ocraa

OCRAA

Orange County Regional Airport Authority

Members of the Orange County Regional Airport Authority

Nominally, 10 cities: Costa Mesa, Cypress, Garden Grove, Fullerton, Newport Beach, Seal Beach, Stanton, Villa Park, Westminster and Yorba Linda. Only 4 cities paid dues in fiscal year 2004.

In August 2003, the City of Anaheim officially withdrew from membership in OCRAA. This move follows Buena Park's July 22, 2004 withdrawal, Placentia's April, 2003 withdrawal, and the County of Orange's 2003 decision to separate itself from the organization. The earlier withdrawl of Tustin, Orange, and Fullerton also were reported in this website's news. The cities of Los Alamitos and La Habra quietly disappeared from OCRAA's letterhead in the past year. Fullerton rejoined in late 2004 when Councilman Leeland Wilson was elected President of the organization..

Sources of OCRAA funding
per California Public Records Act request

SOURCE	FY 6/01	FY 6/02	FY 6/03	FY 6/04	4 Mos 10/04
County of Orange (1)	-	607,079	160,078	-	-
Anaheim/OC Visitors Convention Bureau	25,000	25,000	-	-	-
OC Airport Alliance (funded by Newport Beach)	10,000	-	-	-	-
City of Anaheim	-	-	-	-	-
City of Newport Beach	150,000	35,125	12,000	-	-
City of Costa Mesa	-	21,231	12,000	12,000	6,000
City of Cypress	-	9,400	4,500	6,000	3,000
City of Garden Grove (2)	-	25,000	5,000	-	-
City of Seal Beach	-	5,482	1,000	6,000	-
City of Stanton	-	1,000	3,000	-	-
City of Villa Park	-	12,000	4,500	1,200	-
All Other Member Cities (see below)	-	-	-	-
Total funding	185,000	741,317	202,078	25,200	9,000

(1) From $5,000,000 authorized by the Board of Supervisors for a "pubic information program." ETRPA sued and a court enjoined the spending. The County resigned from OCRAA in 2003.

(2) Garden Grove also makes in-kind contributions of office space and utilities.

OCRAA's most visible activities in recent years were these:

Following the lead of the Airport Working Group of Newport Beach, OCRAA joined in a costly lawsuit against the County of Orange in an effort to overturn the voter-approved Measure W. The suit failed.

Again, following the lead of the AWG, OCRAA joined in a lawsuit against the Department of Defense, the Department of Navy, and their principal federal officials challenging the Navy Environmental Impact Study for El Toro reuse in an attempt to block the sale of the base. That suit settled without achieving its objectives and cost the taxpayers several hundred thousand dollars.

Along with the AWG, OCRAA joined in a lawsuit against the City of Irvine seeking to delay the annexation of land within the city's approved "sphere of influence." The County and the City of Irvine reached an agreement under which the County General Fund will receive 82 percent of the tax revenue from development of the former El Toro base. AWG and OCRAA joined in seeking to delay this beneficial development and failed..

In 2003, OCRAA supported the City of Los Angeles' proposal to take over El Toro and operate an airport in Orange County for the benefit of that city. Such a move would give Los Angeles officials control over Orange County road traffic, land use, air pollution and other environmental impacts. Los Angeles would decide the allocation of jobs, contracts and the use of the airport revenue. The Department of Transportation rejected the proposal.

In 2004, OCRAA supported the idea of Fullerton Municipal Airport running a commercial operation at El Toro.

OCRAA expressed support for a tunnel connecting Orange and Riverside Counties. OCRAA opposed the idea when it was embraced by ETRPA several years ago.

Click for former OCRAA Executive Director Peggy Ducey's "dream" for El Toro's future.

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This page last updated on December 23, 2004