During a “special meeting” held on August 23, the Santa Monica, Calif. City Council chose three “priority strategic goals” from a list of 12 options, and one of the top three selected was “securing local control of the city land occupied by the Santa Monica Airport.” Addressing homelessness was given “secondary consideration.” According to city manager Rick Cole, the issue of whether the city has control over the airport “is one of the most visible issues.”
The city council believes that the city’s grant assurance agreement with the FAA expired on July 1 and that it is under no obligation to continue using the land for an airport. “This is an issue that the voters last November spoke loudly and clearly about,” he said at the meeting, “and it’s clearly a priority of the city council, but it is a very big lift to take on the FAA and the national forces that view this not just as a local matter but as a matter of national precedent.”
The airport issue originally wasn’t on the list of priority items under consideration, according to Bill Worden, president of the Santa Monica Airport Association. When Cole became city manager this year, he met with Worden and others and said that the airport shouldn’t be on the priority list, Worden explained. But anti-airport neighbors protested and forced the addition of the airport. “The list seems to reflect the priorities of the city council and a vocal minority of airport haters,” he said. “Most people are saying, 'How can you put the airport ahead of homelessness, which is a major concern.'”