FAA Plan for Privatization to Be Weighed

County officials are gauging the potential of a federal pilot program that would allow county airport officials to sell or lease the Oxnard and Camarillo airports to a private firm.

County Department of Airports Administrator Rodney L. Murphy said Friday that he will present a report on the Federal Aviation Administration program to the Board of Supervisors and two of the board’s advisory panels within the next month. The FAA will begin accepting applications Dec. 1.

Just five airports nationwide will be accepted into the trial program, which is an attempt by Congress and the FAA to stimulate investment in airports in an age of shrinking federal funding.

Under the federal program, the FAA would grant local governments an exemption to federal law that requires all airport revenue generated to be reinvested in airport operations. This would allow a private contractor to earn profits in investments and a local government to support other programs with airport revenues.

The private sector, county officials theorize, is more efficient than government at marketing and developing airports and luring new airlines. For example, without government requirements to pay prevailing union wages, major construction projects can be accomplished more cheaply and efficiently.

“We believe on a major project, such as a hangar development or an office building, the private sector could save 25% to 30% of the cost we pay,” Murphy said.

Murphy has yet to spell out details of the pilot program to a single board or panel in the county, but his announcement of the program at a meeting of the Camarillo Airport Advisory Commission on Thursday night about plans to present a report at month’s end has already sparked concern.

Camarillo City Councilwoman Charlotte Craven said she’s fielding phone calls from worried residents.

“People called out of concern because they aren’t sure what’s up and because I think there’s a basic distrust of the county,” Craven said. “The reason for the distrust, I think, is because the plans are being rushed through in one month.”

Murphy said he expects some in the community to be fearful of losing control of the airports and their future development.

But, he said, built into the FAA program are strict constraints over noise generation, rent increases for private airport lessees and environmental damage.

“There are a lot of protections in there for the community,” he said.

Murphy will present his report Oct. 29 to the Ventura County Aviation Advisory Commission and Oct. 30 to a joint meeting of the Oxnard and Camarillo airport authorities.

Heis tentatively scheduled to go before county supervisors Nov. 4, where he will present the panel with a full analysis of the pros and cons of privatizing the two airports.

His presentation also will include a long-term lease proposal detailing several profit-sharing scenarios and legal responsibilities that the county could then use to solicit bids from private airport operators.

The move toward exploring the lease or sale of the Oxnard and Camarillo airports is the latest attempt by the cash-poor county to draw more revenue from county-owned assets.

The Oxnard and Camarillo airports are designed to be self-sufficient, funded through so-called “enterprise funds,” which require all profits generated by their operation to be reinvested in the airports, and not poured into the county’s general fund.

However, the federal pilot program would allow the county to siphon off a percentage of profits and use the money to support other county programs.

Craven said she is concerned about privatization for several reasons, including the validity of existing agreements between the county, which operates both local airports, and the cities and whether the airports would retain enough money to maintain themselves.

“I have a big concern about taking money away from the airport,” she said. “There are a lot of problems with the sewage collection system [at Camarillo Airport]--it’s as leaky as a sieve.”

“If they don’t have money to fix that sewer system now when the money is required to be spent on the airport, how would they ever have enough money to do that if the excess money would be put in the general fund?” she asked.

Camarillo City Councilman Bill Liebmann, who sits on the Camarillo Airport Authority board, said he has heard little about the privatization concept.

“This is something that has so many potential implications in so many different directions, including legal ramifications,” he said.

Supervisor Frank Schillo said he welcomes a chance to review the concept, noting the county’s struggles in recent years to lure investment and new commercial airlines to the Oxnard Airport.

“I think we’re at a point now where it’s going to take marketing--which governments don’t do well, I’m finding out--to promote an airport and get new airlines in,” Schillo said.

Supervisor John K. Flynn, however, said that before he comments on the possibility of putting the airports into private hands, he needs to visit such a facility.

On Wednesday, Flynn will do just that, joining Murphy and Ventura County Chief Administrative Officer Lin Koester on a trip to Morristown, N.J., to view a community airport that has been run privately for about a year.

Public reaction to such a plan is a concern, he said, anticipating complaints about lost government control and concerns over noise and other residential nuisances.

“I’m sure there will be controls, but what kind and how effective are they?” Flynn said. “Basically, the community has to support this idea and if it does not, then I won’t support the idea.”