The Council's May 2001 vote put the city's noise-budgeted Airport Ordinance at some risk when other Airport carriers complained to the FAA and threatened litigation. LB's City Attorney office crafted an FAA-approved settlement -- with JetBlue assisting the City by giving up a few flight slots.

On August 29, 2001, JetBlue CEO Neeleman told an Airport press event launching JetBlue flights from LB to the east coast, "We're gonna fly so many people outta here you won't be able to believe it"...to the applause of members of LB's political and business establishment invited to the event.

By this time, Ms. Ardizzone had taken on a consulting role with JetBlue as its "West Coast Opportunities Manager." At the August 29 event, she looked on as then-City Manager Henry Taboada chauffeured Mayor Beverly O'Neill (passenger seat, shadowed) onto the Airport tarmac in a JetBlue company VW.

During this period, Ms. Ardizzone continued -- without Council objection -- to chair City Hall's "Airport Advisory Commission."

Ms. Ardizzone also encountered patches of turbulent air. In late 2000, it became known that then-City Manager Taboada had retained Ms. Ardizzone (via a purchase order contract that didn't require Council approval) to provide "services to enhance the public image of the city in accordance with Departmental needs and or fund availability." Public reaction was mainly negative, some wondering what city-related services she was providing...with more of the ire directed at Mr. Taboada than Ms. Ardizzone.

In Sept. 2003, to accommodate the new flight activity resulting from JetBlue's arrival, city management proposed a permanent expansion of LB's Airport terminal area facilities to roughly 93,000-98,000 sq. ft. (nearly double the current square footage with permanent + temporary facilities). As 2004 elections loomed, 4th district Councilman Dennis Carroll sought to send the hot potato first to a blue ribbon style commission and the Council sent the matter to the Airport Advisory Commission. This ended up delaying progress on Airport improvements for over a year...and in the interim, city management proposed expanding the facilities even further to over 130,000 sq. feet.

Council incumbents Dennis Carroll and Rob Webb, both backed by Mayor O'Neill and the Chamber of Commerce, were defeated in the 2004 election cycle by Patrick O'Donnell and Rae Gabelich, propelled in large part by day-glo orange signs in their Airport-impacted districts stating, "Say NO to Airport Expansion."

In April 2005, a group calling itself the "Long Beach Alliance" appeared...with Ms. Ardizzone prominently present (in photo alongside Harbor Commissioner James Hankla). At a debut media event, business and political leaders held professionally printed signs saying "Improve Long Beach Airport! Improvement, Not Expansion."

Ms. Ardizzone remained with JetBlue while the City Council made its major 2006 LB Airport EIR decisions (among the final acts of the exiting O'Neill administration)...although she had already apparently relocated to Las Vegas.

Businesslike and unflappable under pressure, her responses to our frequently pointed questions were reliably true.

LBReport.com posts below the text of an August 2006 JetBlue company email [provided to us by JetBlue's press office at our request and separately by Ms. Ardizzone]:

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