Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/aci-jet/)
Newport Beach residents and small plane owners succeeded in getting county supervisors to step back from controversial plans to add more private jet spaces at John Wayne Airport.
H. Josh Ji said he will bring his experience as an attorney to the table. The five member commission still hasn’t been formed by county supervisors, more than a year after voters ordered its creation in June 2016.
Signature Flight Support alleges supervisors were biased toward their campaign donors and violated federal rules in awarding a major lease at John Wayne Airport to the fifth-ranked bidder.
An intense battle over a lucrative John Wayne Airport lease further ratcheted up Tuesday, with promises of legal action after Orange County supervisors granted the lease to a firm that was ranked fifth out of six by the county’s evaluation panel.
Federal aviation officials are now digging into the awarding of a lucrative John Wayne Airport lease to a company that was ranked fifth by the county’s official evaluation panel.
Members of the public raised concerns about a shortage of housing options for homeless people, a troubling county economic future, and alleged improprieties by supervisors in choosing a major airport contractor.
The delay comes as the firm that county officials ranked highest among bidders for the contract is seeking a federal investigation into supervisors’ decision to award the contract to the fifth-ranked firm.
Supervisors lambasted top airport officials for what they consider poor management of lucrative airport contracts for private plane services, and then rejected the staff recommendation for a big contract.