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EL SEGUNDO -- Elected officials and airport executives from three counties in Southern California will hold a press conference to announce their intention to pursue a working partnership with the City of Los Angeles to implement a regional airport plan with capacity limits at Los Angeles International Airport and that optimizes unused passenger and cargo capacity at existing airports in the Inland Empire.

"The City of Los Angeles is circulating a Master Plan for LAX that aims to limit growth at that airport," said El Segundo Mayor Mike Gordon. "That's only the first step in creating an effective regional airport system. The critical next step is ensuring that other airports in the region have the means to handle growth in passenger and cargo demand that is projected to occur by 2030."

Los Angeles City Councilmember Cindy Miscikowski, whose district includes LAX, is sponsoring the delegation's activities at City Hall.

"Southern California has reached a consensus on building a regional airport system that includes LAX and 10 other airports available in the region," said Miscikowski. "LAX needs to be fixed now, but it is only a part of the region’s answer to meeting future aviation demand."

Gordon, the elected officials and a host of airport representatives from five cities in Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties will gather at Los Angeles City Hall to propose immediate discussions with the City of Los Angeles, including Los Angeles World Airports and the appropriate committees of the Los Angeles City Council, to explore ways to effectively collaborate to implement a truly regional airport system.

"We've got the airports to handle a significant volume of passengers and cargo in the Inland Empire," said Ontario Mayor Gary Ovitt. "Now we need to create the framework for properly directing some of the growth away from LAX and out to the airports in Ontario, Riverside, San Bernardino and Victorville."

The Inland Empire delegation wants to work with Los Angeles to coordinate development plans for LAX, Ontario International Airport, March Inland Port, San Bernardino International Airport and Southern California Logistics Airport, develop incentives or cooperative agreements for airlines to start or expand operations in the Inland Empire, and identify other measures to facilitate implementation of the regional airport plan.

Following the press conference, the delegation will address the Los Angeles City Council and will assert that the City of Los Angeles should work together with the Inland Empire to jumpstart the implementation of a regional airport plan.

"We're going to be introducing ourselves and our airport capabilities to L.A.'s leadership.," said San Bernardino Mayor Judith Valles. "It's important that they get to know us, our airports and our commitment to a regional airport plan. The Los Angeles City Council will come to know that we can be relied upon to handle our share of the future growth in aviation demand. With the major congestion that’s increasing on Los Angeles freeways, it’s critical that we address the regional airport plan now."

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The Inland Empire delegation includes:

Councilmember Cindy Miscikowski, City of Los Angeles (Sponsor)

Mayor Mike Gordon, City of El Segundo (Convenor)

Bob Buster, Riverside County Supervisor

Mayor Gary Ovitt, City of Ontario

Mayor Judith Valles, City of San Bernardino

Mayor Terry Caldwell, City of Victorville

Greg Diodati Managing , March Inland Port

Jim Gourley, San Bernardino International Airport

Penny Chua, San Bernardino International Airport

Dougall Agan, Southern California Logistics Airport

June Durr, Marketing and Public Affairs Director, City of San Bernardino

Mark Ostoich, Inland Empire Economic Partnership

The delegation is convening at the initiative of the City of El Segundo. El Segundo is the leading advocate of a truly regional airport plan for Southern California and spearheads a coalition of more than 100 cities, counties, transportation agencies, and environmental and environmental justice organizations calling for constrained growth at LAX and the equitable distribution of future air commerce demand to airports throughout the region.

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