to make decisions regarding the fate of the airfield and rejected an effort by aviation groups to require a public vote on any effort to shutter the facility or restrict aviation activity.

Although city officials are still in a power struggle with the federal government over the future of the 227-acre airport, passage of Measure LC on Tuesday’s ballot gave the City Council a vote of confidence from residents.

(CalPilot’s Editor’s Note: Ever wonder where your membership fees go – this is an excellent example)   Two of GA’s top advocacy groups, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) have contributed more than $540,000 to support a ballot measure in Santa Monica, Calif.,, that would halt efforts…

Surf Air , which calls itself an “all-you-can-fly private membership airline,” is expanding its service from its base in Santa Monica, California, to include Carlsbad and Oakland, the company has announced. The added service coincides with the arrival of three new Pilatus PC-12NG aircraft, the first in an order of 65 airplanes to be delivered over the next five years. “Both markets are largely underserved by commercial carriers and hot spots for California-based business and leisure travelers,” said Jeff Potter, CEO of Surf Air. “We intend to continue to expand to new markets with similar characteristics that benefit our existing membership base and introduce our innovative travel experience to new members.” Service to Carlsbad will start Nov. 18 and Oakland launches on Dec. 15.

Please forward this information to everyone who wants to support SMO. If you’re active on Facebook, please like all our pages and invite all your friends to like our pages. Share, like, comment, tweet, retweet. Rinse and repeat! We need this information to go viral now and keep building until Nov. 4th! https://www.facebook.com/SantaMonicaAirportAssociation https://www.facebook.com/smvotersdecide https://twitter.com/SantaMonicaair…

The fact is the city’s plan to close Santa Monica Airport has always been about money – regardless of what the city has previously claimed.

Below is what happens when a multi-county political machine backed by Big Development, which stands to make hundreds of millions on high rise development on existing airport property, get together. Note all the references to the pseudo political organizations – which were all likely promised something in return for their endorsement.

If this doesn’t anger you and get you involved in this fight to save Santa Monica Airport from Big Development’s plan to line their pockets, then the politicians will win. What’s it going to be?

Developers and their City Hall allies have been after the 227 acres of Santa Monica airport land for years. Campaign disclosure reports filed recently by Measure LC proponents — the politicians’ effort to confuse the voters — prove it.
Big money has started to roll in; $10,000 from Jeff Worthe — president of Worthe Real Estate Group — is the biggest yet, about half of what’s been reported.