From: Corliss Lee, resident District 5 Long Beach Ca Jan 17, 2017

corlisslee@aol.com 714 401 7063

To: Editor/Publisher Mindspring wpearl@mindspring.com

Note: This is the short version that has been submitted for publication. It mainly discusses the flaws in
the $350,000 feasibility study.

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Re: Proposal to approve Long Beach Airport for international flights and credibility issues with
the $350,000 FIS Study

The public sentiment from attendees at the December City Council meeting on expanding the Long
Beach Airport to include international flights was overwhelmingly negative, mainly due to concerns
about noise levels that are already out of control in spite of the noise ordinance.

In 2016, the City contracted with Jacobs Engineering for a feasibility study in the amount of $350,000.
This study, although flawed in a number of ways, is the main authority on which decisions are being
made.

Problems in the study are as follows:

1) By stating the assumption in the opening pages of the feasibility study that it was to be a given
that the Noise Ordinance will remain in place, any scenario where the Noise Ordinance may be
challenged was effectively dismissed. This exclusion needs a reality check. Once approved, there is
nothing to stop other airlines (Delta and American for example) from bringing in international flights.
International flights normally have larger aircraft and more passengers. With international flights
increasing at the rate of 10% /year at LAX, one could easily surmise that it would only be a matter of
time before other airlines seek to bring international flights to Long Beach as well. As the demand for
growth in international travel increases there is no way to stop prospective businesses/airlines from
challenging the noise ordinance in court.

2) It seems that in contracting for the 350K FIS study, the City of Long Beach was remiss in requiring
a deliverable on financial data that would support or debunk the proposal. What is the potential affect
on business in Long Beach? At the December City Council meeting, a presentation was made by the
Director of Airports in which he provided numbers that he had personally extrapolated that would lead
us to believe there is financial advantage to the City of Long Beach and its business community by
approving this proposal. The City Council needs to evaluate these numbers and understand the
assumptions and parameters that make up the calculations. At first glance, it seems strange to assume
that significant financial income is anticipated when the Director of Airports continues to assure us that
flights will not increase due to the noise ordinance.

Jet Blue has proposed the expansion of Long Beach Airport to include international flights to service
their markets in Mexico and South America. If approved, Gulf Stream customers would also enjoy the
benefit of landing at Long Beach for servicing of their aircraft rather than having to stop at LAX to
clear customs. Beyond that, the study did not identify a sustaining business advantage for any other
Long Beach entity.

3) Another glaring omission in the FIS Study is a section identifying risk. The feasibility study would
have us believe that there is no downside to this proposal. A document that does not acknowledge risk
 that only reports the favorable or innocuous affects is one-sided and incomplete. One has only to
look at the neighborhoods surrounding LAX for examples of negative outcomes to the communities
and neighborhoods that are close to international airports.

In conclusion, it seems premature to be voting on this proposal with little to substantiate the benefits to
the Long Beach community and a lack of data on the topic of risk and reasonable financial projections.
One has to question why a City Council member that represents a residential neighborhood adjacent to
or affected by the airport would consider voting in favor of this proposal. Clearly there is little to
recommend it and very likely considerable risk to the adjacent neighborhoods in the long term if we
pursue it. Since Jet Blue seems to be the main beneficiary should the proposal be approved, the
question that begs to be asked is Which of our City Council members has accepted campaign
contributions from Jet Blue? Council members(s) that accepted campaign contributions should recuse
themselves from voting on this proposal.