Ontario Councilman Billed Airport Authority $185K for 72 Trips

An Ontario City Council member has been billed nearly $185,000 by the Ontario International Airport Authority for 72 trips over a five-year period. The figures come from records released under the California Public Records Act, detailing expenses incurred by Alan Wapner between March 2021 and June 2026. Wapner served on the airport authority’s board until recently.

The financial records reveal a pattern of significant travel spending across multiple public agencies. Over the same five-year span, Wapner reported a total of 132 trips while holding seats on five different boards. This averages out to approximately 26 trips per year. The five agencies collectively spent $283,630 to cover his travel costs. The airport authority accounted for the largest portion of this total, while the other four boards paid a combined sum of $98,632.

The disparity in reimbursement between Wapner and his colleagues is striking. The amount paid by the airport authority is 64 times greater than the total travel expenses reimbursed to the other four board members during the same period. Board president Ron Loveridge reported receiving only $2,865 for travel between 2021 and 2026. The remaining three members of that board did not request any travel reimbursement at all.

The trips funded by the airport authority took Wapner to destinations including Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro, the Bahamas, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Madrid, in addition to repeated visits to Hawaii. A notable expense occurred in January 2023, when he billed $8,939.40 for a 17-day conference trip to Maui. That bill included a $7,000 rental for a three-bedroom house in Lahaina. His wife accompanied him on several journeys, including an April 2026 trip to Rio de Janeiro that cost $14,325. A September 2025 trip to Hong Kong cost $12,701, with airfare alone accounting for $7,437.

Wapner defended the expenditures in an email, stating that the travel was necessary for him to be effective in his position. He clarified that none of the trips were junkets and argued that they provided him with access to airline executives, concession operators, and federal officials who influence the airport's growth. Loveridge noted that the spending met the authority's rules at the time but that commissioners were unaware of the trips' frequency or cumulative cost because Wapner did not report back to the full board.

The travel spending has gained attention amid a federal investigation. The FBI searched Wapner's Ontario home on July 28. Agents also searched the homes or offices of Supervisor Curt Hagman, attorney Frank Lizarraga, and others linked to businessman James Su. Subpoenas were issued to Ontario International Airport and Ontario City Hall. As of October 22, no charges are known to have been filed against those searched, and the specific items investigators sought remain public unknowns.

In response to the scrutiny, the City Council removed Wapner from all committee appointments, including the airport board. He has dropped his planned mayoral run but is seeking another term on the council, where he has served since 1994. The airport board approved bylaw changes on September 24, capping monthly stipends at $1,000 and limiting members to one domestic conference per year and one international conference every other year. Spouses' travel can no longer be paid for. On October 19, the board voted to create an internal auditing program with a full-time auditor.

Wapner earned about a quarter of a million dollars in meeting stipends from the authority over the past decade, nearly double the amount paid to Hagman. The other boards contributed specific amounts to his travel, including $62,855 from the City of Ontario, $17,578 from Omnitrans, $12,574 from the Southern California Association of Governments, and $5,625 from the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority. Catherine Lhamon of UC Berkeley's Edley Center on Law and Democracy commented that personal profit from public service defines corruption and called for clear rules and public scrutiny of officials.