Ontario Councilman Faces Scrutiny After $185,000 in Airport Travel Claims

The gap between expected public service costs and actual spending has come into sharp focus in Ontario. Councilman Alan Wapner claimed nearly $185,000 for 72 trips to the Ontario International Airport Authority between March 2021 and June 2026. This amount is 64 times higher than what the other four board members combined received for travel in the same period. The disparity has fueled questions about oversight and the definition of necessary business travel.

The timeline of this controversy began with routine record releases under the California Public Records Act. These documents showed that Wapner, who recently served on the airport authority board, reported 132 trips across five different agencies over the last five years. The total cost for this travel was $283,630. Of that total, the airport authority paid $184,997, while the other four boards paid a combined $98,632. For comparison, board president Ron Loveridge received only $2,865 for his travel, and the remaining three members requested no reimbursement at all.

The destinations for these airport funded trips included international cities like Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Madrid, as well as repeated visits to Hawaii. One notable expense was an $8,939.40 bill from January 2023 for a 17 day conference in Maui. This charge included a $7,000 rental for a three bedroom house in Lahaina. Wapner’s wife joined him on several journeys, including a trip to Rio de Janeiro in April 2026 that cost $14,325. A separate trip to Hong Kong in September 2025 cost $12,701, with airfare alone accounting for $7,437.

Wapner defended the expenditures in an email, stating that his travel was necessary for him to be effective in his position. He insisted that none of the trips were junkets, arguing they provided access to airline executives, concession operators, and federal officials whose decisions impact the airport’s growth. Loveridge said the spending met the authority rules at the time. However, he noted that commissioners did not know about the trips because Wapner did not report back to the full board. Loveridge also highlighted that the funds came from airport revenue rather than tax dollars.

The financial scrutiny coincides with broader legal and political shifts. 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 tied to businessman James Su. Subpoenas were issued to the airport and City Hall, though the specific items sought are not public. As of Thursday, October 22, no charges have been filed against those searched. In response, the City Council removed Wapner from all committee appointments, including the airport board. He has also dropped his planned mayoral run and is now seeking another term on the council, where he has served since 1994.

In the meantime, the airport board has moved to tighten its rules. On September 24, the board approved bylaw changes that cap monthly stipends at $1,000. Members are now limited to one domestic conference per year and one international conference every other year, each requiring advance approval. Spousal travel can no longer be paid for by the authority. On October 19, the board voted to create an internal auditing program that includes a full time auditor. Wapner argued the board was scapegoating him, noting that travel was a budget line item that members could have questioned in the past.

Wapner’s total travel costs across his other boards included $62,855 from the City of Ontario, $17,578 from Omnitrans, $12,574 from the Southern California Association of Governance, and $5,625 from the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority. He also earned about a quarter of a million dollars in meeting stipends from the authority over the past decade. This amount is almost double the sum paid to Supervisor Hagman. Catherine Lhamon of the Edley Center on Law and Democracy at UC Berkeley noted that personal profit from public service is the definition of corruption. She called for clear rules and public scrutiny of officials to prevent similar situations in the future.