News
- April 2000News
- April 2000
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Website Direct, April 29, 2000
Much is happening and nothing much is changing.
LA Times, April 29, 2000
“Voters Might Get Another Say on El Toro Issue”
“Advisory measure on November ballot is one of several options
being considered by supervisors.”
Daily Pilot, April 29, 2000
“Mayor pushes to renew airport flight limits”
OC Register, April 27, 2000
“Cities Join to Defend Measure F in Court”
LA Times, April 27, 2000
“Golf Course, Day Care at El Toro May Be Closed”
Website Direct, April 25, 2000
What’s happening at the County?
LA Business Journal, April 17, website posted
April 24, 2000.
“Ontario's Spacious Skies”
“As LAX strains, outlying airport can't lure enough fliers for
new terminal”
LA Times April 24, 2000
“San Clemente”
OC Register April 22, 2000
“Airport foes gain respect”
“ Federal officials start to realize Measure F affects their
plans after all.”
OC Register, April 22, 2000
“County to hash out El Toro at 2 meetings”
Website Direct, April 21, 2000
Leaders of Safe and Healthy Communities Campaign
Honored
OC Register, April 21, 2000
“El Toro profit plan challenged”
Newport – Costa Mesa Daily Pilot, April 20, 2000
“Surprise, support for El Toro options”
“Orange County Board of Supervisors considers uses other than
an international airport for the shuttered military base.”
Website Direct, April 19, 2000
Mittermeier Plans El Toro Workshop
LA Times, April 18, 2000
“Board Finds Itself Stalled on El Toro”
“With airport planning frozen until the issue is aired in court,
supervisors are stuck for a next step. But debate is brewing over a possible
fourth countywide election.”
LA Times, April 16, 2000
“Wilson Taking Flak From All Sides After Sparing
Mittermeier”
“Supervisor finds anti-airport convictions questioned anew even
as he insists his decisive vote helps the cause.”
OC Register, April 14, 2000
“Airport pessimism grows”
“Board chairman says project might be scrapped — even if courts
throw out ... Measure F.”
OC Register, April 13, 2000
“Smith shocked by vote on CEO”
“ The aftermath of the aborted shake-up leaves many wondering
about disarray among supervisors.”
LA Times, April 13, 2000
“Mittermeier, Still at It, Insists on El Toro Role”
Website Direct, April 11, 2000
Supervisors’ Airport Woes Worsen.
Mittermeier Hangs On; Airport Spending Frozen
LA Times, April 9, 2000
“Mittermeier Going or Not, Big Change in Plans
Coming”
“Chief executive likely to lose El Toro role if not her post.
Consensus builds for a full-time airport overseer.”
OC Register editorial, April 9, 2000
“A fresh start for the old air base?”
Website Direct, April 6, 2000
County suspends airport planning program
LA Times, April 6, 2000
"U.S. Still Assuming Air Use for El Toro Base"
LA Times, April 5, 2000
“Board Makes No Decision on Mittermeier”
Website Direct, April 4, updated April 5, 2000
County in Disarray Over Airport Funding
Website Direct April 3, 2000
Court Refuses County Request to Delay Measure F
LA Times, April 2, 2000
Two editorial comments on El Toro
OC Register, April 1, 2000
“O.C. exec hunting for a job”
“Chairman says supervisors won't try to keep Jan Mittermeier
from leaving.”
(For full articles see L.A. Times at http://www.latimes.com and O.C.
Register at http://www.ocregister.com/news/)
CEO Jan Mittermeier gave the supervisors their homework for Wednesday, May 3’s “study session”. Wishful thinkers, who hoped that the Board would seriously consider non-aviation alternatives, got dashed with cold water, in this writer’s opinion. Combining this story with the two that follow, we editorialize that much is happening and nothing much is changing.
Mittermeier’s April 28 memo to the Board says, Measure A, in 1994, “amended Orange County’s general plan to provide that certain unincorporated lands within MCAS El Toro will be used as a civilian airport; created the El Toro Citizens Advisory Board (CAC) to advise the Board of Supervisors and the planning commission on land use discussions in the El Toro planning area; and defined certain findings regarding the need for a civilian airport at MCAS El Toro.” She also “details how the voters could modify Measure A”.
Her memo lists 20, mostly legalistic, attachments. None appear to deal with basic issues such as estimates of aviation demand, the wishes of the voters, safety and practicality of the El Toro airport, environmental impacts, or the relative economics of aviation and non-aviation uses.
An attachment #3 “Option Matrix” raises 25 “key questions” about 7 alternative actions that could be taken by the Board. They focus principally on technical issues of EIR certification, hearings, consistency with Measure A and the General Plan, and agreements with the Navy and FAA. Some of the answers are given “if Measure F is upheld”. Some items have timetables and costs which are all trivial compared to the cost of the airport.
“Orange County supervisors are considering whether to place an advisory measure on the November ballot to judge whether enough public support exists to continue plans to build a commercial airport at El Toro. The nonbinding vote is among a handful of options to be presented to supervisors at a special meeting Wednesday by County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier. Holding an advisory vote would not automatically change the county's plans for El Toro.”
“Because of Measure F, and regardless of any advisory vote, Orange County voters still would have to take one more binding vote on the airport before it could be built…. Supervisors briefly considered placing a binding--rather than an advisory--airport vote on November's ballot, but realized they were running out of time to complete the requirements under Measure F. The measure says no vote can be taken until the county completes environmental studies and approves the project. County officials froze all environmental work last month and can't say when the review will be done. The next opportunity for a binding vote would be June 2002, when three of the five county supervisors--Silva, Tom Wilson and Cynthia P. Coad--face reelection. Supervisors want the issue resolved before then.”
Editor: A non-binding vote in November is a very bad idea. In November, residents probably will not know whether the airport EIR is approved by a court of law, nor are they likely to know what the FAA’s final decision is regarding flight paths. If the airport loses the advisory vote, Measure A still will be on the books as the County’s General Plan and still can be used as an excuse, as it is today, for continuing the aviation project. If the airport wins the advisory vote, Measure F still requires another election and two-thirds voter approval.
A November election campaign would pit millionaire George Argyros, the Orange County Business Council and pro-development forces against citizens groups with lesser financial resources. The County and cities legally could not participate in the debate.
“NEWPORT BEACH -- Mayor John Noyes on Friday said he will urge the Orange County Board of Supervisors to extend flight restrictions at John Wayne Airport beyond 2005, when they are scheduled to expire. "Honestly, I don't exactly know how," he said Friday, after releasing a two-page statement opposing expansions to John Wayne Airport and supporting the county's plans for a new commercial airport at El Toro.”
“[Supervisor Tom] Wilson said he would… support extending limitations to flights at John Wayne Airport. ‘I'm not sure what I can do,’ he said. ‘But I will certainly be in their corner.’ Opponents of the proposed El Toro airport said they also would continue opposing expansions to John Wayne, despite Noyes' support for the proposed South County airport. ‘We don't think there's a demand for more flights out of Orange County,’ said Meg Waters, a spokeswoman for a coalition of South County cities. ‘So we're vociferously opposed to an airport at El Toro and to expanding John Wayne.’”
Editor: However, South County leaders want Newport Beach to back off of its push for El Toro airport. It is unclear at this point how the Noyes proposal plays out. If Noyes succeeds in getting JWA limits extended, without making a deal for no El Toro, South County comes up empty handed. If Noyes fails, he can return to his constituents to argue that El Toro airport is their only hope for preventing JWA expansion.
ETRPA, “a coalition of eight cities… will join in the defense of Measure F when a Los Angeles Superior court judge considers spending limits imposed by the initiative.” Previously, the County was named as the sole defendant in a lawsuit brought by the Argyros-backed Citizens for Jobs and the Economy, the Newport Beach-based Airport Working Group, and the City of Newport Beach. ETRPA successfully argued that the County was not an appropriate defendant. In fact, the County has brought its own counter-lawsuit against the spending restrictions of the initiative.
Citizens groups have incurred substantial legal bills to date, in defense of Measure F, and welcomed the intercession of the better-financed ETRPA coalition of cities.
“Orange County expects that the Navy might lock the gates of El Toro Marine base on July 2, dislodging thousands of users of the base golf course, horse stables, three child-care centers and a recreational vehicle storage lot, according to a report prepared by County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier.” Editor: Mittermeier is believed to be promoting this outcome in order to push the Navy towards an early aviation reuse decision.
“The report said. ‘The Navy has indicated that, due to the high cost of maintaining the base, it is their intent to close the base to all activities on July 2, 2000, if a master lease is not in place.’… Maintaining the services on the base, meanwhile, is expected to push the county $623,000 in the red by June 30, the end of the fiscal year. County officials, who expected to earn $500,000 from base programs, now face the prospect of propping up the losses out of the county's ever-stretched general fund.”
“Frustrated county supervisors said Wednesday that they want the base to stay open but acknowledged that the Navy may pull the plug. County staff has been negotiating with the Navy for a base master lease for nearly two years… Two supervisors accused county staff Wednesday of essentially sabotaging the services at the base by inflating its deficit and for refusing to allow some uses that would have brought in more money, such as leasing housing and office space. Chairman Chuck Smith, an airport supporter, said he and Supervisor Tom Wilson, an airport opponent, joined a year ago to fight to keep the services open at the base. "The real strong airport proponents on staff--I won't name any names--wanted to just shut [the base] down a year ago" if aviation wasn't allowed, Smith said.”
“ Supervisor Todd Spitzer said county staff inflated the losses from the community uses to justify their desire to close the base. He said staff repeatedly ignored the advice of Simon [El Toro real-estate manager Gary Simon who was fired by Mittermeier] and others to help make the base more profitable. ‘They've wanted to make non-aviation fail so they could argue that it could only be an airport’ to make money, Spitzer said.”
To write to the newspapers about this: Click here for e-mail addresses.
County Counsel will go to court again tomorrow to try to get some limited relief from Section 4 of Measure F, which imposes spending limits for airports and jails. The County wants to make expenditures for present and future litigation over El Toro and Musick jail and also to make “expenditures incurred in connection with existing contracts, entered into before the enactment of Measure F”. Pretty broad.
An interesting item has been removed from this evening’s Board of Supervisors agenda. Agenda item 40 was, “JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT: Select three primary and one alternate architectural-engineering firms from ranked list for project management services; and authorize negotiation of agreements for Board approval - District 5”. One of the firms, JHTM & Associates, is rumored to be involved in planning a new, smaller “El Toro Lite” airport.
The May 3 Supervisors “workshop” on El Toro reuse has been renamed a “study session”. The public can attend but not participate. County staff will review the history of the El Toro project, including the legal implications of Measures A (1994) and F (2000). Three categories of future El Toro activity will be discussed: aviation reuse, non-aviation reuse, and lock-the-doors-and-walk-away. The legal implications, requirements and costs for each activity will be presented. On May 16 the public can comment. At that meeting the Board will vote on what to do.
We bet that they will vote to spend money to study “El Toro Lite”.
“Ontario International Airport has a new $270 million terminal that on many days resembles a ghost town more than a bustling travel center. In fact, in its first full year of operation, the new terminal served a jump in Ontario's passenger volume of only 2 percent, to about 6.6 million people… That leaves Ontario operating at two-thirds of its current capacity of 10 million annual passengers.”
“’The airlines say they need more passengers to justify adding flights’, said Michael Armstrong, senior aviation planner for the Southern California Association of Governments. ‘But what does it take to get more passengers to an airport? Competition among the carriers that brings down the fares and increases the frequency of flights. It’s a classic chicken-and-egg problem and it’s why mid-sized airports like Ontario always have a problem competing with major airports like LAX.’”
“The city has decided to join the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, a coalition of cities and school districts that opposes a proposed commercial airport at the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. The City Council voted 3 to 1, [to become an Associate Member] with Councilman Scott Diehl dissenting … The following cities are full members with voting rights: Irvine, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Laguna Hills, Dana Point, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Beach and Laguna Woods.” San Juan Capistrano also is an Associate Member.
“Navy and FAA officials insist that Measure F… is a local issue and has no impact on their El Toro work. But behind their official positions are signs that the recent success of the anti-airport movement has caught the attention of federal authorities: The Department of Defense undersecretary responsible for the transfer of El Toro is considering a request to come to Orange County to mediate the battle over the base.”
“The Federal Aviation Administration may face delays in completing its El Toro environmental studies now that consultants to the FAA hired by the county have been ordered to stop work under Measure F spending limits. Navy officials have been warned by airport opponents that Measure F likely will prevent them from delivering El Toro to the county for use as an airport unless it is approved by two-thirds of the voters.”
“The unspoken change that Measure F's landslide victory has created in Washington was clear to a delegation of anti-airport elected officials who traveled there two weeks ago. ‘There's no question that the passage of Measure F has gotten people's attention,’ said Paul Eckles, executive director of [ETRPA] a coalition of eight anti-airport cities… Airport opponents said they noticed a shift in federal officials' attitudes days after Measure F was approved.”
“’I think it would be foolhardy for the Navy, the FAA or any agency to go headlong toward an airport as the only use now that Measure F has passed,’ said U.S. Rep. Ron Packard, R-Oceanside. ‘It very well could become a waste of public resources.’”
“County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier on Friday outlined the plan for meetings that are intended to break the current stalemate over El Toro and get its conversion to civilian use back on track.”
The Board of Supervisors will look at three options at a May 3 meeting which will be open to the public: “Remain the Local Reuse Authority and continue to plan for an El Toro airport. Remain the reuse authority but abandon airport plans and pursue a non-aviation future for the former Marine base. Change the makeup of the authority — possibly to include neighboring cities — and let that group work to decide the future of the base.”
“On May 3, the board will make no decisions, and no public testimony will be taken. A public hearing May 16 will allow the public to comment, and supervisors could vote then on a future for El Toro. The May 3 workshop runs from 8 a.m. to noon. The May 16 hearing starts at 4 p.m.”
Editor: This observer’s bet is that the Board majority will vote to continue working for an airport. In order to reduce political opposition, they may change the airport plan once again, to a new runway configuration and smaller size. The May 16 “public hearing” will be used as the authorization for defining a new project and environmental study under the rules of Measure F, Section 4. If the Board considers a change in the makeup of the Local Redevelopment Authority, expect any change to be cosmetic and not a shift in the balance of power.
The “engineers of the successful Measure F election” - as their plaques said - were honored today at a meeting hosted by the Laguna Niguel Chamber of Commerce. Recipients were Bill Kogerman, Jim Davy, Denny Harris, Tristan Krogius, Mike Whipple and Len Kranser, all volunteer leaders with Citizens for Safe and Healthy Communities. The honorees also received certificates of appreciation from the City of Laguna Niguel, the County of Orange (signed by Supervisor Tom Wilson), the State Assembly (signed by Assemblywoman Pat Bates) and the State Senate (signed by Senator Bill Morrow).
Marion Pack of Citizens for Safe and Healthy Communities announced that the campaign committee would continue its “defense of Measure F” with a major family event on August 26 for “fun-raising and fundraising”. Details to be announced.
“The county's plan for El Toro says interim use of the former Marine base — everything from renting offices and warehouses to golf and stable fees — will produce a net profit of $34 million over 20 years. Airport opponents believe that figure is artificially low, and contend that the county has underestimated the potential for immediate profits at El Toro to make an airport seem like the best option.”
“They point to the five different drafts of the transition plan prepared by consultants over four months last year — each of which included higher profit estimates than the final draft. One draft dated six days before the version the county selected estimated net profits as high as $293 million over 15 years.” The drafts were withheld from the public and only forced into the open by ETRPA using the Public Records Act.
"’We believe that the numbers were fairly deliberately manipulated by the county,’ said Allan Songstad, [vice chairman of ETRPA]. ‘There seems to be more than enough issues raised — coupled with the fact that the county would not willingly turn those documents over — which raises a suspicion that there's been an effort to change the numbers,’ [anti-airport Supervisor Todd] Spitzer said. [Supervisor Tom] Wilson, who advocates using 853 base homes as temporary affordable housing, said he believes all the [reuse] alternatives should be back on the table.”
“Board Chairman Charles V. Smith, who favors an airport, said he was not familiar with the preliminary drafts of the base transition plan and that he is skeptical of the higher profit estimates… Supervisor Cynthia Coad, who also was not familiar with the different draft reports, said … that while she favors an airport, she is open to leasing more buildings, as long as any interim uses are ‘self-supporting.’”
Editor: The County’s low estimate of income from non-aviation use of base facilities was submitted to the federal government. It became a factor in negotiations over interim air cargo use and eventual transfer of the property to the County. If non-aviation uses can produce a profit for the federal government and taxpayers, the Navy is under less pressure to unload the base by the fastest method. County planners have promoted aviation reuse as a way to shorten the process and interim cargo flights as the way to make the base payoff during the transition.
“NEWPORT-MESA -- Officials here expressed everything from shock to support for the Orange County Board of Supervisors' decision to consider options other than an airport for the closed El Toro Marine Corps air base…. On Tuesday, the supervisors voted to examine alternative uses for the 4,700 acres at El Toro. The board will hold a workshop on May 3 to discuss options, which may include the South County-engineered Millennium Plan.”
“Newport Beach Mayor John Noyes said county leaders should be looking at other alternatives because ‘it's a healthy thing to do.’ … Another former mayor, Tom Edwards, said he sees the move as an airport meltdown. ‘I think we're seeing a dissipation or melting down of the current El Toro planning process, which bodes well for my proposal,’ Edwards said. Edwards, who helped author the 1985 John Wayne Airport settlement agreement, shook up the community last month when he suggested ending plans for an El Toro airport and instead focus on preventing any expansion at John Wayne Airport.”
“’I'm skeptical, [about the May 3 workshop]’ said Leonard Kranser, who is the chairman of a coalition of anti-airport groups and supports Edwards' proposal. ‘We would hope for a free and open discussion, but if it's going to be the same cast of characters, we might not get that.’ Kranser said. [However], ‘If the powers that be in Newport could agree that they'd like to pursue [Edwards' proposal] I'm sure it would be very easy to get South County leadership to the table,’ he said.”
County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier has scheduled a May 3, all morning, Board of Supervisor’s workshop to discuss El Toro reuse. While both the Times and Register expressed cautious optimism about the event, we have yet to see anything to support hopes for a free and open dialog. As of 2:00 PM today, Supervisors do not have an agenda from Mittermeier. In workshops of this sort, the person who controls the agenda and selects the presenters exerts strong influence over the outcome.
We would hope that ETRPA is asked to present their non-aviation alternative for the base. We also hope for an honest review of whether there is a need, or not, for another airport in Orange County. Lastly, we hope that the Allied Pilots Association’s concerns about the safety of runways and takeoffs will be on the table.
The public may be allowed to attend but there currently is no plan for public comment at the initial meeting. Stay tuned. To write to Supervisors, click here.
“As planning for an El Toro airport remains in limbo, there is no consensus among Orange County supervisors about what should happen next, including when--or if--the proposal should be brought back before voters… While support for another vote is growing among the board's three airport proponents, the two supervisors against it say it's a waste of time and money.”
“There are many on both sides of the airport debate who say more planning should be done before the issue goes back to voters. The Navy and the Federal Aviation Administration must still weigh in on the county's airport plan… It is ‘totally premature’ to consider putting the issue back before voters, countered Bruce Nestande of Citizens for Jobs and the Economy, the group leading the pro-airport fight. ‘Right now, we don't have a viable airport plan,’ Nestande said.”
Nestande's group is rumored to be working on a new, smaller airport plan. The Board of Supervisors will be holding a "workshop" on May 3 to discuss where they want the County to go with El Toro plans and activities.
Editor: Measure F requires that an environmental impact report be completed and presented to the voters for two thirds approval. With spending stopped, this is difficult, if not impossible, to schedule by the August deadline for placing measures on the November, 2000 ballot. However, airport opponents remain vigilant, against any attempt by airport supporters, to slip a “stealth initiative” onto the ballot. Supervisors Smith, Silva and Coad could put a measure on the ballot without the requirement to collect signatures on petitions.
“Supervisor Tom Wilson is feeling political heat for casting the swing vote to retain County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier, whom critics see as the driving force behind plans to build an airport at the retired El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. Some longtime Wilson supporters were puzzled about why the vocal Mittermeier critic voted to keep her.”
“It's not the first time Wilson's so-called ‘anti-airport credentials’ have been questioned.” In April 1998, Wilson was criticized for casting a vote that retained airport attorney Mike Gatzke. (See LA Times, April 10, 1998 story, “Airport Foes Call O.C. Supervisor Turncoat for Vote”) This week, the OC Weekly characterized Wilson as “The Irvine Co.’s Manchurian Supervisor”, implying that Wilson votes against the airport only when his vote doesn’t count.
Speaking of the latest Wilson vote to retain Mittermeier, “some airport foes have said South County needed a more vigilant fighter. ‘In my mind, I think a golden opportunity was missed’ to stop the airport, Irvine Councilman Greg Smith said.”
“Moments after the vote, Wilson said he sided with Mittermeier out of confidence in her ability and because she ‘was key’ to the county's post-bankruptcy recovery. Later that same day, Wilson issued a press release insisting his vote was a vote against the airport: He said that if Mittermeier were replaced by someone more successful at juggling the planning schedule and its many demands, it could provide renewed momentum for the airport at a critical juncture… That explanation drew its share of critics--and supporters. Voting to keep someone in office because you believe that person incompetent, and therefore less able to complete a task you oppose, is ridiculous, said Mark P. Petracca, a professor of political science at UCI…. Susan Withrow, chairman of the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, a panel made up of eight South County cities opposed to the airport, called Wilson's statement ‘doublespeak.’ ‘He straddled it,’ county Treasurer-Tax Collector John M.W. Moorlach said of Wilson's vote. ‘He said [Mittermeier is] not doing a good job but let's keep her there because it's to his advantage.’”
“Irvine Mayor Christina L. Shea said she spent more than 20 minutes on the phone with Wilson after the vote and urged him to push to remove Mittermeier from her role overseeing El Toro airport planning--something the chief executive has called a ‘deal breaker’ that would force her to quit. ‘Other than that, I would ask that you go back and rescind your vote,’ Shea said she told Wilson.”
Editor: - I agree with Shea. It is time to replace Mittermeier, and her one-sided pro-airport stance, with a County Executive who will support expanding the LRA to include impacted cities and will give serious consideration to non-aviation reuse alternatives.
“The leader of Orange County's push to build a major commercial airport at El Toro is more pessimistic than ever about the project's prospects. Board of Supervisors Chairman Charles V. Smith says it is entirely possible that the airport effort might die. ‘It could. Sure it could,’ the 1st District supervisor said — even if a pending legal challenge stopped Measure F.”
“Smith said he continues to believe that building a commercial airfield at the former Marine base is by far the best use for the 4,700-acre site. But he acknowledged that Measure F seemed sure to add planning delays of ‘1 1/2 to two years’ at a time when the momentum for an airport is already ‘at a dead stop.’ The result: ‘We may have to look at the whole project and not exclude the non-aviation (options).’”
“Smith's tone was in sharp contrast to the defiant comments he and other airport backers made last month after Measure F's passage.”
“Board of Supervisors Chairman Charles V. Smith — his campaign to fire CEO Jan Mittermeier and sharply bolster the board's powers in ruins — said Wednesday that he was stunned and disappointed by his surprise defeat. With fallout from Tuesday's aborted shake-up evident on several fronts, Smith and other county leaders sought to give their spins on a day without precedent in recent history: one that began with expectations of major change in county government and ended with three supervisors declaring loyalty to the status quo.” County residents, he [Smith] conceded, probably weren't happy about the controversy. ‘We're getting blamed,’ Smith said. ‘It looks like we're not doing our job.’”
“’Clearly, the county government is in a real dysfunctional position as far as leadership goes," said Irvine Mayor Christina Shea… Shea said the result of this dysfunction is that those dealing with the county ‘do not know what decision is going to stay firm and which is going to change tomorrow.’”
“A day after the county Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 2 to retain her, dousing weeks of speculation that she'd be fired, Mittermeier stood her ground on one of the main issues that put her job at risk: the plan to convert the former El Toro Marine base to a commercial airport. Mittermeier, in an interview Wednesday, said any attempt by the board to deplete her authority over the controversial airport would be ‘a deal breaker’ and lead to her resignation.”
“The usually tight-lipped Mittermeier said she was ‘totally stunned’ when she learned she had survived Tuesday's vote, especially by the vote of support she received from one of her fiercest critics on the board, Thomas W. Wilson.”
“Silva, a strong El Toro airport proponent, has proposed that the board meet with Mittermeier to discuss three options aimed at reviving the airport planning process: * Carve the airport issue away from the CEO and give it to someone who would report directly to the Board of Supervisors. * Create an agency much like a redevelopment agency to handle the airport, or * Make personnel changes on leadership on airport issues within the county staff. Mittermeier has said candidly that the first option is not one if she is to stay.”
“But before any other option is pursued, she said, the board majority has to decide whether there is enough community support to overcome the well-organized airport opposition. If not, she said, there's no need for the board to take the steps to get the issue back on another ballot for voters.”
Airport turbulence continued to shake the Board of Supervisors this morning. In closed session, Supervisors voted not to fire Jan Mittermeier. Chairman Smith made the motion and was joined by Todd Spitzer. Tom Wilson voted against firing the CEO with whom he has often crossed swords and issued an explanatory press release.
If Mittermeier leaves voluntarily in the near future, as some expect, the Board inaction will have spared her some embarrassment, kept the County out of a threatened lawsuit, and possibly saved part of her lucrative $170,000 termination package.
More importantly, with Mittermeier still in the CEO job, the Board is deterred from moving forward with plans to hire a new – and possibly more effective - airport project overseer. Bruce Nestande, a George Argyros spokesman, has been vocally promoting such a move. Mittermeier has taken much blame for the failure of the County’s airport planning and the passage of Measure F. Firing her, and making her the scapegoat, would help airport proponents to shift heat away from Supervisors Smith, Silva, and Coad, and the airport proposal, where it belongs.
Also at the meeting, the Supervisors voted to suspend all airport consultant contracts for 60 days awaiting court rulings on Measure F.
“The future of Orange County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier is far from certain. But one thing is sure: The county is poised to dramatically shift the way it does business, especially when it comes to planning an El Toro airport. One of the strongest signals that change is coming is that Smith and other board members are for the first time discussing whether to seize one of Mittermeier's top responsibilities. ‘If we have a commercial airport at El Toro, it's going to take a full-time manager,’ said [Board of Supervisors Chairman Charles] Smith, an airport supporter.”
“Proponents say creating a separate job, and possibly a separate department overseeing airport planning, will help move the process along. Opponents hope reorganization will mean inclusion of South County into a planning process that they say has long ignored their concerns. Supervisor Cynthia Coad, who supports an El Toro airport, said she wants to reach a consensus. ‘My goal is to have Orange County unified on this, to see and hear everybody's problems and see that their success is everyone's success, but there's been so much agitation,’ Coad said.” Suggestions are being made that there should be a “scaling back” in the size of an El Toro airport.
“’It seems to me the overarching issue facing both the board and whoever they hire is restoring public confidence," said Stan Oftelie, executive director of the Orange County Business Council, which supports an airport at El Toro… Oftelie, former executive director of the Orange County Transportation Authority” has been discussed in some quarters as the man for the job.
Editor: All this marks the start of an ominous period in the airport fight. Measure F is being spun an anti-government rather than anti-airport. A message is being shaped that if only Mittermeier could be made the scapegoat and sent packing, if Smith would smile more and Coad would listen to the folks, then someone like Oftelie can lead us to a smaller friendlier airport project.
Under Oftelie, the Orange County Business Council has been single-mindedly pro-airport, though with more polish than shown by the county. To our knowledge, the OCBC leadership has not publicly polled its members on their airport sentiments. What the OCBC has done is to commission several studies in support of the airport. These include an economic analysis critical of the Millennium Plan, a controversial realtors’ study concluding that the airport will not harm home values, and two polls with Cal State Fullerton in which findings of majority anti-airport sentiment were downplayed in the spin released to the press.
Click here for a link to the OCBC website and studies. The OCBC refuses to include reciprocal links in their site, to this website, or any other anti-airport information.
“Pro-airport supervisors finally understand that, pending their appeal, anti-airport Measure F is now the law. Perhaps they can build on that new understanding, and use the Measure F-mandated down time on airport planning to pursue a new, market-based strategy for developing the closed El Toro site… Mindful that they could be held personally liable if they violate the terms of the initiative, Orange County supervisors decided on Tuesday to delay a vote on continued funding for the El Toro airport project.”
“With the airport project on hold, county supervisors and staff should think out of the box and consider engaging the county in a wide-ranging debate over what should go on the old Marine Corps Air Station.”
Editor:- Meanwhile, attorneys for the county, and those representing ETRPA and Citizens for Safe and Healthy Communities, have opened a dialog over which County expenditures are allowable under Measure F.
The County of Orange announced that the MCAS El Toro Master Development program Office is suspending operations as of 5 p.m. Thursday, April 6, 2000. The county has notified all contracted employees, consultants and vendors to stop work related to this project.
In a press release Michael L. Lapin, Program Manger, said "Suspending program office operations is a necessary measure pending further public hearing and court clarification."
The non-aviation programs at the former base - the golf course, stables, recreational vehicle parking and child care centers - will continue to operate and will not be affected by this suspension.
This decision follows the recent board meeting when it was clear that the county is confused about what activities are allowed to proceed under the terms of Measure F.
Bill Kogerman, Chairman of Citizens for Safe and Healthy Communities
- YES on F group, expressed his delight that the county will finally put
some reason into the planning process.
"Officials plan to turn over the land to the county for an airport and will fund toxic cleanup for that purpose. Other uses would need much more expensive work."
"Despite the overwhelming passage of an anti-airport initiative, federal officials plan to turn over the El Toro Marine base to Orange County for reuse as a commercial airport. The U.S. government contends that the initiative, Measure F, doesn't affect the base closure and reuse process, which is set by federal law. They recognize only the authority of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, which has been granted responsibility to decide El Toro's fate, federal officials said."
"The federal government wants to turn over the property for the lowest price, said San Francisco attorney Richard Jacobs, who represents South County [ETRPA] cities opposed to the airport. The federal government is required to clean up the base, which after years of use by the military ranks as one of the government's most polluted sites. If the base is used as an airport, it would require the least amount of environmental cleanup… Board of Supervisors Chairman Charles V. Smith confirmed it was a concern. He said Navy officials have told him the level and funding of cleanup efforts depend upon what the former base will be used for."
"Airport opponents headed to Washington this week to warn federal officials
about conveying the base for reuse as an airport. The entourage--comprising
11 South County officials--plans to argue that Measure F restricts the
county from accepting the base for an airport unless the transfer first
gets voter approval." Click
here for the e-mail addresses for your congressional representatives.
“The Board of Supervisors emerged from a two-hour closed-door meeting
Wednesday without a decision on the fate of Orange County Chief Executive
Officer Jan Mittermeier, who has been criticized for her handling of the
El Toro airport plan. The three supervisors who attended the hastily-called
meeting [Smith, Coad and Spitzer] that was to serve as Mittermeier's "performance
evaluation" declined to detail the issues that were discussed. The fate
of the county top official remains unclear, however, and another meeting
on her fate is expected when the full five-member board is present. Mittermeier
has been blamed by some for the success of Measure F… Many saw the measure's
success as a referendum on shoddy airport planning, which Mittermeier oversees.
She was blasted by some board members after failing to have a contingency
plan in place for dealing with the measure that received overwhelming voter
approval.”
The Board of Supervisors met April 4, without Supervisor Jim Silva, who was in the hospital, and deadlocked over continued spending for the airport project. The matter is now continued until next week.
With Board Chairman Charles Smith’s approval, last Friday, Jan Mittermeier had agendized a request for $4.9 million to be spent in the next three months. They withheld detailed breakdown of the expenditures from other supervisors and the public until late Monday afternoon.
The Board majority had hoped to comply, technically, with a Measure F requirement for a “public hearing” on certain permissible expenditures. Hanna Hill reported that “Some from our side chastised the board about this so-called public hearing …an agenda item for which people had to wait three hours to speak and, of course, … only three minutes were allowed. When the public comments part ended, Spitzer echoed these sentiments. Measure F, he said, was about a process which already has failed in planning for so-called public hearing. ‘What,’ did he ask ‘is this public hearing about?’"
“Coad chimed in that she swore to uphold the law, that she received a letter from ETRPA signed by Paul Eckles threatening her with personal liability. That, until the court clarifies for her what she can and cannot do under Measure F …she was not going to vote on anything.”
Subsequently, County Counsel wrote to Board members advising them to
check with ETRPA as to permissible expenditures, rather than going to court.
This
procedure was proposed by ETRPA.
This morning, Superior Court Judge S. James Otero refused the County’s request to delay implementation of the spending caps imposed by Measure F. He, like ETRPA, cautioned the County to carefully consider any spending on the airport project. The new law goes into effect on April 7.
Under Section 4 of Measure F, “Funds may be expended by the County of Orange as necessary for the planning … and for the submission of an approved project to the voters for ratification … but only upon a vote of the Board of Supervisors after public hearing and only to the extent necessary (A) to define the project; (B) to prepare an environmental impact report … (C) for the evaluation and certification of such an environmental impact report… (D) for the … hearings required by … this Measure and other law, and for approval of the project; (E) for the placement of the approved project thereafter on the ballot of a County General Election for the vote of the People required by this Initiative; and (F) as may otherwise be required by state or federal law. The Board of Supervisors may expend no other funds for any other purposes relating to any such project, until and unless the act by the County to approve the project is ratified by the voters.”
County staff has agendized a “public hearing” for tomorrow morning
at the Board of Supervisors meeting at 9:30 AM at 10 Civic Center Plaza
in Santa Ana to vote on $4.9 million for the next three months, presumably
for the purposes allowed above. Since the Environmental Impact Report
(item B above) has already been drafted, the amount of money appears to
be outrageous. As of this morning, Supervisors had not been provided
with any detail on Mittermeier’s spending request.
In “El Toro Debacle at the Top” the Times pins blame squarely on the Board of Supervisors. “There is no need to search the Hall of Administration for scapegoats on the question of being ill-prepared to deal with all the ramifications of [Measure F]. The supervisors need not look any farther than their own group. And until the matter of the measure's constitutionality is adjudicated, the board should comply cooperatively with its provisions.”
“The supervisors have made El Toro the centerpiece of their entire government effort in recent years, to the detriment of full attention to other policy matters… In the end, democracy can't work in anybody's favor if it isn't based on a forthright public conversation. It's past the time when the supervisors should start conducting it.” Click for full text.
In a separate op-ed submission, Former Associate Administrator of the FAA, Don Segner writes, “What Really Matters About Airports? Safety.” Segner says, “Before noise, before politics comes this fact: El Toro and John Wayne are just plain dangerous.”
“John Wayne's safety issues stem from its two very close, parallel runways. Since John Wayne Airport's recent expansion, there have been three aircraft accidents and 11 fatalities involving wake turbulence. Plans for El Toro call for runways just as close together as John Wayne's. …. [For El Toro] County planners also ignore the reports of various agencies and experts' reports on flying near mountains, wake turbulence, runway separation, airport efficiency and taxiing and crossing on runways. In case of an emergency, there will be little room for error.”
“The proposed [El Toro] departure routes indicate a serious problem that cannot be minimized. Departing traffic on Runway 34 calls for turns into the current incoming traffic routes to John Wayne, Long Beach, Los Angeles and Ontario airports. The general aviation corridor is also in that area. This sets the stage for another Cerritos-style midair collision, something county planners have ignored.”
Segner proposes that
planners “First, discontinue the pursuit of El Toro as a commercial airport,
and second, take a small portion of the El Toro land and convert it to
a much smaller reliever airport where general aircraft can be sent to avoid
conflict with larger commercial aircraft and provide a margin of safety…
Move the general and the smaller business and aviation aircraft from John
Wayne to El Toro, where they can operate with increased safety and not
interfere with commercial airline operations.”
“County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier apparently is looking to leave her $160,000-a-year post after five tumultuous years. Mittermeier was at the Los Angeles International Airports administrative headquarters Friday to interview for the vacant chief operating officer's position… Board Chairman Charles V. Smith said there would be no special effort to keep Mittermeier if she was offered the LAX job.”
“The former John Wayne Airport director took over as CEO in 1995 and initially won high marks for helping the county recover from its 1994 bankruptcy by cutting jobs and modernizing management practices. [She] helped rebuild Wall Street's confidence in the county's bonds.”
“But in 1998, the board's two airport foes — Todd Spitzer and Tom Wilson
— almost managed to win the support of airport backer Jim Silva to scuttle
her three-year contract extension. Spitzer has criticized what he sees
as Mittermeier's imperious and secretive ways ever since. Meanwhile, the
board's pro-airport majority has been increasingly frustrated over Mittermeier
and her staff's struggles to keep the airport plan on the fast track. Those
frustrations boiled over into a round of sharp second-guessing after the
overwhelming victory of anti-airport Measure F on March 8.”
Click here for previous news stories
