Gets Airport Post : Burbank Critic Sees Other Side of Fence

Jules Kimmett, 63, longtime outspoken critic of Burbank officialdom, soon will find himself on the other side of the lectern.

As a newly appointed member of the noise study panel of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, Kimmett will participate in a federally financed program that aims to study airport noise, determine the most adversely affected neighborhoods and propose workable solutions, said Victor Gill, manager of community relations for the airport.

Kimmett, a custodian, attends Airport Authority meetings regularly, Gill said. He was nominated by Burbank Mayor Mary Lou Howard, who sits on the Airport Authority Commission, after Kimmett told officials that he would be an asset to the panel and could provide valuable input.

With his shaven head, booming voice and workman’s attire, Kimmett is a familiar fixture at meetings of the Burbank Board of Education, Burbank City Council and Los Angeles Community College District. He consistently upbraids officials for “secrecy� in government, often invoking the Scriptures or sprinkling his conversation with baseball imagery from his days as a minor league pitcher.

Kimmett filed a $1-million claim against Burbank in 1983, charging the council with a “gross, blatant, flagrant and egregious violation compounded by conspiracy, collusion, collaboration . . . with all council members.�

Kimmett was among a group of council gadflies labeled “bozos� by former Mayor E. Daniel Remy. In a typical incident, Remy once refused to listen while Kimmett addressed the council, explaining later: “Just because I sit on the City Council and there are these ne’er-do-wells who come to speak doesn’t mean I have to listen to them.�

Kimmett appears to enjoy greater support from the current council, which includes three new members elected in April. Besides Howard’s recommending him for the airport study panel, the new council listens to Kimmett with more respect, always politely thanking him for his input.

Bids for Office

During his colorful and controversial career, Kimmett has twice run for the Democratic nomination for governor of California and has made three unsuccessful bids for a seat on the Burbank City Council.

Kimmett is one of about 40 people appointed by the Airport Authority since July to serve on a technical advisory committee that will meet monthly for the next 18 months, Gill said.

A second committee, composed mainly of elected officials, has responsibility for implementing policy based on solutions proposed by the panel.

Los Angeles Councilmen Howard Finn, Marvin Braude and Joel Wachs, who represent San Fernando Valley districts, have been appointed to the policy committee, Gill said.