NEWS - August 2003

OC Register, Commentary, August 31, 2003
"Governing the Orange County Great Park"

El Toro Info Site, August 30, 2003
Regional air traffic up in July

El Toro Info Site, August 29, 2003
Orange County Aviation Demand - 2002

Daily Breeze, August 27, 2003 posted August 28
"County presses for LAX limits"
"Supervisors want L.A. to impose land restrictions to ensure an annual passenger cap of 78.9 million."

OC Register, August 27, 2003
"Council debates Great Park oversight"

OC Register, August 26, 2003 - updated
"Great Park board in the works"
"Irvine council tonight will consider who and how many will supervise the plan."

El Toro Info Site report, August 25, 2003
Norby stumping for McClintock as anti-El Toro

LA Times, August 24, 2003
"Private Control of Great Park Opposed"

El Toro Info Site Report, August 22, 2003
Concerns expressed over Great Park governance proposal

Daily Breeze, August 22, 2003
"Airlines offer LAX vision"
"Carriers say their plan would cost a third of Mayor Hahn’s proposal and be finished in half the time."

El Toro Info Site report, August 20, 2003
OCTA push for Chuck Smith delayed

LA Times, August 20, 2003
"Hahn's LAX Plan Draws County Fire"

Cigar Aficionado, July/August issue website posted August 19, 2003
Schwarzenegger on airports

Los Angeles Daily News, August 19, 2003
"Pipe dreams for LAX?"

El Toro Info Site report, August 18, 2003
Interim head selected for LA Airports

El Toro Info Site report, August 17, 2003
Chuck Smith supporters on OCTA to try again

San Diego Union Tribune, August 16, 2003
"L.A. mayor releases proposal for 'safer' airport redesign"

Los Angeles Daily News, August 16, 2003
"(LA Councilman) Smith backs LAX plans"
"Hahn's proposal gaining support"

Daily Breeze, August 16, 2003
"Consultant knocks airport plan "
"REPORT: Mayor’s vision for remote access lacks specifics and needs detailed analysis, study for county says."

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, August 15, 2003
"LAX plan lands business for Ontario"
"Ontario's airport stands to pick up passenger, cargo traffic"

Irvine World News, August 14, 2003
"Irvine maintains ETRPA membership, just in case"

Daily Breeze, August 14, 2003
"Airport director resigns"
"TRANSITION: Top executive Lydia Kennard says she’ll leave for the private sector in the fall. Her move comes during a critical time for the agency."

Orange County Register, August 13, 2003
"Airport foes not standing down"

Daily Breeze, August 13, 2003
"Labor unions bring clout to LAX hearing"

El Toro Info Site report, August 11, 2003
Anaheim withdraws from OCRAA

El Toro Info Site report, August 10, 2003
Regional air travel update - 2002

El Toro Info Site report, August 7, 2003, updated August 8
Alternatives to LAX

El Toro Info Site report, August 6, 2003
Unpublished LA study will show who uses airports
 Preliminary data suggests O.C. use of LAX is about 6 MAP. The number is frequently exaggerated

LA Times, August 6, 2003
"Inland Empire Tops House Market"

Daily Breeze, August 5, 2003
"El Segundo mayor set for 53rd"

North [San Diego] County Times, August 3, posted August 4, 2003
"For airport, signs point to Miramar"

Daily Breeze, August 3, 2003
"Mayors aim to hold line on LAX"

Click here for previous news stories

OC Register, Commentary, August 31, 2003
"Governing the Orange County Great Park"

Irvine Mayor Larry Agran strikes back at Register editorial writer Steven Greenhut's biting August 24 piece, "Hijacking El Toro". At the same time that he rebuts unfavorable press coverage, he takes a swipe at some unnamed associates. "As we move ever closer to the groundbreaking for the Great Park, the public should be aware that powerful politicians and members of the media who've ridiculed the idea of a Great Park are now attempting to undermine the Great Park by playing politics with the governance structure. They want to play politics. We want to build a park."

The subject of this is the controversy over governance of the Great Park and bylaws of its Corporation. Agran writes reassuringly, "The laws which govern the operations of all city and county governments will apply to the Great Park Corp. board of directors. These laws include the public records act, the open meetings act, all conflict of interest statutes and all public disclosure measures. All of the Great Park Corp.'s actions will be subject to the scrutiny of the press and the public."
El Toro Info Site, August 30, 2003
Regional air traffic up in July

In July, every airport in the SCAG region showed an increase in traffic over the same month a year ago. The total number of passengers was 7,598,400, a 4.6 percent recovery from the depressed levels of the prior year.

Newspapers recently reported solid passenger increases at Long Beach, John Wayne, Ontario, Palm Springs and Burbank. Just released figures for LAX show that the region's main airport narrrowly achieved an increase of less than 0.2 percent.

For the calendar year to date, LAX still lags its 2002 volume for both domestic and international passengers. Cargo tonnage is up.
El Toro Info Site, August 29, 2003
Orange County Aviation Demand - 2002

El Toro advocates argue that Orange County should carry its "fair share" of the region's airport burden. The county-by-county "fair share" concept makes little practical sense, which may explain why it is not applied anywhere.

In the Bay Area, San Mateo County, with 10 percent of the population, carries over 60 percent of the aviation burden. In Metropolitan New York, Queens County with 13 percent of the population has two airports and also provides over 60 percent of the airport service.

While proponents of "fair share" throw out claims of what they think is Orange County's share, none show how they arrive at their numbers.

This website has sought to come up with the most current and hopefully most accurate published estimate of OC demand. We estimate that Orange County residents and visitors generated less than 14 million trips in 2002. About 6 million of them used LAX.

The as-yet unpublished 2001 passenger studies conducted at LAX and Ontario would help in refining this calculation. When they are released, we'll fine tune our estimates for 2001, and update our numbers for 2002.

But we still think it doesn't means much other than that most pro-El Toro rhetoric lacks merit. Those that can't measure what the demand was last year can't accurately predict what it will be in the future.
Daily Breeze, August 27, 2003 posted August 28
"County presses for LAX limits"
"Supervisors want L.A. to impose land restrictions to ensure an annual passenger cap of 78.9 million."

"In a move aimed at preventing the city of Los Angeles from expanding LAX in the future, the [LA] county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously asked the city to place deed restrictions on three areas of the airport that could be used for additional passenger terminals, runways or aircraft parking."

"Any deed restrictions at the airport would ultimately have to be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration."

Click for the entire article.
OC Register, August 27, 2003
"Council debates Great Park oversight"
"Mesh of nonprofit, corporate and city governance emerging as model for nonprofit board."

"A procession of speakers asked the Irvine City Council on Tuesday to make sure that the nonprofit corporation that would run the Great Park is totally accountable to the public."

"That seemed fine with the City Council. 'It's always been my idea that this board should be as transparent as a glass house,' said Councilman Mike Ward."

"No decision was [made last] evening on the directors for the Great Park board or on the bylaws that would govern the board's operation." The council will meet again Sept 9th to finalize bylaws and possibly begin approving board members.

Two reports by a citizen who attended the meeting plus the entire Register article are posted on the Message Board.
OC Register, August 26, 2003 - updated
"Great Park board in the works"
"Irvine council tonight will consider who and how many will supervise the plan."

"IRVINE – The City Council tonight will begin thrashing out the composition and mission of the board it is proposing to supervise development of the Great Park."

"City Council members say they are open to modifications of the plan and will propose some of their own."

Website Editor: The Register, in a more moderate editorial today, says "Keep Great Park truly open to public." The Register makes these recommendations that we support: The county's pro-airport effort failed in large part because of an unwillingness to include contrary opinions and a  resultant lack of credibility. Let's not allow the anti-airport victory to follow suit.
El Toro Info Site report, August 25, 2003
Norby stumping for McClintock as anti-El Toro

A recorded campaign telephone message received today from Supervisor Chris Norby provides this "El Toro update."

"Powerful Los Angeles special interests are still trying to build an airport at El Toro. Their plan is to pass special pro-airport legislation in Sacramento. Only one candidate for Governor has pledged to veto their airport scheme and that candidate is Tom McClintock."

McClintock's support is appreciated. However, the final date for passing any new state legislation this year is September 12. Anti-airport groups are on guard against a likely attempt to slip through a last-minute El Toro measure as part of the Legislature's closing crush of bills.

Results of the October 7 gubernatorial recall won't be certified until 30 days after the election. Consequently, Davis still will be Governor and the one to decide which bills from this session of the legislature to veto.

If the Irvine annexation and Navy property sale slip far enough behind schedule, Sacramento will have another shot at overriding the will of OC voters in early 2004.
LA Times, August 24, 2003
"Private Control of Great Park Opposed"
"Nonprofit created by Irvine to develop 1,300 acres of El Toro may skirt disclosure laws, supervisors say."

"Four Orange County supervisors want Irvine to reconsider its plans to hand over 1,300 acres of public land and as much as $400 million in fees to a private agency that would develop and run the city's proposed Great Park at the former El Toro Marine base."

"They worry the nonprofit group, though formed by the city, would be exempt from public accountability laws for other government entities."

"City officials say the corporation's formation is necessary to protect Irvine's general fund from exposure to Great Park expenses."

"The Irvine City Council, which created the corporation in June, is scheduled to approve its bylaws Tuesday . . .  [Mayor Larry] Agran said some council members and others have made suggestions that will be discussed.

Great Park Corporation "Board members would not be subject to term limits and would choose who would fill future vacancies. 'I would hope that the annexation would not be adopted if they keep with this self-perpetuating scheme,' [Supervisor Bill] Campbell said.

"Irvine officials based their plan for park management on 'similar proven models successfully governing large metropolitan parks such as New York's Central Park,' according to a staff report. Great Park backers frequently cite Central Park as a model for what they hope to achieve at El Toro."

See the first news report on this topic in Friday's website story below. Today's Times article is posted in the Early Bird thread of the website's message board. Then scroll down the thread to today's OC Register editorial in which the paper exceeds its usual anti-Agran and anti-Irvine rhetoric with "Hijacking El Toro".
El Toro Info Site Report, August 22, 2003
Concerns expressed over Great Park governance proposal

Supervisor Bill Campbell's weekly newsletter includes the following statement of concern and attached letter regarding the proposed Great Park Corportation.

"On Wednesday, I wrote to each of the members on the Irvine City Council regarding the recommended structure for the non-profit corporation to govern the Great Park at the former MCAS, El Toro. I am concerned that the corporation does not provide the transparency or openness necessary to protect the public's investment. In fact, the staff recommendation creates a Board of Directors comprised of two City Directors and five 'public' members. The five 'public' members are self-perpetuating. As a regional public facility, the Great Park should be managed for the benefit of all the residents of Orange County."

Supervisor Norby's offfice has expressed related concerns. The Great Park Corporation will manage substantial public assets and will control millions of dollars of contracts. The Supervisor believes that its procedures should be subject to the same degree of control as exists in the public park and recreation departments.
Daily Breeze, August 22, 2003
"Airlines offer LAX vision"
"Carriers say their plan would cost a third of Mayor Hahn’s proposal and be finished in half the time."

"A group of airlines has developed its own Los Angeles International Airport modernization plan that would cost a fraction of Mayor James Hahn’s $9 billion proposal and would take half as long to complete", according to Kelley Brown, executive director of the L.A. Airline Airport Affairs Committee, which includes about 80 LAX airlines.

"The airline plan, which is still a framework, eliminates some of the most expensive and controversial projects in Hahn’s plan, including the ground transportation center in the Manchester Square neighborhood 1 ½ miles east of the airfield."

"Hahn’s LAX blueprint . . . would constrain LAX to its current theoretical capacity of 78 million annual passengers by reducing the number of airplane boarding gates from 163 to 152."

"Most major air carriers, except United, oppose the plan because it’s expensive — airlines would foot much of the bill — and offers them no more capacity than they have today. Residents say the Manchester Square facility would push the airport’s impacts farther east, and they and some airline security experts believe it and the train would be ripe terrorist targets."

Website Editor: What emerges as a plan for LAX has profound effect on other regional airport communties. Palmdale and Inland Empire airports could experience growth if airlines can't get enough gates or freight capacity at LAX. However, Orange County residents fear that LA interests want to push the unmet passenger demand onto their county, at John Wayne and particularly at El Toro.

Click here for the entire article.  
El Toro Info Site report, August 20, 2003
OCTA push for Chuck Smith delayed

We have been informed that the Orange County Transportation Authority Board will not take up the matter of joining SCAG at Monday's meeting. The attempt to have the authority join SCAG and name El Toro proponent Chuck Smith as OCTA rep will be delayed, possibly until next month.
LA Times, August 20, 2003
"Hahn's LAX Plan Draws County Fire"
"[LA] Supervisors question if the proposal would discourage growth, as promised by the mayor."

"Los Angeles County lawmakers attacked Mayor James K. Hahn's $9-billion modernization plan for Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday, questioning whether the proposal would limit growth at the aging facility as the mayor promises, and criticizing an environmental study of the plan that was released last month."

On Tuesday, county supervisors reviewed a four-page [consultant's] report . . . which said the mayor's proposal may not constrain growth at LAX or make the airport more secure."

"'They're laying the groundwork for a massive expansion of this airport,' said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. 'I said to the mayor a few weeks ago that if you want to sell airport growth, go out and sell it like Riordan did.'"

"An airport expansion plan favored by [Hahn's] predecessor, Mayor Richard Riordan, ultimately was shelved because of intense opposition."

"Hahn signed a pledge during his campaign in 2001 promising to discourage growth at LAX past 78 million travelers a year."

"'The airlines are looking at this plan and complaining because it would limit growth," [an attorney for the airport commission] said. The supervisors are complaining because it may not. Click here for the entire article.
Cigar Aficionado, July/August issue website posted August 19, 2003
Schwarzenegger on airports

The following is from an interview with Paul Chutkow entitled, "Return of the Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger Talks about T3, Politics and his Desire to Give Something Back to America." We thank an alert viewer for finding this comment by Schwarzenegger on the need "to plan ahead."

"And then there's the airports.  LAX is overbooked.  San Francisco is overbooked.  They're exhausted.  How can we expect to have an increase in imports and exports from overseas when all the airports are overbooked?  We have to listen to those signals and say 'OK, let's get working on it!'  That's what action is about.  And that's what people admire in action heroes in the movies."

Website Editor: Get working on which airport, Arnold?
Los Angeles Daily News, August 19, 2003
"Pipe dreams for LAX?"
"Hahn's security proposals depend on technology still nonexistent"

"New security measures called for in Mayor James Hahn's $9.1 billion Los Angeles International Airport modernization plan require technology that has yet to be invented or is only in the conceptual stage, the Daily News learned Monday."

"City officials, already facing serious questions about their proposed security measures, acknowledged that the potential cost of new technology if it becomes available could drive up the price tag."

"Despite official assurances LAX security could be improved using current technology, critics seized on the new questions as more evidence that the costly planning process is flawed."

Click here for a sprinkling of today's articles regarding the Hahn plan. The Daily Breeze headlines that "Unions back $9 billion project at sparsely attended Inglewood meeting." Construction unions are major supporters of the project to tear down LAX terminals and build anew.

Today at 1:15 PM website editor Len Kranser will talk on KPCC FM 89.3 about the unpublished passenger studies conducted at LAX and Ontario in 2001. The findings could shed light on Hahn's proposal to reduce the number of gates at LAX and push future aviation capacity onto other airports.
El Toro Info Site report, August 18, 2003
Interim head selected for LA Airports

Mayor Jim Hahn announced his selection of Kim Day as Interim Executive Director of Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), the city department that operates Los Angeles International Airport, Ontario, Van Nuys, and Palmdale. Day will succeed Lydia H. Kennard who announced earlier this week she is leaving LAWA to pursue opportunities in the private sector.

Day has been a deputy executive director responsible for facility and space planning, design, engineering, and construction and maintenance at all four LAWA airports.

Hahn said, "She is eminently qualified to maintain the momentum and management focus at our airports as we continue to pursue our plans to develop a truly regional approach to meeting aviation demand in Southern California."

Board of Airport Commissioners President and SCAG leader Ted Stein repeated the "regional" emphasis. "She brings the experience needed to ensure LAWA continues to move forward on its many projects to improve regional air transportation in Los Angeles."

Stein is an outspoken advocate for an El Toro airport and he co-signed LA's bid to the federal government to takeover and operate the Orange County facility.
El Toro Info Site report, August 17, 2003
Chuck Smith supporters on OCTA to try again

The Orange County Transportation Authority Board will meet on Monday, August 25 and is expected to again consider joining SCAG and naming Supervisor Chuck Smith as OCTA's representative to the regional planning organization. A previous attempt to put Smith back into SCAG was beaten back by a public outcry.

The meeting will be held at 9:00 AM on August 25 at the Planning Commission Hearing Room at the County Hall of Administration, located at 10 Civic Center Drive in Santa Ana. A large turnout of anti-airport speakers is needed to convince the commissioners that it is a mistake to involve OCTA in the El Toro controversy.

This attempt is further proof that pro-airport forces are not giving up. Smith has publicly supported LA's attempt to take over El Toro and to run it as a satellite of LAX.
San Diego Union Tribune, August 16, 2003
"L.A. mayor releases proposal for 'safer' airport redesign"

" Mayor James Hahn has released a long-awaited proposal for redesigning Los Angeles International Airport, arguing it'll make passengers safer by dispersing check-in facilities and moving parking away from the main terminal."

"However, a report released by Los Angeles County officials yesterday criticized the plan, saying it lacks specifics on security and may not limit passenger growth. The report also said the proposed redesign is so different from previous alternatives for expansion that it should have a new, separate environmental analysis, raising the possibility that Hahn's environmental documentation is vulnerable to a legal challenge."

"Under the proposed $9 billion makeover, Terminals 1, 2 and 3 would be demolished and many of their gates would be relocated to a redesigned Tom Bradley International Terminal and a rebuilt Central Terminal Area. The new terminals would be better equipped to handle larger aircraft, airport officials say."

 "U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, D-El Segundo, who commissioned a report on the airport three months ago, criticized the safety elements of Hahn's proposal."

Click here to read the entire story in the "Early Bird News."
Los Angeles Daily News, August 16, 2003
"(LA Councilman) Smith backs LAX plans"
"Hahn's proposal gaining support"

 "Despite concerns about financing, Greig Smith on Friday became the first City Council member to formally endorse Mayor James Hahn's $10 billion proposal for modernizing Los Angeles International Airport."

"Smith said the plan, which is now subject to public hearings, provides the safety and security needed for the traveling public.”"

" 'Our first concern has to be to make sure we are providing a facility that is safe to the public and that we have done all we can to protect people and our economy," Smith said at a news conference. "This plan does that.’ "

 "Smith was joined by John Miller, chief of the Los Angeles Police Department's counterterrorism bureau, who also endorsed the proposal.'

" 'This really addresses a wide range of concerns and goes a long way to harden the target,’ Miller said.

Click here for entire story in the "Early Bird News."
Daily Breeze, August 16, 2003
"Consultant knocks airport plan "
"REPORT: Mayor’s vision for remote access lacks specifics and needs detailed analysis, study for county says."

"A report issued by Los Angeles County on Friday said Mayor James Hahn’s plan for modernizing Los Angeles International Airport lacks specifics on security, may not limit passenger growth and deserves to be the subject of a new, separate environmental analysis."

"The report, written by the consulting firm A.C. Lazzaretto & Associates, said the plan to allow LAX to accommodate larger passenger jets would give major airlines little incentive to go to other facilities in the region and would instead spur growth at the airport. Furthermore, Hahn’s plan for modernizing the airport is so different from its predecessors that a new environmental impact report will be required under California law, said the preliminary report."
 
" 'The whole purpose of an EIR . . . is to give the public a full disclosure of what’s being proposed and how the proposed impacts are going to be mitigated,' consultant Andrew Lazzaretto said. 'And this (document) makes it very, very difficult. Some of the data is very, very old.' "
 
"The report raises the possibility that Hahn’s environmental documentation is vulnerable to a legal challenge. And it provides another source of criticism for the LAX plan, which has already been questioned by major airlines and the South Bay’s two congressional representatives."

Click here to read the whole story in the "Early Bird News."

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, August 15, 2003
"LAX plan lands business for Ontario"
"Ontario's airport stands to pick up passenger, cargo traffic"

 "Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn's $9 billion modernization plan for Los Angeles International Airport will be good for the region and for Ontario International Airport, officials said this week."

"Hahn's plan -- in addition to adding safety and security elements -- caps the annual passenger rate at LAX at 78.9 million. Cargo is capped at 3.1 million annual tons."

"That means other regional airports, including underutilized Ontario International Airport, will pick up some of the additional air traffic and air cargo demand, said Jim Ritchie, deputy executive director for Los Angeles World Airports."

" 'I refer to Ontario as the crown jewel of the region," Ritchie said. "The community is supportive of this, and the city politically is supportive of growth. So because of that, we're in a very receptive environment.' "

Click here to read the entire story in the "Early Bird News"
Irvine World News, August 14, 2003
"Irvine maintains ETRPA membership, just in case”

"Irvine and nine other south county cities are spending $1 million this fiscal year to fight any last chance of a commercial airport at El Toro that both the Navy and federal Transportation Department say isn’t going to happen"

"Irvine and eight other South County cities each will pay $93,000 this fiscal year to ETRPA, Lake Forest will pay almost $200,000, which gets it two seats on the ETRPA board."

"Rancho Santa Margarita Mayor Gary Thompson fears a pro-airport group might try to purchase the property at auction, expected later this year after Irvine completes annexation of the property. Thompson sees the payment to ETRPA as the way to prevent that."

" ‘We don’t feel that the forces that want to see an airport at El Toro have laid down their swords, yet,” ETRPA spokeswoman Meg Waters said. “Until the base is sold, there is still the possibility another agency can come in’ "

“In north county, the Orange County Regional Airport Authority also remains in business, but compared to ETRPA, it’s practically on a hobby basis.”

 Click here to read the complete IWN story.
Daily Breeze, August 14, 2003
"Airport director resigns"
"TRANSITION: Top executive Lydia Kennard says she’ll leave for the private sector in the fall. Her move comes during a critical time for the agency."

"Los Angeles World Airports Executive Director Lydia Kennard said Wednesday that she will resign this fall, just as Mayor James Hahn is ratcheting up efforts to promote his $9 billion modernization plan for LAX."
 
"Kennard, who steered the airport through a grueling financial crisis after 9-11, said that she will leave LAWA to find a job in the private sector. Although LAWA officials could not say exactly when the 49-year-old airport chief will leave, Kennard — a nine-year veteran at LAWA — said she will work with Hahn to create a smooth transition period."

"Hahn praised Kennard for overhauling security at LAX and for providing financial stability to LAWA, an agency with 2,500 employees and an $862 million annual budget. But others familiar with LAX said they believed airport commission President Ted Stein, a Hahn appointee, had made it increasingly difficult for Kennard to stay."

"Others went further, saying it was an open secret at City Hall that Stein and Deputy Mayor Troy Edwards were dissatisfied with Kennard."

"Click here to read the entire story in the “Early Bird News.”
Orange County Register, August 13, 2003
"Airport foes not standing down"

"Ten south county cities are spending $1 million this fiscal year to fight any last chance of a commercial airport at El Toro that both the Navy and federal Transportation Department say isn't going to happen."

"'We don't believe the L.A. initiative to impose an airport on us is dead, yet," Irvine Mayor Larry Agran said. "And until the groundbreaking for the Great Park, ETRPA will have a role to play.'"

"ETRPA is the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, formed in 1994 to promote almost any reuse of the 4,700-acre base but as an airport. Lake Forest will pay almost $200,000 this fiscal year to ETRPA; nine other south-county cities each will pay $93,000. Lake Forest is paying a double membership to get two seats on the board."

"South county cities think every cent devoted to ETRPA is well-spent."

"Despite assurances from the Navy and Transportation Department, ETRPA says it won't disband until construction workers begin chopping up the runways at the old base. Last week, Irvine hosted a seminar for contractors interested in bidding on that work."

Click here for the entire story in the "Early Bird News"
Daily Breeze, August 13, 2003
"Labor unions bring clout to LAX hearing"

"A burly, bearded man stood directly across from the elevator on the second floor of a Wilshire Boulevard hotel as people flowed into the first public hearing Monday evening on Mayor James Hahn’s modernization proposal for Los Angeles International Airport."

"Labor organizations that support Hahn’s $9 billion LAX plan turned the Radisson Plaza Hotel ballroom into a forest of yellow, and most remaining seats were occupied by well-dressed, pro-Hahn Korean-American business people."

"Supporters said the plan modernizes an inconvenient, antiquated airport, while constraining it to its current theoretical capacity of 78 million annual passengers, improving airfield safety and insulating the facility from a terrorist attack. They also said it will create an estimated 49,000 construction jobs; one man even suggested that the extra employment could steer young men from gang life."

"Critics of Hahn’s plan — only a handful sat anonymously in the audience of about 250 people — privately suggested that the mayor deliberately packed the gathering with supporters and held it far away from communities most affected by LAX operations in a bid to limit the number of negative voices that would brave rush-hour freeway traffic to drive to the Mid-Wilshire district."

Click here to read the entire story in  the "Early Bird News."
 El Toro Info Site report, August 11, 2003
Anaheim withdraws from OCRAA

At a closed session of the Anaheim City Council last week,  four of the five Anaheim City Council members voted to approve the withdrawal of the city from the Orange County Regional Airport Authority and authorize the City Manager to give notice to the Authority as provided in the Joint Powers Agreement.  The lone dissenter was council member Bob Hernandez.

Anaheim is the latest of several cities opting out of OCRAA.  In July Buena Park withdrew, and Tustin, Orange, and Fullerton withdrew earlier. Click here to go to July 23 Headline News story.
El Toro Info Site report, August 10, 2003
Regional air travel update - 2002

Total commercial airline passenger traffic for the SCAG region fell for a second year in a row. Traffic declined by approximately 5 percent in 2002. 77.8 million passengers used the region's six airports in 2002, down from 81.9 MAP in 2001 and 88.8 MAP in 2000.

Click here for a listing of the nation's busiest commercial passenger airports including the six in this region: - LAX, John Wayne, Ontario, Burbank, Long Beach, and Palm Springs.

El Toro Info Site report, August 7, 2003, updated August 8
Alternatives to LAX

Friday, the Inland Empire Economic Partnership is showing Southern California leaders that "the answer to air traffic demand lies to the East." They are hosting a tour of five airports ready to take on Southern California's future aviation demand if LAX won't. Reporters, SCAG officials, and electeds will puddle jump by chartered plane from Ontario airport to Palm Springs, San Bernardino International, March Global Port, and Southern California Logistics Airport for presentations. Click for the Press-Enterprise story on the tour.
An IE press release says, "Future population growth will be in the Inland Empire and these communities . . . will need the jobs, they will have the cargo and passengers and they are ready to go."

Meanwhile, a Los Angeles Assistant City Attorney wrote us Wednesday that they don't have to provide public records we seek that summarize the counties of origin of passengers who use LAX and Ontario and their share of the total traffic. These facts would help those commenting on the adequacy of the LAX Master Plan EIR, which relies on outdated and possibly incorrect passenger demand data to justify freezing the capacity of LAX.

He wrote that draft documents don't have to be shared if "the public interest in withholding those records clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure." Apparently LA officials hope to decide what is and is not in the public interest. See more on this story below.
El Toro Info Site report, August 6, 2003
Unpublished LA study will show who uses airports
Preliminary data suggests O.C. use of LAX is about 6 MAP. The number is frequently exaggerated

Data from passenger surveys conducted in 2001 at Los Angeles International and Ontario Airports strongly suggests that the level of Orange County use of those airports is frequently exaggerated. The surveys were conducted for Los Angeles World Airports in 2001 prior to the terrorist attacks. Reports summarizing the findings were never made public.

The raw data from over 17,000 passenger interviews and associated internal LAWA correspondence was obtained by this website through the use of the California Public Records Act.

Internal LAWA e-mails from 2001 when air traffic was higher than it is now said, "the new data indicates that about 6 million LAX passengers (arriving and departing) originated in Orange County."

That number should be lower today with the general decline in air travel and passenger preference for John Wayne airport's more convenient security procedures.

Nevertheless, every public statement from LA officials on the subject of O.C.'s use of LAX has claimed larger numbers as high as 20 million annual passengers. The Southern California Association of Governments, SCAG, used an estimate of about 9 million for its 2001 regional plan. On September 21, 2002, The Daily Breeze ran a Copley News Service report "El Segundo Mayor [Mike] Gordon said Orange County residents account for 20 percent of the passengers at LAX", which meant about 12 million passengers for 2001.

A similar survey conducted in 1993 found that O.C.'s use of LAX totaled about 4.1 million.

After a Los Angeles Assistant City Attorney refused to answer the website's most recent Public Records Act request  for draft summaries of the 2001 findings, the LAWA Manager of Forecasting and Analysis wrote that the data needs correcting. "It would not be in the public interest to release the information at this time." LAWA says it will release the findings by the end of September, more than two years after the data was collected.

Orange County is a political football getting kicked around by those trying to prevent the future growth of LAX. They intentionally overstate Orange County's aviation demand and overlook the fact that most of the region's growth is occurring in Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernadino Counties. See story below.
LA Times, August 6, 2003
"Inland Empire Tops House Market"
"In the first half of the year, one in four new homes in California was built in Riverside and San Bernardino counties."

"The Inland Empire continued to dominate a white-hot California housing market during the first half of 2003, with one in four new homes statewide built in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, according to the Construction Industry Research Board."

"There are just huge amounts of unmet demand for housing in Southern California, and, really, the inland region is the only place you can build it," said Redlands-based economist John Husing.

"The Riverside-San Bernardino county area led [in building permits] by a wide margin, followed by Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego counties."

Website Editor: Read the entire article. It's a good reason why the region's aviation capacity should expand to the Inland Empire and not in built-out Orange County.
Daily Breeze, August 5, 2003
"El Segundo mayor set for 53rd"

"He’s formed a campaign committee and amassed a war chest of more than $600,000, but El Segundo Mayor Mike Gordon still won’t make it official that he’s running for Assembly in 2004."

"But political observers conclude it’s all but guaranteed Gordon will soon declare his intention to replace state Assemblyman George Nakano of Torrance, who is forced out of office next year by term limits."

"Records from the California secretary of state show Gordon, a small-town mayor who made a name for himself fighting LAX expansion, has raised $601,000 in less than two months."

Website Editor: Gordon a strong advocate for El Toro Airport and is expected to support his constituents wishes in Sacramento to limit LAX growth. He has put together a coalition of nearly 80 cities and counties that opposes LAX expansion.

Meanwhile, in Orange County, candidates with pro-El Toro backgrounds, like Ken Maddox and Cristi Cristich of Newport Beach are running for Assembly seats to represent districts that should be heavily anti-airport. It doesn't figure.
North [San Diego] County Times, August 3, posted August 4, 2003
"For airport, signs point to Miramar"

"A working group of 32 people representing downtown San Diego interests, environmental groups, airlines, the military and various government agencies has been asked to pare the list [of 16 candidate locations for a new San Diego airport] to five, six or seven serious contenders this month. The group's recommendation will be sent to the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority board for consideration in October."

"The group is analyzing information on such things as distance to central San Diego, capacity of nearby roads, the number of people living nearby, environmental impacts and whether a mountain must be leveled."

"The authority is trying to replace Lindbergh Field, also known as San Diego International, or build an airport to work in tandem with Lindbergh, to handle San Diego County's air traffic decades into the future."

"Voters will have the final say over where it goes ---- and whether an airport even gets built. That countywide election is anticipated to take place in November 2006."

"The site analysis suggests Miramar will be No. 1 on the short list."

"Pendleton offers something most sites don't: a chance to build a regional airport that draws customers not only from San Diego County but from Orange and Riverside counties as well."

Read the entire article or visit the San Diego Regional Airport Authority website for more details.

Website Editor: A similar process was conducted in Orange County in 1990 but the findings were never put to use when attention was turned to El Toro. The Marine base was not a finalist in that analysis.
Daily Breeze, August 3, 2003
"Mayors aim to hold line on LAX"
"Los Angeles’ Hahn and El Segundo’s Gordon are working on a pact to limit passenger capacity."

"Mayor James Hahn is working with El Segundo leaders to create a legally binding agreement under which Los Angeles could not do anything to expand passenger capacity at Los Angeles International Airport for nearly two decades, officials say."

"The agreement is being pushed by El Segundo Mayor Mike Gordon as part of his city’s efforts to prevent LAX from growing beyond its current theoretical capacity of 78 million annual passengers. Gordon said he wants to have that promise enshrined in law so that future mayors and city officials will have to observe it."

"Most major airlines, which would foot much of the modernization bill, dislike it because it limits airport growth. The federal government also recognizes LAX as a critical component of the national airspace system."

Website Editor: Gordon heads a coalition of cities that wants aviation capacity spread regionally and especially to Orange County.
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