Gordo Nominates Williams, Hampton to Airport Authority Board; Selvidge Retains Seat

Mayor Victor Gordo has nominated Council members Felicia Williams and Tyron Hampton to sit on the Burbank Glendale Pasadena Airport Authority.

Authority President Ross Selvidge will remain on the body.

“I want to thank Councilmembers Kennedy and Madison for their excellent service on the Burbank Glendale Pasadena Airport Authority,” Gordo told Pasadena Now.  “Their terms ended on May 31, and they represented our city and residents very well.  I wish Councilmemembers Tyron Hampton and Felicia Williams the very best as they begin their terms on the Airport Authority.  I know they, too, will represent our residents well. Finally, best wishes to Ross Selvidge as he continues his term as President of the airport authority.”

If the council approves the nomination, the pair will replace Kennedy and longtime commissioner Steve Madison, who was nominated to sit on the authority in August.

In correspondence sent to city officials and Pasadena Now, Kennedy requested the item be moved from the agenda’s consent calendar so he could be heard on the matter.

But as of Sunday afternoon, the item remained as part of the consent calendar, where nominations and appointments can be passed with a sweep motion.

“I was unanimously appointed by the Pasadena City Council to serve out the unexpired term of the then mayor, Terry Tornek,” Kennedy said. “Quite naturally, I sought to be nominated by the current Mayor and confirmed by the City Council to serve out a full term of my own on the Airport Authority. Precedence, experience and seniority did not win the day in this instance. But, I smile and move on as there are many other places and ways to serve.

“It has indeed been my high honor to serve as one of the 3 City representatives on the Burbank Glendale Pasadena Airport Authority. I wish the new incoming Pasadena appointees only the very best!”

The Pasadena City Council approved Kennedy to serve on the JPA on Aug. 3. Kennedy replaced Tornek and joined Madison and Pasadena’s third commissioner Ross Selvidge.

Selvidge currently serves as the president of the airport authority and Gordo has nominated him for reappointment.

The authority, a separate government agency created under a JPA between Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena in 1977, includes three commission members from each of the three cities who oversee operations at the airport. Most of the members are sitting council members in their respective cities.

From 1978 to 2003, the airport was named the Burbank–Glendale–Pasadena Airport. In 2017 it was renamed the Hollywood Burbank Airport.

Kennedy asked Gordo to reappoint him in April, according to an email received by Pasadena Now.

“It has been my high honor and privilege to serve as one of three City appointees to B-G-P Airport JPA. During my short tenure on that body I have protected and advanced Pasadena’s rights and provided meaningful leadership to the body as a whole,” Kennedy wrote in an email to Gordo.

“It is for that reason and more that I respectfully request that you and the Council appoint me to a full term of my own to represent our fine City on the B-G-P Airport JPA. If I am blessed to be reappointed I will continue to make you and the Council proud!