Go inside Ontario International Airport and you’ll likely hear Alan Wapner’s recorded voice over the public address system greeting passengers.
The airport has strong ties to the longtime Ontario city council member, who faces questions after FBI agents Tuesday, July 28, raided addresses linked to him and others, including San Bernardino County Supervisor Curt Hagman.
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The FBI also served a warrant at a residence affiliated with civil litigation attorney Frank Lizarraga, the former general counsel for the Southern California Association of Governments who also served 13 years as an Ontario planning commissioner.
Warrants also were served at a business and residence in West Covina affiliated with James Su, the founder and president of EDI Media Inc., a Chinese-language multimedia company operating television, radio, print and digital news outlets.
FBI spokesperson Laura Eimiller said she could not disclose any information about the investigation and added that no arrests have been made.
Wapner, 70, could not be reached for comment Wednesday, July 29.
Besides being a key figure in wresting control of the airport from the city of Los Angeles, Wapner takes credit for bringing the Toyota Arena and minor league baseball to Ontario, his home since 1978.
Wapner served in the Ontario Police Department before retiring as a sergeant. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and government/public relations from the University of Southern California and a law degree from Whittier Law School, according to his LinkedIn profile.
After a stint on the Ontario-Montclair School District board, Wapner, a married father of five and grandfather of seven, was first elected to the Ontario City Council in 1994.
He was a prominent voice in the effort to gain local control over the airport, which many Inland Empire leaders argued was neglected by Los Angeles. In 2016, L.A. transferred the airport to the Ontario International Airport Authority, a local public agency. Wapner serves as president while Hagman is vice president.
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Since then, the Ontario airport has flourished as a mid-sized alternative to Los Angeles International Airport. More than 3.4 million passengers traveled through Ontario in the first half of this year — “our strongest half-year total since returning to local ownership,” according to an airport Facebook post.
Wapner is running for Ontario mayor this year. On his campaign website, he wrote that he “is proud to have envisioned and brought to fruition Toyota Arena,” a multi-purpose stadium that’s home to the Ontario Reign minor league hockey team and has hosted Metallica, Justin Bieber and other high-profile acts.
Wapner also championed Ontario Sports Empire, a sports and entertainment complex with ONT Field as the centerpiece. ONT Field is home to the Ontario Tower Buzzers, a Los Angeles Dodgers minor-league affiliate that began play this season.
Along the way, Wapner joined the boards of many regional agencies, including the California Association of Councils of Government and the Southern California Regional Rail Authority.
He also served on the boards of the National League of Cities and the League of California cities, according to his online City of Ontario biography.
In 2010, Wapner, a registered Republican elected to a nonpartisan office, convinced his fellow councilmembers to put the words “In God We Trust” on Ontario’s official logo.
“It was not difficult for me to bring this to the council; I knew they support God,” he said at the time.
Staff Writers Mercedes Cannon-Tran, Joe Nelson and Anissa Rivera contributed to this report.
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