Airport Commissioner Faces Ethics Caution

Newly appointed city airport commissioner Lee Kanon Alpert has been advised by the Los Angeles Ethics Commission that his financial ties to firms operating at Van Nuys Airport could disqualify him from some agency votes.

Alpert, a Northridge lawyer and prominent San Fernando Valley civic leader, was named to the Los Angeles World Airports Board by Mayor Richard Riordan and confirmed by the City Council.

Alpert disclosed in required filings with the city Ethics Commission that his law firm has received income of more than $10,000 over the last year from the Van Nuys Business Airport Operators, from Clay Lacy Aviation and its owner, Clay Lacy.

Lacy and the airport jet operators have actively campaigned against proposed new airport noise rules long sought by nearby residents. Before his appointment, Alpert testified before the City Council against the proposed noise rules.

Some community leaders called for Alpert’s resignation Tuesday, but others supported his selection by the mayor and confirmation by the council.

To address concerns by neighbors of the airfield, the Airport Commission, which Alpert joined this month, was asked in April by City Council members Mike Feuer, Joel Wachs and Cindy Miscikowski to eliminate by 2010 all of the older and noisier Stage 2 jets that use the airport. The commission has not yet taken action on the proposal.

“There is no question that there is a conflict,” said Gerald Silver, head of Stop The Noise!, a coalition of residents who support the phase-out of noisier jets. “The mayor’s appointment of Lee Alpert is a slap in the face of every Valley resident because he has actively represented the airport interests.”

Silver was joined Tuesday in calling for Alpert to step down by David Rankell, co-chairman of the Van Nuys Airport Committee for the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn.

“In light of his representation of the Van Nuys Airport business community, he should resign his position as an airport commissioner,” Rankell said.

Any opinion or action that Alpert takes will be subject to questions about whether he was influenced by his airport clients, Rankell said.

Alpert declined comment through a representative Tuesday.

But a spokesman for Riordan said the mayor is satisfied that Alpert can serve with objectivity.

“He has been an excellent commissioner,” said Peter Hidalgo, a spokesman for the mayor. “The mayor is very confident with Mr. Alpert’s track record with the city. We feel we can trust him.”

Don Schultz, president of the Van Nuys Homeowners Assn., said he believes Alpert can objectively consider the noise issue.

The Airport Commission is in prime position to decide the fate of noise rules at Van Nuys Airport.

Earlier this year, at the panel’s recommendation, the city capped the number of noisier Stage 2 jets at the number of aircraft based there now, which is about 50. The ordinance also allows owners of the older jets to replace them with others until Jan. 1, 2011. After that date, however, all the replacement jets that are not newer, quieter models would be banned.

The council approved the ordinance in April as an “interim” measure, while Feuer and Miscikowski called on the Airport Commission to go further and adopt a phase-out rule.

The more stringent proposal has not been taken up by the commission.

Alpert is a veteran of the Riordan administration, having served previously as president of the city Neighborhood Empowerment Commission and as head of the city Building and Safety Commission.

He has served as president of the San Fernando Valley Bar Assn. and last year won the Fernando Award, which is given annually to a Valley resident for distinguished public service and volunteerism.

The advisory letter by the city Ethics Commission states that Alpert’s law firm, Alpert & Barr, “represents several aviation clients.”

“Therefore, Mr. Alpert should seek advice of the City Attorney prior to acting on any matter before the board involving his investments, his law firm, his clients, or any other of his personal financial interests,” the letter reads.

Such letters are routinely sent to the City Council when commissioners have financial interests that could pose a conflict, an ethics official said. The City Council confirmed Alpert’s appointment by a vote of 13 to 1 on Aug. 8 after receiving the Ethics Commission letter.

The city attorney, the letter stated, “will assist Mr. Alpert in determining whether his participation in such a matter would be a conflict of interest or otherwise not in the public interest and whether his recusal is warranted.”

If a commissioner is disqualified from acting on three or more agenda items in a year because of the same conflict, the Ethics Commission would determine whether a continuing conflict exists that requires divestment, the letter said.