AVIATION PACT MAY RETURN MAYOR AIMS TO SHOW COOPERATION TO COUNTIES.

Byline: RICK ORLOV Staff Writer

Launching a new effort to regionalize aviation traffic, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other local officials moved Friday to revive a joint-powers agreement with neighboring counties.

Acknowledging that Los Angeles has to rebuild some credibility, Villaraigosa said he wants to show Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties that the city is willing to work with them to resume the Southern California Regional Airport Authority.

``It will work to formulate a regional dispersion of airport traffic throughout the region,'' Villaraigosa said. ``I have said for a long time that we all have to work together. We have to address how we deal with air traffic here at LAX and regionalize it.''

Supervisor Don Knabe, whose district includes Los Angeles International Airport, said he already has talked with other county officials about working on the panel, which will have no direct authority over airport operations but will recommend plans for individual counties.

``We do have to rebuild our credibility,'' Knabe said. ``When we first created this in 1985, it was making progress and had the support of Mayor Tom Bradley. But it later fell apart, and a second effort to revive it never really worked.''

The mayor and Knabe said they are sending letters to officials in the other counties to determine when the panel's first meeting can be held.

Knabe said he believes Villaraigosa's support will be key as well as the mayor's selection of Councilman Bill Rosendahl as the city's representative on the panel. Rosendahl's district includes LAX.

``We face regional challenges at our airports and we need regional solutions to solve those challenges,'' Knabe said. ``We also have two areas, Ontario and Palmdale, that want more airport business. We need to work together to promote those areas.''

Rosendahl said he, too, is committed to a regional aviation approach.

``It has been said no one wants an airport in their backyard, but we have to work together if we are going to address the problems and opportunities that come with an airport,'' Rosendahl said.

He said he also hopes to expand the authority to include representatives from Ventura and San Diego counties.

``It's an insurance policy for those of us who live around LAX that it will live with its commitment to not grow beyond 78 million passengers a year by looking for a regional solution,'' said Rep. Jane Harman, D-El Segundo.

``Also, it will be there to help us not make another mistake like we did with El Toro, when we had a chance to turn that into an airport. That was an opportunity missed, and we can't let it happen again.''

Knabe said the city and county of Los Angeles also are willing to consider changes to airport authority bylaws to eliminate concerns over veto power that had been used in the past by Los Angeles officials.

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com

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