Q & A  Status of the OC Central Park and Nature Preserve Initiative.
  1. What was the recent legal decision against our petition all about?


    2. The lawsuit was one more legal roadblock thrown up by pro-airport interests, attempting to thwart the will of the people. They know that the Park initiative will win once the voters have their say.  It was brought against the County by Citizens for Jobs and the Economy, founded by George Argyros. They contended that the measure's Title and Summary were not descriptive of the initiative, allegedly misleading those who signed petitions. We disagree and so do over 128,000 signing voters!
     

  2. Why was the lawsuit filed against the County?


    3. Under California law, the County is solely responsible for preparing the Title and Summary that must appear on every petition. If anyone did anything wrong, it was the County.
     

  3. What was the judge’s ruling?


    4. On July 31, Superior Court judge, James Gray, ruled that the County Counsel prepared a "false and misleading title and summary" for the Orange County Central Park and Nature Preserve Initiative.  Note: the judge did NOT find any fault with the initiative itself---only with the Title and Summary prepared for it by the County.
     

  4. Did the County defend its work on the Title and Summary?


    5. In effect, no. County lawyers failed to mount an aggressive defense of their own legal work and failed to convince the court that they had done their job properly.
     

  5. Does this decision mean that our petition and all collected signatures are no good?


    6. No. The Committee for Safe & Healthy Communities (CSHC) is appealing the matter to the next judicial level. The superior court erred in the decision, and the Title and Summary meet the requirements of the law. CSHC expects that the Court of Appeals will rule in our favor and that all signatures collected to date are valid.
     

  6. Why are we continuing to gather signatures, if we already have 128,000---more than enough to qualify the petition for the ballot?


    7. The number of signatures directly reflects the overwhelming public support for the petition. It is the will of the people that THEY should decide the future of the former El Toro Marine Air Station. We are also preparing for a special election (requiring more signatures) if one is ordered by the court.
     

  7. When is the appeal likely to be decided?


    8. It is difficult to say, but a ruling could be as quick as one month. Under normal circumstances, petitions need to be turned in by early September.  If it takes longer, the court has broad latitude to chose a remedy that gets the initiative on the ballot regardless of whether that date has passed.  The Registrar's last day for putting a measure on the March 5 ballot is December 7.



    Updated August 6, 2001