Ontario Board Restructures Travel Rules After Wapner's $184,997 in Reimbursements

The Ontario International Airport Authority approved limits on member travel and stipends after records showed a board member collected $184,997 for 72 trips. The records, released under the California Public Records Act, cover trips between March 2021 and June 2026. Alan Wapner, an Ontario City Council member, sat on the authority's board during that period until his recent removal.

Wapner reported 132 trips over five years across five agencies where he held seats, an average of about 26 trips a year. The five agencies spent $283,630 on his travel combined. The airport authority's share was about 64 times what the other four boards paid him together, which totaled $98,632. Board president Ron Loveridge received $2,865 in travel reimbursements from 2021 to 2026, while the other three board members requested none.

Airport-funded travel took Wapner to Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro, the Bahamas, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Madrid and Hawaii. In January 2023, he billed $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 joined him on several trips, including an April 2026 journey to Rio de Janeiro that cost $14,325. A September 2025 Hong Kong trip cost $12,701, with $7,437 for airfare.

Wapner defended the spending in an email, writing that his travel was necessary for me to be effective in my position and that no trips were junkets. He said the travel put him in contact with airline executives, concession operators and federal officials who make decisions affecting the airport. Loveridge said the spending complied with authority rules at the time but that other commissioners did not know about the trips or their cumulative cost. Loveridge also noted that airport revenue funded the travel, not tax dollars. Over the past decade, Wapner earned about $250,000 in meeting stipends from the authority, almost double the amount paid to Supervisor Curt Hagman.

The FBI searched Wapner's Ontario home on July 28, along with the homes or offices of Hagman, attorney Frank Frank Lizarraga and others tied to businessman James Su. Subpoenas went to the airport authority and Ontario City Hall. What investigators sought is not public, and no charges were known to have been filed as of Thursday, Oct. 22. The City Council removed Wapner from his committee assignments, including the airport board. He dropped a planned mayoral run and is seeking another council term, where he has served since 1994.

On Sept. 24, the airport board capped monthly stipends at $1,000 and limited members to one domestic conference a year and one international conference every other year, each requiring advance approval. Spouses' travel is no longer reimbursable. On Oct. 19, the board voted to create an internal auditing program with 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.