Airport Board Limits Member Travel After $184,997 in Reimbursements to One Official

The Ontario International Airport Authority board voted on Sept. 24 to cap monthly stipends at $1,000 and to limit members to one domestic conference a year and one international conference every other year, each requiring advance approval. Spouse travel is no longer reimbursable. The votes followed the release of records under the California Public Records Act showing that Ontario City Council member Alan Wapner billed the authority $184,997 for 72 trips between March 2021 and June 2026.

Wapner sat on the authority's board until the City Council removed him from his committee appointments, including the airport board. Across five agencies where he held seats, Wapner reported 132 trips over the five-year span, about 26 a year, at a combined cost of $283,630. The four other boards he served on paid him a combined $98,632. Board president Ron Loveridge received $2,865 in travel reimbursements from 2021 through 2026; the other three members requested none. The airport authority total was 64 times what those four board members together received in the same period.

Airport-funded travel took Wapner to Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro, the Bahamas, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Madrid, and Hawaii. A January 2023 trip to Maui for a 17-day conference cost $8,939.40, including $7,000 for a three-bedroom rental house in Lahaina. A September 2025 Hong Kong trip cost $12,701, with $7,437 in airfare. His wife joined him on several trips, including an April 2026 journey to Rio de Janeiro that cost $14,325.

Wapner defended the spending in an email: "My travel was necessary for me to be effective in my position." He said the trips were not junkets and gave him access to airline executives, concession operators, and federal officials whose decisions affect the airport's growth. Loveridge said the spending met authority rules at the time, but that commissioners did not know about the trips because Wapner did not report back to the full board, leaving other members unaware of the frequency or cumulative cost. Loveridge also noted the money came from airport revenue rather than tax dollars.

The FBI searched Wapner's Ontario home on July 28, along with the homes or offices of Supervisor Curt Hagman, attorney Frank Lizarraga, and others tied to businessman James Su. Subpoenas went to Ontario International Airport and Ontario City Hall. What investigators sought is not publicly known, and as of Thursday, Oct. 22, no charges are known to have been filed against those searched. Wapner has dropped a planned mayoral run and is seeking another term on the council, where he has served since 1994.

On Oct. 19, the airport board voted to create an internal auditing program including a full-time auditor. Wapner said the board was scapegoating him and that travel was a budget line item other members could have questioned. Catherine Lhamon of UC Berkeley's Edley Center on Law and Democracy said, "Personal profit from public service is the definition of corruption," and called for clear rules and public scrutiny of officials.