No on Jim Silva

An El Toro Info Site editorial statement

No on Jim Silva
November 18, 2003

When it comes to El Toro, Supervisor Jim Silva is out of step with the majority of Orange County voters.

The most recent evidence came at the November 12th LAFCO meeting. Supervisor Silva, who is an alternate member of the commission and could not vote, played to the Newport Beach contingent in the audience, by announcing that if possible "I would vote [No] against annexation."

Silva has repeatedly been a "No" on Irvine's annexation. He voted "No" on the County-City of Irvine tax transfer agreement that gives the County 82 percent of the net revenue from the development of El Toro.

During the Measure W campaign, Silva co-signed a fundraising letter with Chuck Smith and Cynthia Coad for the "No on the Great Tax - Measure W Committee" of the Newport Beach-run Citizens for Jobs and the Economy. The letter said that if W passed, "El Toro will become a blighted 4,700 acres with severe land use problems. This is exactly what the City of Irvine desires, but is it what taxpayers want?"

However, when it comes to El Toro, Silva seemingly cares little for what taxpayers want. He voted to spend $8 million of Orange County funds on promoting El Toro airport and on trying to defeat Measure W. He voted for the Smith-Silva-Coad project labor agreement that gave unions most of the major public works projects in the county in exchange for their support on the airport.

In September 2001, Silva stunned everyone - including himself - by briefly saying "Yes" on a Tom Wilson proposal to put the airport plan to a vote of the public. He quickly recanted and changed his vote to "No" after being taken behind the woodshed by Newport Beach leaders. A Times columnist wrote,  "Wishy-Washy Supervisor Silva Still Deserves His Dunce Cap." Newport Beach Councilman Gary Proctor said, "I think trying to find some reasonable explanation for his conduct is an important issue because his vote is not one that represents Newport Beach."

This June, Silva co-signed a letter with Supervisor Chuck Smith to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, supporting Los Angeles' bid to take over El Toro and have it operated by LAX. The letter was directly in contradiction to the Board majority's vote on the matter. It said "There is a need for federal intervention," and "We urge the federal government to embrace Mayor Hahn’s proposal." Smith lost his vice-presidency of SCAG over this issue. Interestingly, Silva got off without so much as a slap on the wrist.

Silva currently is vice chairman of the Board of Supervisors. In January, when the Board selects its chairman and vice chairman for next year, he must be passed over in favor of an anti-airport supervisor. That is the will of the people.

Otherwise, vice-chair Silva will take charge if Chairman Tom Wilson wins the seat he is seeking in the State Assembly. If Wilson leaves, whoever is made vice-chair this coming January will become acting chairman in November. The Board will be deadlocked, 2-2, over El Toro reuse for months until a 5th supervisor is selected in a special election in early 2005.

The acting chairmanship of the Board of Supervisors must not be left in Silva's hands and consequently in the hands of the power brokers who tell him what to do. We can not allow special interests to set the Board's agenda and control appointments to key organizations like the Southern California Association of Governments, SCAG, the Orange County Transportation Authority, OCTA, the Airport Land Use Commission, ALUC, or to LAFCO. We must not have airport proponents representing this county to state or federal officials as was attempted with the Smith-Silva letter to Mineta.

No. We can not allow this unbending supporter of El Toro airport-at-any-cost and without regard for the will of the voters to gain a position of greater power. The county needs an anti-airport supervisor next in line for the chairmanship. "No" on Jim Silva.