JUNE
2000JUNE
2000LA Times, June 30, 2000
Irvine local news – LRA lawsuit still under consideration
LA Times, June 29, 2000
“Mittermeier: El Toro Might Never Fly”
“Former CEO says Measure F, lack of 'passion' in project backers
make its completion highly unlikely.”
LA Times, June 28, 2000
Mittermeier Out as County CEO; Schumacher Appointed
Interim Chief
Website Direct June 27, 2000
National Air Traffic Controllers Express Concern
Over El Toro
LA Times, June 27, 2000
Navy Seeks Limits on Its Cleanup at El Toro
LA Times, June 26, 2000
"Residents' Confidence in O.C. Government Plummets"
LA Times, June 22, 2000
New voices, opinions about the future of El Toro
LA Times, June 21, 2000
"El Toro Job Still Stuck on Approach"
Website Direct June 21, 2000
County paid legal fees.
Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2000
Residents Of O.C. Face LAX Tax
Website Direct, June 19, 2000 11:00 AM FLASH
Measure F court hearing delayed
OC Register Letters, June 18, 2000
Re: John Wayne Airport Safety
LA Times, Orange County Perspective, June 18,
2000
“Another Dirty El Toro Secret”
Website Direct, June 17, 2000
“YES ON F” Campaign Team Wins Award
ETRPA Consultants Also Honored for Anti-Airport Efforts
Website Direct, June 15, 2000
State Lands Commission to meet in Los Angeles
LA Times, June 15, 2000
Rancho Santa Margarita
OC Register, June 14, 2000
“El Toro patrons gain 2 months”
“ Stables and other services will remain open while the county
tries to negotiate a lease.”
Website Direct, June 13, 2000
OCRAA Dreaming
Pro-airport group to dream about El Toro of the future
Website Direct, June 13, 2000
New Interim Head of LRA Appointed
OC Register, June 10, 2000
“El Toro services may be stable”
“Airport foes reverse opposition to keeping golf course, preschools
and other services open.”
Website Direct, June 9, 2000
Airport Opponents to Support Retrocession of Jurisdiction
for MCAS El Toro
Stables, Pre-school, Golf to remain open to public
OCBJ, June 5, 2000, Website posted June 8
"Let Chaos Reign"
Website Direct, June 7, 2000
Smith Holding Out for Deal Breaker and Could Force
Padlocking of the Base
Website Direct, June 6, 2000, updated June 7
What Happened at Supervisors’ Meeting?
Bergen (New Jersey) Record, June 4, 2000 website
posted June 6, 2000
Near Disaster at Newark Airport
Website Direct, June 5, 2000
Embattled Supervisors Tackle More Hot Issues on
Tuesday
Saturday, June 3, 2000
“O.C. Concedes 'Significant' El Toro Pollution”
“Revised EIR admits harm to air quality might be inevitable,
belying earlier analysis. Planners will try again.”
Website Direct, June 2, 2000
Airport plan will have significant adverse air
quality impacts
Website Direct, June 1, 2000
U.S. Senate to probe labor deals in Orange County
Public Hearing in Irvine Monday, June 5.
Leisure World News and OC Register, June 1, 2000
“Donations upheld”
“Appeals court ruling favors [homeowners association] directors”
(For full articles see L.A. Times at http://www.latimes.com and O.C.
Register at http://www.ocregister.com/news/)
“Opponents of an El Toro airport were heartened Thursday by departing county CEO Jan Mittermeier's first public comments seriously doubting that it would ever fly, while airport proponents castigated her, saying she is in good part responsible for its problems. Mittermeier… said Measure F, the initiative that voters passed in March, requiring a two-thirds public vote to approve an airport, makes it ‘extremely difficult’ for one to be built. ‘Right now, you couldn't get a simple majority of voters’ to endorse it, she said.”
“The comments, Mittermeier's most extensive to date on a project she helped oversee, provided new ammunition for those who for years have bitterly fought an airport. [On the other hand] Airport backers said Mittermeier, who was effectively dismissed this week by the Board of Supervisors, wasn't the right person to lead the airport project… Bruce Nestande, president of Citizens for Jobs and the Economy, a pro-airport group, [said], ‘She has great skills in certain areas, but in this area, managing this project, those skills were not apparent. We wouldn't be three or four years behind schedule if that weren't the case.’”
“Supervisors' Chairman Chuck Smith, who favors an airport, took issue with Mittermeier's assessment of its prospects. ‘If it is her opinion that the airport is dead or in limbo, then that is her view. It is not our opinion, and it is part of the reason that we had a parting with Mrs. Mittermeier,’ he said. ‘We felt that we needed to get on with the planning instead of taking the attitude that it is dead.’”
Editor: The latest UCI Annual Opinion Poll shows that residents agree with Mittermeier’s assessment, with fewer than half thinking that El Toro airport will ever be built. The poll found residents opposed to the airport project by 54-35 percent.
“The City Council has $400,000 and nine months to decide whether it will sue to try to establish itself as the planning authority for El Toro. Tuesday, council members unanimously earmarked the funds to cover the cost of suing the U.S. Department of Defense, Orange County or both. The council will spend the next several months exploring the possibility of filing a suit, which would allege that the government violated federal regulations by allowing the county to take charge of the base's planning in 1995 [after passage of Measure A].”
“City Atty. Joel Kuperberg said the government misstepped by failing to include jurisdictions that have zoning authority over the base and not creating an [LRA] agency with a broad-based membership. Irvine has zoning authority over about 10% of the base. The suit probably would aim to dissolve the [current] El Toro Local Redevelopment Authority… and restore the authority to Irvine and possibly Lake Forest.”
“Outgoing County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier, who for five years has led the effort for an airport at El Toro, expressed serious doubts Wednesday about whether the project will ever be built. Mittermeier, in an interview a day after she stepped down from county government's top job, said [Measure F] a ballot measure approved by voters last March makes building a new airport ‘extremely difficult’ because it requires a two-thirds vote of the public.”
“’I won't say impossible, but right now you couldn't get a simple majority of voters to support an airport master plan for El Toro,’ she said… Her pessimistic assessment, coming from an official intimately involved in all facets of the county's airport plan, underscores the challenges airport backers face. The Board of Supervisors had hoped to have commercial flights at an El Toro airport by 2005, but she believes ‘that's not doable now.’”
County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier, who helped lead Orange County out of its historic bankruptcy but became a lightening rod for criticism over plans for an airport at El Toro, will immediately step down under a contract settlement announced today.
Mittermeier, who has clashed with supervisors over the last few years and barely survived several ouster attempts, will receive a severance package worth $170,000, according to a statement read by Board of Supervisors Chairman Chuck Smith.
The settlement was approved on a 4-0 vote, with Supervisor Tom Wilson absent.
"Jan did an outstanding job and played a key role in restoring financial stability to the county," said Supervisor Jim Silva. "My vote today reflects a philosophical difference between Jan and the board on El Toro."
The Board of Supervisors also announced that Michael Schumacher, the Health Care Agency director, will become interim executive officer until a permanent replacement is found. The board is going to begin an nationwide search for a new CEO.
The settlement comments come as the Board of Supervisors moved to strip Mittermeier of authority over planning an international airport at the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. The board has voted to hire a manager to handle the massive project who would answer directly to the supervisors, not to Mittermeier.
But Mittermeier and her attorney argued that
forming an independent El Toro planning office violates the terms of her
contract, which gives her authority over all county employees, and would
"effectively terminate" the county executive. The county has spent
$40 million in its bid to convert the former Marine base into a commercial
airport but without a resolution.
The text of the letter from J. R. Schwitz, Jr. Executive Vice Present of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association AFL-CIO To Supervisor Charles Smith follows:
National Air Traffic Controllers Association AFL-CIO
June 22, 2000
The Honorable Charles V. Smith Chairman, Orange County Board of Supervisors 10 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701
Dear Mr. Smith:
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association represents over 13,000 air traffic controllers and other Federal Aviation Administration professionals dedicated to aviation safety. On behalf of our entire membership, I would like to express our deep concern for any planned reuse of the airfield at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro that does not include a corresponding reduction in operations at John Wayne Airport.
NATCA fully supports Orange County’s desire for economic growth, and we understand the impact of El Toro’s closure and the physical constraints of John Wayne Airport on that growth. Still, we must consider the broader needs of Southern California’s airspace and the impact of commercial jet operations out of two airports so close to each other. We are forced to conclude that if Orange County wishes to take advantage of the aviation growth potential of the El Toro location, John Wayne Airport must be closed to commercial and business jet operations.
In the past decade, John Wayne’s passenger volume has increased by 40%, with similar increases in commercial air carrier operations – this despite the limitations imposed by its short runways and surrounding communities. However, the only reason the National Airspace System was able to accommodate this growth with El Toro so close at hand is because the military flying activity was quite different from that of a commercial airport. Apart from the slower tempo of operations, the aircraft departing from and arriving at El Toro in years past typically were fighters and attack aircraft capable of rapid climbs, equally rapid descents, and occasional maneuvering well beyond the capabilities of passenger-laden airliners.
We in NATCA have come to realize that the two airports cannot co-exist safely unless their operations can be separated by both altitude and airspeed, from takeoff through landing. Therefore, we ask that you and the other Supervisors work toward a re-use plan that does not unduly stress the airspace that overlies and surrounds Orange County. Given our mutual concern for the safety and well-being of your residents, as well as all who use Orange County as a gateway to Southern California, no other course of action can be appropriate.
Sincerely,
J. R. SCHWITZ, JR. Executive Vice President
1326 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005
Unit wants to curb its responsibility to $8 million of the $35 million needed to solve the base's ground-water woes.
Despite repeated pledges to clean up all pollution at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, the Navy now wants to be released from liability for any water contamination that might be discovered there in the future.
Under a proposed settlement signed by the Department of Justice this month, the Navy would pay $8 million of $35 million required to clean up a 3-mile-wide tainted ground-water plume "in exchange for not being held responsible for any future liability that could result from 'unknown contaminants,' " according to a report from the state Regional Water Quality Control Board in Santa Ana.
The rest of the water cleanup would be funded by three area water districts, which want to bring the water up to drinking standards.
The plume flowing from under the base into ground water beneath Irvine is tainted with decades-old contaminants. Trichloroethylene (TCE), a possible carcinogen, is also present from heavy use of a toxic solvent to degrease aircraft. The contamination plume, stretching one mile by three miles, is moving one foot per day, and is expected to contaminate local drinking water in 10 to 20 years if it is not cleaned up.
But, according to regional water officials, the water districts are reluctant to sign the agreement because of recent concerns that the water is also contaminated by radionuclides and MTBE, a so-called oxygenate that helps gasoline burn more completely.
"We want to protect the public--it's our primary concern," said Ron Wildermuth, spokesman for the Orange County Water District.
However, liability is also a concern for county officials and taxpayers,
who unexpectedly were forced to pay $4 million to clean decades-old ground-water
contamination that was found during construction of a terminal that opened
in 1991 at John Wayne Airport.
Building on the eroding support for an airport at El Toro by county
residents
the UCI survey reveals that "residents' confidence in Orange County government
plummeted by 14 percentage points over the past year." "Just 29% feel county
government does an excellent or good job solving problems, down from 40%
the previous year." Not surprisingly, the numbers reflect the divisiveness
that the reuse of El Toro has generated. "Both supporters of the proposed
airport and opponents gave county government low approval ratings, though
airport opponents tended to be more critical of local government. According
to the poll, just 31% of people favoring the airport and 26% of those opposing
it say county government does a good or excellent job solving local problems."
An editorial is chastising the supervisors for voting a pay hike, saying that: "Just three months ago county residents passed Measure F, which effectively grounded the supes' plans for an airport at El Toro. Despite that severe rebuke from the people they're supposed to serve, on Tuesday the supes rewarded themselves with a 6 percent pay raise."
Peggy Ducey, "the executive director of a pro-El Toro airport cities group - OCRAA - is stepping down, largely after concluding that the intense fight over an El Toro airport has sidetracked any solution to the broader issue of how the county should plan for future transportation needs." The group, funded by Newport Beach and the county, "Plans to take a fresh look at the role the group should play in the county's aviation planning." One suggestion is to "increase OCRAA's involvement in regional aviation discussions and step up its role as a source of pro-airport information."
A role of a different nature is proposed by the Trustees of South Orange
County Community College District. They will consider placing a ballot
initiative on the November general election, seeking a new citizens advisory
commission. It will counteract the existing pro-airport Citizens Advisory
Commission "to advise the new County of Orange El Toro Planning Department
and to plan for the non aviation alternative use of the El Toro base property."
In 1997 the board voted
to oppose the airport and to support a non-aviation alternative.
"Negotiations continued without resolution Tuesday toward hiring former
John Wayne Airport Director O.B.
Schooley to take over planning for a commercial airport at the
former El Toro Marine base." "Sources within county government said the
sticking point apparently is the fate of County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier
[who] warned earlier this month that taking El Toro planning from her control
would violate her contract, effectively terminating her. "Supervisors..said
they want Mittermeier to continue as chief executive for all other county
duties--a situation that apparently is untenable to Schooley, who clashed
with Mittermeier before leaving the county in 1998 after two decades of
employment." "Whatever the outcome, the clash over Mittermeier's future
has spun the county's El Toro office into limbo, with officials unsure
who will head the office and whether Mittermeier will remain in any capacity
with the county."
ETRPA received a check today from the County of Orange for $289,890.66
for payment of attorney's fees through October 2, 1998 regarding litigation
on EIR 563. This is the county's first EIR on El Toro -- the 1996 38 MAP/no
JWA airport. TRP also received a check for approximately $191,000 as participants
in the same litigation. By awarding legal
fees to ETRPA and TRP the judge acknowledges that both parties
were justified in their complaints against the county's environmental review.
Commissioners on the board of the Los Angeles World Airports are exploring the idea of charging Orange County residents a fee to use Los Angeles International Airport. The commissioners say they are focusing on Orange County because many residents there oppose a plan to convert the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into an international airport. Los Angeles airport officials estimate that as much as 20% of LAX's nearly 70 million annual passengers hail from Orange County. (Editor: This is despite statistics that show only about 4-5 million are OC passengers. Los Angeles officials place Orange County traffic at about 14% of the total but El Toro opponents believe the figure is lower.")
The city attorney's office has responded that a 1973 federal law prohibits airports from charging a "head tax" on a particular group of travelers but the airport can charge a fee on all travelers -- the so-called passenger facility charge. LAX already charges a $3 fee. If the tax is ruled illegal, Leland Wong (LA World Airports) says, he will look for other ways to exact fees -- such as building a toll road or toll gate at the airport that would collect fees from residents of Orange and perhaps those of other counties
"This is a preposterous idea," says James Campbell, a spokesman for Chuck Smith, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, who supports the development of El Toro airport
El Toro opponents say LAX markets itself as a regional and international airport -- so naturally it's drawing travelers from around the region. Opponents say commissioners should work harder to expand another airport it oversees -- Ontario International, about 30 miles east of Los Angeles. That airport could serve Orange County residents just as well if not better than LAX.
The fee "is really not something to be taken seriously,"
says Paul Eckles, executive director of the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority,
a group that represents 11 cities opposed to the El Toro airport. Mr. Eckles
says the idea is akin to Orange County levying fees on Angelenos. He adds:
"We're going to charge a surcharge to Los Angeles residents going to Disneyland."
This morning, Judge Otero pushed back the hearing on the Measure F lawsuit
from June 23 to July 7. The judge has weighty documents to review
from both sides which may have been a factor.
Former Associate Administrator of the FAA, Donald R. Segner rebuts assertions of an earlier letter writer who had alleged that John Wayne was unsafe because of the steep takeoffs used to reduce noise over Newport Beach.
“I suggest [the writer] check his facts before trying to frighten the
public about the noise abatement procedures in use at John Wayne.
Power Reduction Procedures in use at John Wayne are safe…. As a matter
of fact, the procedure in use at John Wayne was proposed and initially
developed by … McDonald Douglas. A Mr. George Jensen, then Director of
Flight Operations and the Chief Test Pilot at McDonald Douglas, who was
a world-recognized test pilot, along with senior management of Douglas
brought the proposal to the Regional offices and to Washington Headquarters
of the FAA. The proposal was extensively evaluated by the FAA, industry
and pilots in all types of aircraft involving the entire fleet before it
was implemented.”
The Times editor writes, “Pollution has been one of the most elusive and yet debated concerns about a new airport at the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. … The hazards were underscored by recent research indicating that air pollution is harmful not only to the lungs, but also to the heart.”
“Recently, county officials released a revised version of their 1996 environmental impact report for a new airport at El Toro. It was reissued because a judge had found earlier pronouncements inadequate… Officials now concede that the proposed airport could cause ‘significant’ air pollution that ‘cannot be mitigated.’”
“The new finding is significant on several levels. Perhaps most important, clean air …is a big factor in many people's decision to live in Orange County in the first place. That this might change is a component of the quality-of-life concern with having a big new international airport set down in the midst of a mature suburban area.”
“Moreover, the long-running concern about the credibility of assertions made by airport planners since 1994 has been reinforced. The county earlier had predicted that air pollution would be insignificant. Now, county planners have changed course after being chastened by a skeptical San Diego County Judge… For the county to have expected earlier that the public would believe that air pollution would not be significant was asking a lot… a key motivation in the passage of the [Measure F] initiative was the conclusion reached by many citizens that their government could not be counted on to present the facts in a straightforward way.
“For years, many concerned citizens haven't believed in the credibility
of the airport planning process. Reversals like the one on air pollution
serve to reinforce a view that citizens and cities near El Toro were right
to have doubts
Last night, the Public Relations Society of Orange County honored the successful “Yes on Measure F” election campaign team with the society’s top Protos Award for a Community Relations program. The professional society rates commercial and non-profit public information programs in an annual competition. Members of the Denver PRSA chapter judged the contest to insure impartiality. Awards are based on the quality of the program’s “research, planning, implementation and evaluation” of the outcome.
Len Kranser, Communications Director for Citizens for Safe and Healthy Communities, compiled the competition submittal and accepted the award on behalf of all those who participated in the campaign. Kranser commented, “The campaign team’s real reward came on March 7. However, it’s great to have a professional society recognize that the campaign, which depended so much on grass-roots hard work and passion, also was conducted with award-winning technical skill.”
The firm of Waters and Faubel received 5 awards from the Society for
their anti-airport work on behalf of ETRPA. They were honored for
media relations, their successful anti-El Toro direct mail campaign, the
ETRPA newsletters, and for organizing the highly effective June
16, 1999 “Sound off on El Toro” rally in Aliso Viejo.
The California State Lands Commission will meet in Los Angeles on June
27 at 10:00 AM to consider retrocession of police authority at El Toro
from the federal government to local juridiction. The meeting will
be held at the Los Angeles Hilton, 5711 W. Century Blvd. Those wishing
to contact the commission can contact:
Paul D. Thayer, Executive Officer, State Lands Commission,
Sacramento Office 100 Howe Ave Suite 100,
South Sacramento, CA 95825-8202
PHONE (916) 574-1900 FAX (916) 574-1810
“The city will begin throwing its political weight and a sizable amount
of money into the fight against an El Toro airport if council members approve
an agreement to join a coalition of South County cities. The El Toro Reuse
Planning Authority [ETRPA] has been leading the battle against the county
to prevent an airport from being constructed. City Manager William Talley
said the city probably will have to contribute about $400,000 to the coalition
during the next fiscal year. If the council approves the agreement at its
meeting tonight, Irvine would give one of its three voting seats on the
board to Rancho Santa Margarita.” RSM will become the ninth city with full
membership in ETRPA.
Most headlines focussed on speculation about Jan Mittermeier’s fate, and the role that O.B. Schooley will play as interim Executive Director of the Local Redevelopment Authority for El Toro. However, it is potentially important to the future of the base that, “Golf, the stables, child care and other public programs at the former El Toro Marine base won a reprieve Tuesday when the Navy agreed to allow those activities to continue at least through August.”
“The Navy had threatened to padlock the base when the lease expires July 1 unless the county completed - or made significant progress on - a new agreement.” Negotiations, under Mittermeier’s direction, have stalled for over a year, during which time the county sought to include the right to begin interim aviation use.
With aviation use now off the table, “Prospects for [an agreement with the Navy] improved last week when airport opponents, who had protested the [the transfer of law-enforcement authority, or retrocession] said they no longer will stand in its way.
“If the law-enforcement transfer is approved, a new lease between the
county and the Navy would allow the current programs to continue. Several
agricultural fields also would be leased. Talks would continue to expand
the lease to include additional offices, warehouses and possibly base homes
for use as affordable housing.” Editor: Airport opponents would
like non-aviation use of the base to expand and become a money-maker for
the county.
Peggy Ducey, Executive Director of the Orange County Regional Airport Authority, will share a vision of the future of El Toro with her group tomorrow. Ducey, who is paid by the City of Newport Beach to run the pro-El Toro airport group, spells it out in a June 14, 2000 memo to the OCRAA directors.
“The vision … is to create an El Toro ‘World Port’. It integrates existing and experimental technologies in a way that inspires us to dream of the future in the 21st century rather than lose sleep over potentially problematic airports of the past century.” Ducey rapsodizes over “World Port Orange County – A Regional Inter-Modal Transportation Center” and goes so far as to prepare a futuristic "hypothetical press release” dated June 1, 2007 about the dream.
No place in the documents is there a suggestion that the future technology she mentions –including fuel cell vehicles, teleconferencing centers, high speed trains and other goodies - will enable Orange County residents to rely on airports in outlying areas for their aviation needs. Nor does she consider whether anyone wants “the only aircraft maintenance center in the Western U.S.”, smack in the middle of Orange County. Ducey also fails to describe Newport Beach's vision for the future of John Wayne Airport.
This morning, OB Schooley, former Director of John Wayne Airport, was appointed as interim Executive Director of the Local Redevelopment Authority. The vote was 4-0 with Tom Wilson out of town. The new position was carved out of the former job duties of County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier and will report directly to the Board of Supervisors. Mittermeier's future with the county is unclear, as is that of Michael L. Lapin who serves as the Program Manager of the MCAS El Toro Master Development Program. The county's struggling El Toro planning has been marked by frequent turnover of management personnel.
Schooley left John Wayne for a brief position at P&D Aviation, the
county's chief El Toro planning consultants, and then was in his own business
for a while.
“Cooperation from El Toro airport opponents and U.S. Rep. Christopher Cox Friday make it more likely that horse stables, two preschools and a golf course will remain open on the base property. [ETRPA], an eight-city coalition withdrew its opposition to the county taking over law-enforcement at the former El Toro air base from the U.S. Navy. And Cox said he will introduce legislation soon to prevent the Navy from shutting down activities for one year.”
"The Navy is of the view that shortly after the first of July, they are going to pull the plug on all of these things," Cox said in Washington. "The Navy is ... unshakable. So we get around that by passing a law."
“Airport opponents previously had challenged the transfer, fearing if
the county did get legal jurisdiction, it would allow cargo flights. The
coalition vehemently opposes the county's proposal to build a commercial
airport at El Toro. But the overwhelming passage of the anti-airport Measure
F in March prohibits even cargo planes from using El Toro, coalition officials
said.”
The El Toro Reuse Planning Authority announced it would support retrocession “to remove any obstacles to the continued operation of the [non-aviation] community services programs on the base property.” The County has been sending notices of eviction, effective July 1, to users of the community facilities.
ETRPA stated, “We are confident that there cannot be any interim aviation at El Toro…. The overwhelming passage of Measure F has eliminated any real possibility of aviation… In addition, the Department of Navy has clearly stated that any interim aviation use of the former base would require full environmental review and clearance. Further, the Navy has stated that there will be no interim aviation or aviation construction at El Toro under the pending Master Lease Agreement.”
Paul Eckles of ETRPA said, “Our decision to support retrocession is
in keeping with our consistent position in allowing the non-aviation use
of the base property.” Anti-airport groups generally have been supportive
of continued use of the stables, golf course, pre-school, pool, and of
utilization of the idle base housing. The county has been stalling
any agreement on non-aviation activities, has
downplayed the economic usefulness of the non-aviation base facilities,
and has dragged out negotiations with the Navy for approximately a year-and–a-half,
hoping to obtain aviation use.
Business Journal editor Rick Reiff joins the chorus of those on both
sides who oppose holding another election on El Toro in November. Airport
booster Reiff's theory is that chaos and "delay could become the airport's
friend." His editorial
comment is published here as part of our policy of shedding light
on what various sides in the battle may be thinking.
Pro-airport supervisors have been negotiating with South County leaders over an agreement to allow retrocession and an El Toro Master Lease to proceed. That would keep open the stables, golf, pre-school and other non-aviation community services.
At yesterday’s Board of Supervisors meeting it became apparent that Chairman Chuck Smith is holding out for a deal breaker condition. Regardless of whether planes are prohibited from flying for at least three years or five, or any number in between, Smith wants the agreement to permit the start of aviation-related construction ASAP. Anti-airport forces will not agree. Therefore, responsibility for possibly padlocking the base and community services rests on the County.
The contemplated “deal” is a backstop position behind Measure F, which
still does not allow aviation construction or operations without a two-thirds
vote of the people.
The supervisors voted to unilaterally amend CEO Jan Mittermeier’s contract, and end her control over El Toro planning. Her attorney wrote that, “The action of today’s board meeting is the major first step in breaching [her] contract with the breach becoming effective when the ordinance [voted today] takes effect in approximately 30 days…. As of that time… the severance terms of her contract will take effect.” A reasonable interpretation of her attorney’s statement appeared to be, buy out her contract with a $170,000 termination package.
The Board will meet in special closed session Wednesday at 11:00 with
one agenda item:
“to consider the appointment of a public employee; Interim Executive
Director of the Local Redevelopment Authority”
The Supervisors deadlocked, 2-2, on whether to sue the California State Lands Commission, to try to force the agency to decide the Department of Navy’s request for retrocession of law-enforcement jurisdiction over the closed base. The Navy wants county sheriffs to take over from federal marshals. Coad abstained from supporting Smith’s unsuccessful motion.
Pursuant to the May 16 meeting, county staff presented the Board with
a selection of aviation and non-aviation plans to be analyzed. This
was apparently not what Chairman Smith wanted. Smith, who clearly had expressed
interest in analyzing multiple non-aviation plans on May 16, now seemed
more interested in looking at just one. Smith also expressed satisfaction
with the present aviation plan, at least until the FAA makes a decision.
The Board voted to budget $4 million for non-aviation planning but if and
how this gets spent remains to be seen.
Calamitous events, following an engine failure, illustrate why takeoffs
into mountaineous terrain, as planned for El Toro, are risky. Birds
- which can be a danger around El Toro’s golf courses, landfills and a
nature preserve - are listed as a possible contributing cause. The
pilot of the crippled plane was forced to dump fuel over a residential
area. Read this harrowing story
and visualize Orange County.
On Monday, the Project Labor Agreement, adopted by Supervisors Smith, Silva and Coad, as part of their “airport at any cost” program, came under congressional fire. The supervisors allegedly adopted the agreement in a bid to win union opposition to Measure F. US Senator Tim Hutchinson (R-AR) and Congressman Gary Miller (R-CA) were in Irvine to hold a hearing on the possible outlawing of such agreements in government contracting. The two federal lawmakers showed their obvious displeasure with the use of public funds, by the County, on an agreement which requires that “all employees will be required to join and maintain membership in the appropriate union… and shall pay dues”, in order to work on county public works projects.
Tuesday, June 6 (D-Day) at 9:30 AM, the embattled Board will tackle
the following hot issues:
“Orange County officials are now acknowledging that a proposed commercial airport at the former El Toro Marine base could cause ‘significant’ air pollution that ‘cannot be mitigated.’ The new report's findings are contrary to the county's earlier analysis, which predicted that air pollution could be reduced to a point of insignificance.”
“The new analysis shows significant air pollution in the area stretching from El Toro to John Wayne Airport if El Toro is developed as a large commercial airfield… County officials expected the Board of Supervisors to approve [a new] environmental review this month, but now say the vote could be pushed back to next year.”
Bryan Speegle, planning manager for the El Toro project, “said two-thirds of pollution from the new airport would come from aircraft, with the rest from vehicles on the ground. The county cannot regulate aircraft emissions, but it proposed to use low-emission fuels in the ground vehicles to reduce overall pollution. He said the county is still fine-tuning the airport plan--including reducing it and creating ways of lessening air pollution, such as having planes at the gate hooked into electrical outlets so engines don't have to stay on to power air-conditioning systems.”
Editor: An aviation expert called Speegles’s last suggestion “bogus”: “He is indirectly quoted as saying that creating ways of decreasing air pollution include having planes hooked into electrical outlets so engines don't have to stay on to power air-conditioning systems.”
“All modern airline aircraft use a small jet engine, usually located in the tail, to provide the large volume of air necessary to run the type of air conditioning systems aircraft have, which are known as air cycle machines (ACMs). The small jet engine (not too small, actually, the kind used in executive turbo-prop aircraft) is known as an auxiliary power unit (APU). The ground electrical power hookup cannot provide air conditioning or replace the APU as a source of air for the ACM. Ground electrical power can provide aircraft lighting and power to the instruments, but the airplane will have no flow of fresh and conditioned air.”
“The airlines, and passengers, won't accept this operation except
during very cool weather conditions. Even then, the air becomes terrible
once a lot of folks are aboard.”
The County has complied with a court order to correct its environmental impact report for El Toro airport. “MCAS El Toro Final EIR 563 Draft Second Supplemental Analysis” has been published. The county has been required to revise the Air Quality Impacts Section, Section 4.0. It now concludes that, “the proposed project will result in significant regional air quality impacts attributable to aircraft emissions that cannot be mitigated.”
The report will be available in public libraries. This website
will publish additional information on the air quality impacts prior to
the July 17 close of the public comment period.
In order to buy support from the unions for the proposed El Toro Airport, the County of Orange passed the first unilateral, county wide project labor agreement in US history. If you can attend this hearing it would send a message to Washington about the devastating impact of this whole El Toro process.
(Washington, DC) – May 25, 2000 – A U.S. Senate subcommittee is holding
first-ever field hearings
in Orange County to investigate project labor agreements (PLAs), a
type of government-labor deal that
has been proliferating in California in recent years.
The hearings, to be conducted by the Subcommittee on Employment, Safety
and Training of the
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, will be chaired
by subcommittee chair Sen.
Tim Hutchinson (R-AR). Hutchinson is the main Senate sponsor of the
Open Competition and Fairness
Act (S. 1194), which would prevent discrimination based on labor affiliation.
The panel will question
lawmakers (including Rep. Gary Miller [R-CA]) on the issue as well
as builders, workers and
apprentices affected by PLAs. The hearings will take place on Monday,
June 5, 2000, from 10:00 a.m.
to 2:00 p.m. in the city council chambers in Irvine, California, One
Civic Center Plaza (at Harvard and
Alton).
"ABC is happy to see the Senate give such well-merited attention to
the problem of PLAs in California,"
said Associated Builders and Contractors’ National President W. Thomas
Musser. "Orange County,
which recently passed two of the worst PLAs in the nation, couldn’t
be a more fitting location in
which to investigate this national issue. Costly and discriminatory
PLAs must be brought out into the
light of day, and that is what this hearing will do."
PLAs are pacts, usually between government entities and labor unions,
that ban or discourage
open-shop companies from bidding on construction projects. ABC, with
more than 80 chapters and
22,000 members, is the nation’s leading organization fighting PLAs.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted in a six-year PLA on nearly
all county-sponsored
construction projects this year, and the Santa Ana Board of Education
followed suit soon after with a
PLA of its own. California has become a major PLA battleground in the
last two years.
Event: U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on project labor agreements
(PLAs)
Location: Irvine City Council, One Civic Center Plaza (at Harvard
and Alton).
Date: Monday, June 5, 2000 Time: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
“Three appeals court judges in Riverside upheld the legality of the Leisure World corporations $542,000 in contributions to El Toro airport opposition groups.” In 1996, Leisure World’s Golden Rain Foundation and three mutual boards gave the money to Taxpayers for Responsible Planning to fight against the airport project. The lawsuit against the foundation and the 35 Leisure World board directors was originally filed by “a trustee for Leisure World resident Silvia Henderson, mother-in-law of Newport Beach developer George Argyros, the major financial donor to the pro-airport cause,” and one other resident. Argyros provided funding for the lawsuit.
The successful Leisure World “boards contend the donation was permitted
… in order to protect property values and preserve residents quality of
life which, they argued would be negatively impacted by a major airport
in the immediate vicinity.” The court awarded the defendants their costs
against the plaintiffs. Editor: Airport opponents
believe that the wording of the court’s decision will benefit future anti-airport
efforts throughout South County - by providing legal clearance for homeowner
associations to contribute to anti-El Toro political campaigns.
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