Ontario Councilman Billed Airport Authority Nearly $185,000 for 72 Trips Over Five Years

Ontario City Council member Alan Wapner billed the Ontario International Airport Authority $184,997 for 72 trips between March 2021 and June 2026, according to records released under the California Public Records Act. Wapner sat on the authority's board until recently.

Across five agencies where he held seats, Wapner reported 132 trips over the five-year span, about 26 a year. Together the agencies spent $283,630 on his travel. Apart from the airport authority, the other four boards paid him a combined $98,632.

The airport authority figure is 64 times what the other four board members together were reimbursed in the same period. Board president Ron Loveridge received $2,865 for travel between 2021 and 2026, and the other three members never asked for reimbursement.

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

Wapner defended the travel in an email. "My travel was necessary for me to be effective in my position," he wrote, adding that none of the trips were junkets. He said the trips 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. Wapner did not report back to the full board, he said, so other members were unaware of the frequency or cumulative cost. Loveridge also noted that the money came from airport revenue rather than tax dollars. Separately, Wapner earned about a quarter of a million dollars in meeting stipends from the authority over the past decade, almost double the amount paid to Supervisor Curt Hagman.

The FBI searched Wapner's Ontario home on July 28. Agents also searched the homes or offices of Hagman, attorney Frank Lizarraga, and others tied to businessman James Su, and 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. The City Council removed Wapner from all his committee appointments, including the airport board. He has dropped a planned mayoral run and is seeking another term on the council, where he has served since 1994.

On Sept. 24, the airport board approved bylaw changes capping monthly stipends at $1,000 and limiting members to one domestic conference a year and one international conference every other year, each with advance approval. Spouses' travel can no longer be paid for. On Oct. 19, the 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 that members could have questioned.

Costs for his other boards included $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 said, "Personal profit from public service is the definition of corruption," and called for clear rules and public scrutiny of officials.