By Stephen Witt, Los Angeles County Politics
What looked like a predetermined letter of support from the Sylmar Neighborhood Council (SNC) to keep Whiteman Airport open ended with a tabling of the vote to do so.
The motion at SNC’s regular board meeting last night to table support for the controversial airport came after the council’s chair, Kurt Cabrera-Miller, took the questionable liberty of reading the Whiteman Airport Coalition’s presentation letter, despite no Coalition representative showing up to deliver it.
Normal protocol states that when an entity is scheduled to give a presentation and then fails to show up, it misses its opportunity to present. The council also publicly released a pre-written letter of support before it voted on supporting Whiteman, also a highly questionable action before a vote is actually taken.
The controversial airport has seen five accidents in six years, including two so far in 2026, according to figures presented at the meeting. The issue was agenda items 12–15, including the aforementioned Whiteman Airport Coalition presentation, a presentation from a San Fernando Valley and Pacoima resident coalition to close the airport, public comments, and, finally, the council’s vote on the letter of support.
The Whiteman Airport Coalition’s presentation letter, read into the record by Cabrera-Miller in the Coalition’s absence, argued the airport anchors regional emergency response and contributes approximately $110 million annually to the regional economy.
The opposing San Fernando Valley Health and Clean Air Coalition countered with an environmental-justice argument grounded in a personal account from Pacoima resident Helen Tran.
“Every time I send him outside playing, it reminds me of the huge environmental injustice that we’re facing. We live less than a mile from the airport,” said Tran.
“And I see in the neighborhood council’s proposed community impact statement that maybe you hadn’t come across any data to support the public health and environmental risks associated with the airport. So I’m here today to respectfully provide that information to you to consider,” she added.
Monica Benavides, a field representative for Los Angeles City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, told the council that Rodriguez has called for the airport’s closure since 2020, citing repeated crashes and their impact on Pacoima residents.
Roberto Barragan, executive director of Pacoima-based ICON CDC, urged the council to hold off on taking a position until the county completes its $2.1 million Trifiletti Consulting land-use study, and disputed both the safety and economic case made by the Coalition for keeping the airport open.
“The emergency service we continue talking about does not happen at Whiteman — it happens at the 5-acre Barton Heliport,” said Barragan, noting the Los Angeles County Fire Department heliport is adjacent to the airport and could be expanded.
“What I want to make very clear: Whiteman Airport exists for 600 private plane owners. The numbers in terms of economic benefit — we did an economic development study of Whiteman, and we have provided it to the county. Whiteman currently has actually only $40 million of direct expense and revenue generation. The $110 million is a multiplier-effect result. It’s not what’s actually going on there,” he added.
Following the presentation, SNC Board member Jeremy Steinert moved to postpone the vote until the county’s study is complete rather than act on the letter of support. The motion was seconded by Jose Velasquez, who had first raised the question of why the council wasn’t waiting for the study to conclude.
The postponement motion carried, tabling the original vote.
