LAX: What a Big Difference

I was at a recent LAX Advisory Group meeting singing happy birthday to Barbara Lichman, the attorney for the County of Los Angeles and the Cities of Inglewood and Culver City. I was there, and singing, with Lydia Kennard, the Executive Director of LAWA; Mike Doucette, LAWA's chief planner; Kelly McDowell, the Mayor of El Segundo; as well as a number of other LAWA employees, city attornies, and representatives of all the communities that surround the airport.

It is hard to believe that in just the nine or ten months that we have been in office we have gone from suing each other to singing happy birthday and sharing cake. I think that the feelings of goodwill that were exhibited in this meeting are a symptom of the general belief that this is a new day and that we will get the modern and safe airport that we want through community engagement.

There is still a lot of work to be done and we need the community to continue to come out and push for the Green Line. It is encouraging though that the stakeholders involved in this process are slowly beginning to develop the trust necessary to make this a collaborative process instead of a combative one.

Phillip M. Tate
Legislative Deputy