The Morning Report
Get the news and information you need to take on the day.
Sheriff William B. Kolender has appointed Bob Watkins to the executive board of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.
Watkins is chairman/CEO of R.J. Watkins & Co., a local executive search company, and also serves as chairman of the Lincoln Club, a conservative political action committee.
Speaking Monday before his appointment was announced, Watkins praised the airport authority for the site-selection process that culminated in the Nov. 7 defeat of the Miramar airport ballot initiative.
“From my perspective,” Watkins said, “it was a brand new group of people. They were doing the best they could to site an airport. They tried to do that, did it, and move on. … They had a pretty big task. I give them a lot of credit for doing what they did to try to make it work.”
Watkins, who must still be confirmed by the county board of supervisors, replaces William D. Lynch, a Rancho Santa Fe businessman who was one of the authority’s most vocal supporters of the Miramar airport plan. Lynch’s term expires Dec. 4.
If confirmed, Watkins will earn $150,000 annually in his new position.