LOS ANGELES, April 6, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Theodore Stein, Jr., has announced his resignation as president of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners. Attached are his letter of resignation addressed to Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, a statement, and a statement from Mayor Hahn:
April 6, 2004
The Honorable James K. Hahn
Mayor
City of Los Angeles
City Hall
Los Angeles, California
Dear Mayor Hahn:
As we discussed on the telephone, I have made the difficult personal
decision to resign from the Board of Airport Commissioners, effective
immediately. I am attaching to this letter a statement I will release
to the news media in connection with my resignation.
I have been committed to helping you and Los Angeles World Airports
develop a master plan that would ensure the safety and security of LAX
in a post-9/11 world. By all objective accounts, the plan we are
bringing to completion fulfills your vision to make LAX the safety and
security model for all U.S. airports in the 21st century. It is also
consistent with your goal of making Los Angeles the safest big city in
America.
Getting the master plan implemented with all deliberate speed, and
despite political opposition, has been my top priority. It is now
apparent to me that the distractions associated with the totally
unfounded and malicious "pay to play" allegations against me are
interfering with the important work of Los Angeles World Airports and
complicating speedy approval of the LAX Master Plan.
I want to thank you for providing me with the opportunity to serve the
citizens of Los Angeles as President of the Commission. I believe
deeply in public service, having started my career as a deputy district
attorney and having served as an unpaid, volunteer commissioner for more
than 12 years of my life, the past 2 1/2 years as president of the
Airport Commission. I am grateful and proud to have been part of a team
that set the standard for dealing with the post 9/11 world. LAX was the
first large US airport to fully comply with the new federal security
regulations. During this period, LAX earned the highest S&P rating ever
bestowed on an airport. I also want to express my appreciation to my
fellow Commissioners and all the hard-working members of the airport
staff.
I wish you, the airport department, and the City the very best.
Sincerely,
/signed/
Theodore Stein, Jr.
Statement of Ted Stein, President, Board of Airport Commissioners
April 6, 2004
For the past six months, I have been subjected to an array of false,
defamatory, and unsubstantiated accusations suggesting that I engaged
in, or orchestrated, a plan to force URS (an airport contractor) to make
political contributions in order to continue doing business at Los
Angeles International Airport--what has been dubbed "pay to play."
While the URS allegations seem to change with each new "unnamed source"
or politically motivated leak, they all have one thing in common: they
are patently false. I have never solicited political contributions from
anyone at URS. I never told anyone at URS that the Company would have
to make political contributions if they wanted to do business with the
City. I never told anyone at URS that they would be penalized for
failing to make a political contribution (and the record plainly reveals
that URS continued to receive work from the Airport Commission
nonetheless). And I never instructed any third party to take or withhold
any action based upon whether URS made or did not make a political
contribution.
I have not spoken until now in the hope that these false and
mean-spirited rumors would die of their own politically motivated
weight. But I cannot allow these defamatory and unsubstantiated
allegations to go unchallenged as they have impugned not only my
reputation, but the reputations of the entire Board of Airport
Commissioners and the hard-working professional staff of the Los Angeles
World Airport.
It is offensive that "unnamed" individuals are suggesting that the
dedicated men and women of the LAWA staff have compromised their
independent judgment and integrity to participate in this so-called "pay
to play" scheme. It simply did not happen. Decisions regarding the
continued employment of URS have been based solely on whether the
particular contract was, and is, in the best interest of the airport and
the City. The record is there for anyone to review, and that includes
the fact that URS has received approximately $23 million from the City
to date.
It is also deeply troubling that URS officials, or those representing
them, are reportedly making false statements about me and the Commission
staff, while at the same time categorically denying these very same
statements to others. This irresponsible and reckless practice has
clearly been designed to harm anyone who has shown a willingness to take
on entrenched contractors looking to continue feeding at the public
trough. This practice is wrong and I intend to explore every means
available to hold URS and others accountable.
In addition to the false URS allegations, the Airport Commission and
LAWA staff have been unfairly maligned by a fundamentally flawed report
issued by the City Controller that ignores uncontroverted facts and,
instead, seeks to cast doubt through unsubstantiated innuendo,
speculation and rumor. Perhaps more troubling than the poorly
researched report itself are the Controller's refusal to correct the
errors in the report and her unwillingness to admit that she, and her
auditors, made fundamental mistakes.
The tactics employed by the Controller -- including publicly implying
that the Commission may have engaged in wrongdoing yet refusing to
produce any evidence to support her claim -- represent the worst traits
in government. A public official should not be permitted to ignore
research material, timelines, emails and other information simply
because it exposes flaws in her work product and demonstrates that her
attacks were unwarranted. But that is precisely what Controller Chick
did here.
I believe deeply in public service, having started my career as a deputy
district attorney and having served as an unpaid, volunteer commissioner
for more than 12 years of my life.
For the past 2 1/2 years, I have been committed to helping the Airport
Commission develop a master plan that would ensure the safety and
security of LAX in a post-9/11 world. By all objective accounts, the
plan that the Commission and the Mayor are bringing to completion --
which will guard against car bomb and other attacks by directing all
traffic to a remote drop-off area -- is the right plan to protect the
millions of people travelling in and out of Los Angeles each year and
the thousands of people who work at LAX each day.
Getting the master plan implemented with all deliberate speed, and
despite political opposition, has been my top priority. It is now
apparent to me that the distractions associated with these false
allegations are interfering with the important work of LAWA. For that
reason, I have notified the mayor that, effective immediately, I will
step down as President and a member of the Airport Commission.
I want to thank the Mayor for providing me with the opportunity to serve
the citizens of Los Angeles as President of the Commission. I am
grateful and proud to have been part of a team that set the standard for
dealing with the post-9/11 world. LAX was the first large US airport to
comply fully with the new federal security regulations. During this
period, LAX earned the highest S&P rating ever bestowed on an airport.
I also want to express my appreciation to my fellow Commissioners and
all the hard-working members of the airport staff. They are a dedicated
and remarkable group of men and women, and it has been a privilege and
an honor to have worked with each of them.
STATEMENT FROM MAYOR HAHN ON RESIGNATION OF TED STEIN
Ted Stein has a long history of service to the people of Los Angeles and
I appreciate his dedication to our city.
In the last two and a half years, he has worked tirelessly to increase
service to Ontario Airport and enhance safety and security at LAX in the
post-September 11 environment.
Ted has a long history of working to make Los Angeles a better place,
including service as a deputy district attorney and 12 years as a city
commissioner, under the administrations of Mayor Bradley, Mayor Riordan
and myself.
During Ted's tenure at the Airport Commission, LAX was the nation's
first leading airport to fully comply with new post-September 11 federal
security requirements and earned the highest S&P rating of any airport
in history.
I thank Ted for his service and will continue to value his friendship.