Mayor Appoints 7 New Members to L.A. Airport Commission

By City News Service

Mayor Eric Garcetti appointed four women and three men Tuesday to serve five-year terms on the city's Airport Commission, which oversees Los Angeles International Airport, L.A./Ontario International Airport and the Van Nuys Airport.

The appointees are a personal friend of the mayor, a policy adviser who helped with his transition, supporters of his mayoral campaign and former Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, who once held Garcetti's former Hollywood-area council seat.

The mayor's appointees would replace all but one member of the commission, a seven-person body charged with setting policy for the city-owned airports. The panel is also responsible for signing off on construction contracts for billions of dollars in ongoing airport projects.

Most of the current members who would be replaced still have time left in their terms.

"L.A.'s airports are a critical economic engine and our city's first impression for millions of visitors every year," Garcetti said in announcing the appointments, which need the approval of the City Council.

Real estate planning attorney Valeria Velasco, who has been on the commission since 2005, would be staying on with the panel if she is confirmed by the council.

Earlier this year, Velasco cast the lone vote against a plan to move LAX's northern-most runway 260 feet closer to residential neighborhoods, and last week, she criticized airport officials' spending on construction contracts and perks for consultants.

Garcetti said he is "pleased to appoint these talented Angelenos ... and know they will focus on ensuring LA has world class airports that are also first class neighbors."

In addition to Goldberg and Velasco, Garcetti also named:

• Sean Burton, a personal friend and president of real estate investment firm CityView.
• Gabriel Eshaghian, a partner at real estate investment company The Somerset Group and a former airline executive.
• Bea Hsu, an affordable housing and redevelopment adviser to Garcetti and a member of his mayoral transition team.
• Matthew Johnson, an entertainment attorney and supporter of Garcetti's mayoral campaign.
• Cynthia Telles, a board member for Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and a former member of the city's Ethics Commission and the Commission on the Status of Women.