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Tommy Lasorda throws support behind Ontario airport plan
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File: Retired manager Tommy Lasorda of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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Former Dodgers Manager Tommy Lasorda is featured in a new two-minute online video throwing his support behind an independently-controlled airport in Ontario.
An independent Los Angeles city department, Los Angeles World Airports, manages Ontario International and L.A. International airports. Inland leaders say the agency has failed to deal with Ontario International’s flagging business and has treated the airport more like a competitor to LAX.
Agency officials blame the passenger decline on the economic downturn. The Ontario International Airport has lost about a third of its passenger traffic in five years.
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“Hi everybody, I’m Tommy Lasorda," the beloved L.A. icon says in the video. "I firmly believe, without a doubt, Ontario International Airport should be under local control."
As Lasorda speaks, the screen cuts to scenes of a fictional baseball team clinching a game in the final inning after the coach makes a dramatic pitching change.
The airport saga casts L.A. as the ailing starting pitcher. Ontario, and a dugout full of other Inland cities, are pressuring it to give up the ball.
“Gaining local control will restore Ontario Airport as the number one economic engine for the Inland Empire," says Lasorda. "We will get the flights, service and convenience we need to work, live and play in Southern California. Come on L.A., let’s see Ontario free!”
But that freedom has a price. Ontario is offering to take over its airport’s $75 million debt obligation and to pay another $50 million more in cash. The L.A. City Council this week called for an analysis of Ontario International’s fair market value and what it would take to make the transfer happen.
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