The Legacy of Airports Director James Jenkins – Welcome to San Bernardino County

Left, Assistant Executive Officer Diana Alexander, Airport Director James Jenkins and Director of Regional Parks Beahta Davis attend the Airport Commission meeting on March 21, 2024, when the Airport Commission adopted a resolution recognizing Jenkins for his 33 years of public service.

James Jenkins began his career in 1991 with the Department of Airports as an airport maintenance worker, then was promoted to airport maintenance supervisor, airport operations supervisor, Chino Airport manager, assistant director of airports and was appointed as director of airports in 2012 by then County Chief Executive Officer Greg Devereaux.

Throughout his 33 years of service with county airports, Jenkins has encountered his fair share of incidents and situations that, at times, required him to act quickly. While serving as the Chino Airport manager, he had to spring into lifesaving action when a Chino Airport tenant fell ill and became unresponsive. The tenant was discovered unresponsive by his daughter, who ran into the airport office that morning and reported her father’s condition to Jenkins. At the time, Jenkins was a certified aircraft firefighter and had been trained in CPR and first aid. He quickly told the office secretary to call 9-1-1 and ran about 100 yards where the tenant was lying and found him slumped over inside an aircraft and noticed that he had vomited, was gray in color and not breathing.

Jenkins carefully and quickly removed him from the aircraft, cleared his airway and began performing CPR. Within 30-40 seconds, Jenkins noticed his color began to return and that he began to respond to resuscitation. Jenkins continued CPR for another two-and-a-half minutes or so until the Chino Valley Fire District EMTs arrived and took over. Because of his training and quick action, the tenant survived the incident and Jenkins was later recognized for his heroic lifesaving effort by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors in 2003.

At the April 10 Chino Valley Fire District Board meeting in Chino Hills, the board recognized Jenkins for his heroic lifesaving effort and his years of service as the director of airports.

Fire Chief Dave Williams said, “Many times people come through your path and they mentor you and you don’t even know it. James has a way to articulate information that is super clear, warm, welcoming and he is just a very humble man and has been a phenomenal partner for us. I really appreciate him and am going to miss him deeply. If I had a vote, I’d be voting for him to stay.”

“James has been a wonderful supporter of the fire district and we appreciated him very much and wish him well in his retirement. We have a facility on the airport grounds at Chino and he has been a huge supporter of us as we try to offer additional services and try to meet the needs of the county. He is a wealth of knowledge and commands a presence.” said Harvey Luther, Chino Valley Fire District Board president.

Aside from his notable heroics, Jenkins encountered some unusual situations early in his managing career at Chino Airport that were somewhat unrelated to general aviation, but were a part of his duties of managing an airport, such as a radium cleanup order stemming from an enforcement action by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on an airport tenant and then a few years later, the discovery of 55 napalm barrels buried underground on the southwest region of the airport where Southern California Edison Air Operations now houses its helicopter fleet.

Left, Chino Valley Fire District Fire Chief Dave Williams, Airport Director James Jenkins, and Harvey Luther, Chino Valley Fire District Board President.

Jenkins quickly learned that managing the environment, the expectations of the tenants and the county’s best interest is a fine balancing act that requires working and negotiating with various types of stakeholders. Inheriting the radium and napalm incidents as the airport manager and assistant director at the time, Jenkins worked and collaborated with federal, state and local agencies and regional authorities in the radium cleanup and abatement action and coordinated with the military Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) at the Twentynine Palms Airport and arranged for the napalm removal as part of a military training exercise. The radium cleanup took about two years to resolve, due to the decontamination process of hazardous waste and the involvement of other tenant exposure that occurred on the airport. The napalm incident was much quicker and was cleaned up in about six or seven weeks because the military treated it as a training site.

As the napalm incident was getting resolved, a groundwater cleanup and abatement order arose at Chino Airport and there was concern the napalm may have been the source of the contamination. It was determined that the napalm and the new groundwater contamination were not related.

Jenkins has worked alongside federal, state and local agencies, local authorities, tenants, commissions, county staff, elected officials, the general public and members of the aviation community including pilots, mechanics, flight schools and aviation business. James has served the public with distinction and has earned the respect of his colleagues and stakeholders with integrity and knowledge and has a calm steady approach to any crisis.

As a leader, Jenkins believes, “You never know what you don’t know until you are put in the roles of making a decision.” The San Bernardino County Department of Airports includes Apple Valley Airport, Baker Airport, Barstow-Daggett, Chino Airport, Needles Airport and Twentynine Palms Airport. Through his leadership, the Department of Airports has become a vital and strategic asset in the communities surrounding each airport and includes aviation refueling, mechanical services, aviation training and sales with the smaller desert airports used for transporting emergency supplies and services and are also used for touch-and-go landings for pilot and student training. Apple Valley and Chino Airports provide economic benefits by employing hundreds of jobs and generating millions of dollars in local revenues annually.

After retirement, Jenkins plans on continuing his passion for public service by volunteering his time to helping the elderly in his community maintain their homes and property. He also has high on his priority list to restore his high school ‘68 Ford Mustang.

Throughout his career, he has been an executive member of the American Association of Airport Executives, Southwest Chapter, and president of the Association of California Airports, 2008-2011, along with being a certified firefighter by the American Association of Airport Executives in 1995.

Additional County Update News – May 30, 2024