MORE ON WHAT IS INVOLVED IN IRVINE'S ANNEXATION BID FOR EL TORO?

The following article from the Orange County Business Journal is reproduced with the approval of the OCBJ.

For issue of Dec. 15 to 21, 1997
'The county would probably reject an agreement even if we gave them all the taxes.' -- Irvine Mayor Christina Shea

Obscure Panel Now Focus of El Toro Annexation Battle

By PETER BRENNAN

Supporters and opponents of the proposed El Toro commercial airport are maneuvering behind the scenes to decide the composition of a little-known volunteer commission that could be a key to Irvine's bid to annex the Marine base.

Irvine's annexation, an attempt to stop the airport, looks unlikely to get off the ground, principally because the law requires Irvine to reach an agreement on tax sharing with Orange County before the annexation could occur. The county is not likely to agree to such an arrangement, especially with the board of supervisors in favor of the proposed airport by a 3-2 margin.

But just to make sure, airport proponents are carefully counting their votes on the seven-member Local Agency Formation Commission, commonly called LAFCO. Members of this commission have not said how they would vote on the Irvine bid. Two members said they have been told by Chairman John Withers not to tip their hands. But as it stands right now, four members of the seven-member board are from south county areas where opposition to the airport is strongest.

Irvine Mayor Christina Shea said she believes Irvine has enough votes right now to approve annexation. "We do have the votes. There is a sensitivity to our position," said Mayor Shea, who expects Irvine's application to be voted on in eight to 10 months.

However, the terms will expire within the next six months for five of the commission's seven members, including three from south county.

A key development in the LAFCO jockeying could come as early as next month, when Jim Silva is expected to be elected chairman of the OC Board of Supervisors. Silva, part of the board's one-vote majority favoring the El Toro airport, has the right to appoint the two supervisors who serve on LAFCO. The two current members are Chuck Smith, an airport supporter, and Todd Spitzer, an airport foe.

Airport supporters want Silva to replace Spitzer. Neither Silva nor Spitzer returned phone messages. However, a source close to the supervisor said Spitzer wants to be re-appointed but is not sure yet if the next chairman will do so.

Supervisor Smith predicted the annexation bid will not reach LAFCO in time to stop the county's plans. "It took Garden Grove two years to take over its sanitation district. In one and half years, the county will take over El Toro. The county will never agree to annexation," said Smith. He added that Irvine's bid is definitely against Orange County's long standing policy of not approving annexation for land that is perceived to be of use to the entire county.

Irvine took its easiest step of the annexation process when its council voted unanimously in November on a resolution to annex the land once the U.S. Marine Corps moves off the 4,700-acre base in 1999. By annexing the land, the city hopes to also take control of the reuse planning process for the base and to stop development of a commercial airport - the county's preferred use for the land.

The annexation bid appears likely to get hung up on how to divide property taxes. "We're legally prohibited from moving forward without" an agreement on the division of property taxes, said Dana Smith, executive officer of LAFCO. The tax agreement is "the fatal flaw" in the annexation effort, said Stan Oftelie, chief executive officer of the Orange County Business Council. "They cannot annex it unless Orange County agrees, so that won't happen."

Irvine Mayor Shea acknowledged that the tax agreement is the key problem. "The county would probably reject an agreement even if we gave them all the taxes." She added that the city might take such a dispute to court.

An environmental impact report could also be another hurdle. While Irvine could probably use portions of the county's ongoing report, which has already cost nearly $3 million, it would have to supplement that study to reflect the differences in its own reuse plans.

LAFCO's members are appointed this way: two by the chairman of supervisors, two by the OC League of Cities and two by the Independent Special District Election Committee, which represents independent water sewage and library districts. The six members in turn appoint a seventh member from the public. In addition to Smith and Spitzer, the members are Withers, a resident of Irvine and a member of the Irvine Ranch Water District; Vice Chairman Randal J. Bressette, a Laguna Hills councilman; Peter Herzog, a member of the Lake Forest city council; David Boran, a private citizen from Seal Beach; and Robert Huntley, a resident of Westminster and a member of a Municipal Water District of Orange County.

Besides Spitzer, the three members most likely to approve the annexation would be Withers, Bressette and Herzog since their communities oppose the airport. However, an informed observer suggested that Withers might side with the county in a showdown over annexation.

Withers, Herzog and Boran complete their terms next May. Bressette's and Huntley's terms end in May of 2000.

If LAFCO rejects the annexation bid, Irvine must wait two years before re-applying.

If the board does approve, it would then hold "protest hearings" which normally involve only two specific parties: the residents who are legal voters of the actual site to be annexed and the property owners. This is where the law becomes unclear because it's unknown whether El Toro residents, presumably members of the military, would be legal voters able to represent El Toro. And the property owner is the U.S. Navy. Dana Smith said she doesn't know whether the Navy is legally obligated to follow the dictates of a local commission on annexation. "It seems to me the federal government can do what it wants," she said.

But Mayor Shea said the Navy will have to listen to Irvine if it annexes the land. "I'm used to long shots," she said.