Ontario Official's Travel Reimbursements Outpace Colleagues by 64x

Alan Wapner, a member of the Ontario City Council, recently stepped down from the Ontario International Airport Authority board amid a review of his financial records. Documents released under the California Public Records Act show he billed the authority $184,997 for 72 trips between March 2021 and June 2026. This sum represents a significant portion of the $283,630 he collected across five different public agencies during the same five-year period.

The disparity in spending becomes stark when comparing Wapner to his peers on the airport board. The authority reimbursed the other four board members a combined total of just $2,865 for travel in the same timeframe. This makes Wapner’s airport-related expenses 64 times higher than the rest of the board’s total reimbursement. Only board president Ron Loveridge claimed travel funds, while the other three members never sought reimbursement.

Wapner’s itinerary included destinations in Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro, the Bahamas, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Madrid, along with repeated visits to Hawaii. One January 2023 trip to Maui cost $8,939.40 for 17 days, which included a $7,000 rental of a three-bedroom house in Lahaina. His wife accompanied him on several journeys, including an April 2026 trip to Rio de Janeiro that cost $14,325. A September 2025 flight to Hong Kong cost $12,701, with airfare alone accounting for $7,437.

In an email defense, Wapner stated, "My travel was necessary for me to be effective in my position." He argued that none of the trips were junkets and that they provided access to airline executives, concession operators, and federal officials. Loveridge noted that the spending met authority rules at the time and came from airport revenue rather than tax dollars. However, commissioners were unaware of the trips because Wapner did not report back to the full board.

Context for these expenses includes Wapner earning approximately a quarter-million dollars in meeting stipends from the authority over the past decade. This amount is nearly double what Supervisor Curt Hagman received. The FBI searched Wapner's home on July 28, along with locations tied to Hagman and businessman James Su. No charges have been filed as of October 22, and the City Council has since removed Wapner from all committee appointments, including the airport board.

In response to the findings, the airport board approved bylaw changes on September 24. Monthly stipends are now capped at $1,000, and members are limited to one domestic conference per year and one international conference every other year. Spouses can no longer be covered by travel expenses. Wapner described these changes as scapegoating, claiming that travel was a budget line item that members could have questioned earlier. The board also voted on October 19 to create an internal auditing program with a full-time auditor.

Wapner’s other travel reimbursements included $62,855 from the City of Ontario, $17,578 from Omnitrans, $12,574 from the Southern California Association of Governments, and $5,625 from the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority. Catherine Lhamon of UC Berkeley's Edley Center on Law and Democracy called the situation a form of corruption, stating that personal profit from public service requires clear rules and public scrutiny.