Media Commentary

A selection of important editorial comments from the press

The Los Angeles Times

Put El Toro Plans in a Holding Pattern (12/8/96) Award winning editorial piece urges the Supervisors not to vote for an airport option.
How Not to Build Consensus (6/1/97) The Times piece speaks out against the County's PR Campaign.
Some Ominous Signs on Airport Funding Front (9/7/97) Editorial expresses alarm over escalating airport planning costs.
Planning Decision on El Toro is Encouraging. (10/12/97) Chairman Wm. Steiner switches and votes for ETRPA non-aviation planning.
El Toro Planning: A Crisis in Credibility (10/30/97)  Serious questions about every phase of the El Toro matter.
Flight Tests for El Toro (6/21/98)  What is needed is "independent verification" and simulation of real day and night conditions. "Stand by for the spin..."
FAA and El Toro. (7/19/98)  "A bewildered public" is left wondering if what the county plans is "safe aviation".
The Politics of the Gavel (1/10/99) The passing over of Tom Wilson for chairman because of his anti-airport stand, "diminishes the entire board."
The El Toro Summer (9/19/99) "The question is whether it is good public policy, and whether it keeps faith with the spirit of the base reuse guidelines, to force a major airport 'for the larger good' on a mostly unwilling surrounding population."
El Toro Debacle at the Top (4/2/00) "Supervisors need not look further than their own group."
Candor for El Toro (7/16/00) "The anniversary of the closing of El Toro has prompted some second guessing... The process is so badly broken that it needs a complete overhaul."
Supervisors vs. Voters (12/03/00) "If there's an award in government service for sheer arrogance, the Orange County Board of Supervisors' disdainful majority would win it hands down."
El Toro's Bottom Line (3/04/01) The Times asks "Just How Much Airport Do We Need?" and faults the County for not answering honestly.
Engineering Consent (04/01/01)  The County seems to be saying that, "Legitimate questions about safety and economic feasibilty raised by the experts are counterproductive."
Parks are for All the People (06/08/01) Supervisor Coad objects to South County use of El Toro facilties, while ignoring that the whole county pays for all parks.
The Board Shirks its Duty (09/02/01) The Board of Supervisors failed its responsibility to uphold County Counsel's Title and Summary for the Orange County Central Park and Nature Preserve initiative and the public's right to the initiative process.
Think Again on El Toro (10/21/01) "The best choice at this point would be to hold up this line of march at the reviewing stand and rethink the entire plan."
Now Comes the Hard Part (10/28/01) The supervisors' vote leaves as many questions as answers.

The Orange County Register

Pie in the Sky  (2/24/97) The Register notes that the county has made no effort to determine if the airlines will come to El Toro
County's Public Poll Results (6/4/97) Poll shows public support for County Reuse Planning Process has slipped to only 34% favorable. Majority no longer back Airport.
Flying High at El Toro (8/27/97) Editorial expresses outrage over cost overruns on the Airport project.
Mittermeier's Arrogance (11/18/97)  Her refusal to provide travel and meeting schedules has the "whiff of arrogance".
Flying Blind at El Toro (12/19/97) Proponents' push for interim cargo flights may upset any hopes of reaching agreement on El Toro reuse.
Flying Blind (4/22/98)  That the outcome of the El Toro selection hinges on a single supervisor illustrates "the arbitrariness of the whole process."
Sounding off on El Toro (10/22/98) The proposed flight demo is "a waste of money".
A Second Look at Measure F(2/27/00) The Register shifts its position and recommends a "Yes" vote on Measure F.
Measuring F (5/7/00) The County OC Register, May 7, 2000 "Whether Measure F stands or falls, the county voted overwhelmingly for it. So the supervisors would do well to look at what message county voters were sending."
Hasta la vista, El Toro (12/31/00) The Commentary staff hopes the Supervisors see the "handwriting on the wall."
Back to the Drawing Board (10/16/01) "Now we know why the pro-airport majority on the Board of Supervisors tried to approve the El Toro airport plan before the Federal Aviation Administration released its long-expected but delayed airspace determination study."
It's time for serious plan for El Toro use (3/08/02)  "It's certainly possible that, in taking the airport option largely off the table, W's passage could lead to the end we had long wanted - the parceling out and sale of base land to private parties."  Ironically, this outcome resulted from a Yes vote on W, not the No recommended by the Register.
The OC Weekly
The El Toro Watch We archive the weekly series of provocative articles on airport related issues.
Err Liner (7/4/97) Story finds the El Toro Airport Info Site overwhelming the County's LRA Site.
Top 10 List (1/16/98) Things you can do to kill the El Toro International Airport.
The Orange County Metro
El Toro Airport, A to Z (3/13/97) Summarizes the situation, in alphabetical order.
Why El Toro May Not Take Off (7/29/99)  The Case Against El Toro with companion articles on The West Runway and using the land for Stanford South.
Daily Pilot
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