BURBANK ACTIVIST TED MCCONKEY DIES AT AGE 77.

Byline: EUGENE TONG Staff Writer

BURBANK -- Community activist and one-term Burbank City Councilman Ted McConkey, who fought to restrict Bob Hope Airport expansion and courted controversy with his combative political style, has died.

McConkey, who served from 1995-99, died Dec. 23, according to local officials close to his family. The cause was not specified, though he was reportedly in poor health. He was 77.

His wife, Kathleen McConkey, declined to comment Wednesday, saying it was her husband's wish to stay out of the limelight.

``I'm kind of the court of last resort for the people getting jerked around by city staff or who can't get any attention from the other council members,'' McConkey told the Daily News in 1999, before his electoral defeat. ``I may be rough around the edges and rattle some cages, but I feel passionately about the issues.''

McConkey, a retired aerospace technical writer, rode a wave of anti-airport sentiment to office in 1995. During his single four-year term, he rallied against attempts by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to build a new terminal.

He also took airport commissioners to task for flying first class with their spouses to conferences on the taxpayer's dime.

Yet by 1999, McConkey's tough talk had alienated his colleagues, who sought a settlement with the airport. David Laurell, who defeated McConkey, touted himself as a consensus builder and was backed by the other four council members.

Despite his ouster, McConkey remained a government and airport critic. He campaigned for Measure A, a 2001 ballot initiative requiring the city to place flight curfews and other restrictions as conditions for permitting a new airport terminal.

It passed, but was struck down in 2002 in court as vague and unconstitutional. By then, McConkey had retreated from the campaign because of poor health.

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

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