I got to know Lauren Kleiman through our time together on the Airport Working Group Board. She had previously served on the Newport Beach Aviation Committee and wanted to continue her work on airport noise issues after giving up her seat to accept her appointment to Planning Commission.
Lauren dedicated countless hours to understand the complexities of aviation, noise, and the John Wayne Airport. She worked closely with all of the community groups to hear their concerns then identified a proactive approach no one else had taken; she relentlessly pursued airline stakeholder decision makers to come to the table to earn the support of residents by being better neighbors to those under the flight path.
Lauren has been asked to return to the AWG Board to begin to lay the groundwork for the upcoming extension of the John Wayne Settlement Agreement. They and other community groups would like to see Lauren chair Newport’s Aviation Committee to continue her progress with incentivizing airlines to bring quieter planes and departure procedures to JWA.
In all of my dealings with Lauren she has demonstrated tenacity, diligence and practicality. Newport Beach would be lucky to have her as their Councilwoman.
Andrew B. Smith
