l~' ,,RICHARDL. KNICKERBOCKER

CITY ATTORNEY

2 CITY OF SANTA MONICA

1685 Main Street

3 Santa Monica, California 90401

4 Telephone: (213) 393-9975 Ext. #213

5 Attorney for Defendants

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SANTA MONICA AIRPORT ) NO. 77 2852-IH

ASSOCIATION, etc. , )

) DEFENDANT CITY OF SANTA MONICA's

Plaintiff, ) RESPONSE TO FIRST SET OF INTERROGA

) TORIES MiD REQUEST FOR ADMISSIONS

vs. ) FROM SANTA MONICA AIRPORT

) ASSOCIATION.

CITY OF SAHTA MONICA, etc. , )

et aI. )

) VOLUHE NO. I

Defendants. )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

NOV :3 - 19n

EXHIBIT

, :rTe131

TO: PLAINTIFF, SAnTA MONICA AIRPORT ASSOCIATION AND TO

19 ROBERT N. CLEAVES, ITS ATTORNEY:

20 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 33 and 36,

21 defendant, City of Santa Monica, hereby responds under oath to

22 the following written interrogatories and requests for admissions.

23 Pursuant to Local Rule 6(b), each interrogatory and request for

24 admission is quoted in full immediately preceding its answer

25 thereto.

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1 INTERROGATORY NO.1

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Are you a municipal corporation organized and existing under and

by virtue of the laws of California.

Yes, the City of Santa Monica is a municipal corporation organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State

of California.

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1 INTERROGATORY NO.2

2' If your answer to the foregoing question was in the affirmative,

3 answer the following questions:

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A. Set forth the date upon which you became a municipal

corporation.

9 The City of Santa Monica became a municipal corporation on or

10 about November 30, 1886; was chartered in approximately 1907;

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and, became a charter city under the Constitution of the State

of California on or about August 10, 1948.

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INTERROGATORY NO.2

B. Have you, since the foregoing date, continusly been a

municipal corporation to date.

The City of Santa Monica has, since approximaEely November 30,

1886, continuously been a municipal corporation to the date of

the answer to this interrogatory, although it has so been in

the several forms referred to in the answer to Interrogatory

No. 2A.

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INTERROGATORY NO.2

C. If, since the date you initially became a municipal

corporation, you have ceased to exist as a municipal

corporation for any span of time, set forth the dates

between which you ceased to exist as a municipal corporation and, with regard to each of' said spans of time, set

forth the reason why you did not operate as a municipal

corporation between said dates.

Since approximately November 30, 1886, the City of Santa Monica

has not ceased to exist as a municipal corporation for any span

of time, although as herein indicated previously, it has operated

under forms of municipal government as provided for, from time

to time, by the Law of the State of California.

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11 INTERROGATORY NO.3

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2:1 Are you the owner of the Santa Monica Municipal Airport.

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6 I The City of Santa Monica is, presently, in the opinion of the

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7 j City of Santa Monica, the owner qf the Santa Monica Municipal

81 Airport.

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INTERROGATORY NO.4

If your answer to the foregoing question was in the affirmative,

answer the following questions:

A. Set forth the date upon which you first became the owner

of said airport.

The City of Santa Monica first became the owner of property 10-

cated in the vicinity of what is presently known as Santa Monica

Municipal Airport at some time prior to April 14, 1926, and,

so far as can be ascertained from existing records, perhaps as

early as 1907. However, Said property has been added to and

deleted from since such initial date. Thus, although the City

of Santa Monica first became the owner of property in the vicinit

of what is now known as Santa Monica Municipal Airport at such

time, the current boundaries of Santa Monica Municipal Airport

were not fixed until sometime thereafter. The approximate

sequence of events is as follows:

On or about April 14, 1926, the people of the City of

Santa Monica adopted a bonds proposition , by election, for

the acquisition, construction, and completion of a municipal

improvement which contained certain lands in the City of Santa

Monica included in what is now Santa Monica Municipal Airport.

Sometime thereafter, said lands were purchased. In 1935 a

contract was entered between the City of Santa Monica and

Douglas Aircraft Company wherein Douglas Aircraft Company deeded

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approximately ten acres of land to the City of Santa Monica

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In exchange for ten acres of land from the City of Santa Monica,

all in the vicinity of what is now the Santa Monica Municipal

Airport. In approximately June of 1940, approximately sixteen

acres of land were purchased from Douglas Aircraft for use at

the Santa Monica Municipal Airport. On or about August 19, 1940,

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the City of Santa Monica acquired additional land for the realigning of Centinela Avenue, said land being acquired from

the City of Los Angeles, for use in fixing the boundaries of

9 what is now the Santa Monica Municipal Airport. On or about

10 November 13, 1940, the City of Santa Monica acquired approx11 imately seventeen and one-half acres of land in the area of

12 the Santa Monica Municipal Airport. Further property was

13 acquired on or about January 2, 1941, February 6, 1941,

14 December 3, 1941, December 12, 1941, April 1, 1942, March 2, 1944

15 January 31, 1945 and October 17, 1945. These lands were all

16 utilized in connection with what is now Santa Monica Municipal

17 Airport and such dates represent the approximate dates that the

18 City of Santa Monica first became the owner of such portions

19 of the Santa Monica Municipal Airport, and represent the

20 acquisitions which resulted in the ownership of approximately

21 225 acres of land in the City of Santa Monica which currently

22 forms the Santa Monica Municipal Airport.

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INTERROGATORY NO.4

B. Have you, continuously since the date you initially became\

the owner of Santa Monica Municipal Airport, continued to

own same.

It is the opinion of the City of Santa Monica that since it initially became the owner of Santa Monica Municipal Airport, or

its predecessor airfields, it has continued to be the owner of

an airport, although certain properties located within the airport boundaries have been, from time to time, traded or sold

in various transactions from approximately 1926 through the

present time •

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INTERROGATORY NO.4

C. If there have been any periods of time since you initially

became the owner of Santa Monica Municipal Airport that yo

did not own same, set forth the dates between which you

did not own it and the name of the government or governmental entity that did own it between said dates.

It is the opinion of the City of Santa Monica that there have

been no periods of time since it initially became the owner of

Santa Monica Municipal Airport, or its predecessor airfields,

that it did not own the same, and it is the further opinion of

the City of Santa Monica that there have been, in the history

of the Santa Monica Municipal Airport, no other governmental

entities that did own the Santa Monica Municipal Airport, considered as a single entity and not as individual parcels.

Apparently, from the records of the City, on or about March 2,

1944, the City of Santa Monica entered into an agreement with

the United States of America whereby the United States of America

was reimbursed in the amount of $25,000 for acquiring fee title

to_Lots 93 through 104 of Tract 8379, property included in the

present Santa Monica Municipal Airport. Similarly, on or about

January 31, 1945, the City of Santa Monica acquired thirty-nine

and one-half acres of land from the United States of America

through various arrangements, which property is now part of

Santa Monica Municipal Airport and was owned by the United States

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Santa Monica that these were individual parcels of land

presently utilized in connection with Santa Monica Municipal

Airport, and that the airport itself was not, at said times,

owned by the United States of America~ rather than the City

of Santa Monica.

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1 INTERROGATORY NO.4

D. Was there any period of time after you initially became

the owner of Santa Monica Municipal Airport that you did

not operate same. If so, set forth the dates between whic

you did not operate same, set forth the reason why you did

not operate same between said dates, and identify the

person, government, governmental entity, or otherwise, tha

did operate same between said dates.

A review of the records of the City of Santa Monica does not

expressly indicate whether the City of Santa Monica ever ceased

to operate the Santa Monica Municipal Airport, in the sense that

it was maintained and staffed by the City of Santa Monica. There

was a period, according to the records of the City, between

approximately December, 1941 and August, 1948 when the Airport

was utilized by the United States of America in connection with

defense operations during World War II. It fu~ther appears

from the records of the City that there may have been a period

after 1946 when the United States of A~erica did not utilize the

whole, or a portion of the Santa Monica Airport for such defense

purposes, and it was reopened for general public use.

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INTERROGATORY NO.4

E. Did you own Santa Monica Municipal Airport during World

War II. If not, identify the person, governmental entity

or otherwise that did own it during that time span.

Taken as a single entity, the City of Santa Monica did own

Santa Monica Municipal Airport during World War II. Certain

parcels of property adjacent to the then existing Santa Monica

Municipal Airport may have been acquired by the United States of

America during World War II,and subsequently transferred

to the City of Santa Monica.

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INTERROGATORY NO.4

F. Did you operate Santa Monica Municipal Airport during

World War II. If not, identify the person, governmental

entity, or otherwise, that did_ operate the airport during

that time.

In response to this interrogatory, please see the answer to

Interrogatory No. 4D. As therein indicated, it is unclear

whether, during the period from December, 1941 through approximately August, 1946, the Santa Monica Airport was operated by

the City of Santa Monica or by the United States of America.

There were agreements between the City of Santa Monica and the

United States of America during that period which provided for

military use of the Santa Monica Municipal Airport, as opposed

to general public use, but from a review of such agreements

as have been recovered from the files of the City, it has not

been determined whether the City continued to "operate" the

airport or the United States Government assumed -

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for total operation and maintenance of the airport.

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INTERROGATORY NO.4

G. If you did not own Santa Monica Municipal Airport during

World War II, but received the ownership at some time

thereafter, identify the documents under and by virtue

of which you received ownership of the aiport after the

conclusion of World War II.

As indicated in Interrogatory No. 4E, it is the opinion of the

City of Santa Monica that the City of Santa Monica did own

Santa Monica Municipal Airport during World War II.

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INTERROGATORY NO.4

H. If you did not operate Santa Monica Municipal Airport

during World War II, but you received the right to operate

it at some time thereafter, identify the documents under

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" and by virtue of which you became entitled to operate same

at some time following World War'II.

Please see the responses to Interrogatories Nos. 40 and 4F,

above. In addition, it can be stated that on or about July 15,

1946, a "right of re-entry" was executed between the City of

Santa Monica and the United States of America and on or about

August 10, 1948, an instrument of transfer, transferring the

leasehold interest of the United States of America to the City

of Santa Monica was executed between the City of Santa Monica

and the United States of America. These agreements transferred

certain rights between the parties; whether such rights included

the right to "operate" has not been determined.

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INTERROGATORY NO.5

Was there ever a time prior to March 18, 1975, when fixed wing

aircraft utilizing any turbo jet or turbo fan engine used Santa

Monica Municipal Airport for the purpose of taking off or landing

or as a base of operation. Hereinafter such aircraft shall be

referred to as "jet" aircraft.

Yes, prior to March 18, 1975, fixed wing aircrafts utilizing

turbo jet or turbo fan engines did use Santa Monica Municipal

Airport for the purpose of taking off or landing, or as a base

of operation.

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INTERROGATORY NO.6

If your answer to the foregoing question was in the affirmative,

answer the following questions:

A. Set forth the date upon which the first jet aircraft lande

at Santa Monica Municipal Airport.

The City of Santa Monica does not compile or maintain, as a matte

of course, records of aircraft operations, by type of aircraft.

It is possible that the Federal Aviation Administration does

compile or maintain such records. To the best of the recollection of City employees, the first jet aircraft landed at Santa

Monica Municipal Airport in the late 1950·s.

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