NEWS-
September 2004
Today's
Headlines - click on date for story
Bill Campbell's Third District Report, September 30,
2003
John Wayne Airport
PFC
Irvine World News, September 30, 2004
"Candidates address
council's role with Great Park development"
Daily Pilot, September 28, 2004
"Airport
struggling to stay under the cap"
"With passenger
levels at John Wayne climbing every month, activists already are
looking past 2015, when limits on travelers annually are scheduled to
end."
LA Times, September 28, 2004 - updated
"Trade Group
Endorses Revised LAX Plan"
El Toro Info Site report, September 27, 2004
Airlines endorse
modernization of LAX
El Toro Info Site report, September 27, 2004
"Consensus Plan for
Los Angeles Airport Master Plan Wins Major Endorsement"
LA Times, September 24, 2004
"Cargo Hub
OKd at March Air Base"
LA Times, September 24, 2004
"Ethics
Policy Takes Root With Great Parks Board"
LA Times, September 23, 2004
"A state agency
gives tentative approval to a high-speed rail line route that would go
through Palmdale."
El Toro Info Site Report, September 22, 2004
Lively Great Park
Corp. agenda for Thursday
OC Register, September 22, 2004
"Airport plan
could put El Toro in play"
"L.A. councilwoman
proposes airport authority that would include O.C."
OC Weekly, September 17-23, 2004, posted
September 20, 2004
"Agran Trips on His
Own Poll"
Press- Enterprise, September 20, 2004
"Stakes run high as
airports compete"
El Toro Info Site Report, September 19, 2004
A job for the Great
Park Conservancy Advisory Board
Supervisor Bill Campbell's Third District
Report,
September 17, 2004
"Great Park
Conservancy"
North County Times, September 16, 2004, posted
September 17
"New [SD] East
County site recommended for regional airport
El Toro Info Site report, September 16, 2004
"8.4 and block the
door."
LA Daily News, September 15, 2004
LA County
"Supervisors reject Hahn plan for LAX"
NY Times, September 13, posted September 14, 2004
LAX, the TV Show
El Toro Info Site report, September 13, 2004
SCAG region air
passengers up 8.8 percent
LA Times, September 13, 2004
"Irvine Mayor
Target of Ethics Accusations"
El Toro Info Site report, September 12, 2004
Delay of sale is
costly
Los Angeles Times, September 11, 2004
"Fall
Auction for El Toro Parcels Set"
"We are ready
to go,' says a Navy official. The
sales of the Marine base land are expected to be completed by July."
Daily Breeze, September 9, 2004
"Can
LAX growth be restricted by edict?"
"The
fourth-busiest airport in the world is
expected to reach its proposed passenger cap of 78 million a year in
2014, but
experts are split on whether it can be enforced."
Los Angeles Times, September 8, 2004
"Daily
Flights to Resume at Palmdale"
"After six
years, airport will start service to
North Las Vegas. The city is offering a year of free rent and subsidies
to
Scenic Airlines."
Orange County Register, September 6, 2004
"A
breakup with a future"
LA Times Editorial, September 5, 2004
"An Immodest Proposal"
Press-Enterprise,
September 3, 2004
San Bernardino
"Airport master plan projects growth"
El Toro
Info Site report, September 3, 2004
Organizing for the
Great Park
Daily
Pilot, The Bell Curve, September 2, 2004
Newport women lead
the fight against more flights
OC
Weekly, August 25 - September 2, 2004, Website posted September 1
"Agran’s Tree
People"
"Somebody’s going
to get very rich on the Great Park"
Click here for
previous news stories
Bill
Campbell's Third District Report, September 30, 2003
John Wayne Airport
PFC
"John Wayne Airport proposed a $4.50 'public facility charge' on all
enboarding passengers in order to pay for three capital improvement
projects. At my request, the Airport continued the item in order to
further study the fiscal necessity of levying this charge on
passengers. So far, I am not convinced that this fee is necessary. I
will closely examine the passenger load, capital improvement plan and
financing models for John Wayne Airport before this item is brought
back to the Board."
Website Editor: Supervisors Smith, Silva and Coad tapped John Wayne Airport for tens of millions of
dollars to pay for the County's failed El Toro Airport campaign -
without the need for a PFC. Thanks Supervisor Campbell for trying to
keep JWA airport tickets competitive.
Irvine
World News, September 30, 2004
"Candidates address
council's role with Great Park development"
Each candidate for Irvine Mayor or a City Council seat in November's
election was asked to express their views on this question. The brief
statements showed no major fundamental disagreement in their positions.
All appeared supportive of the project.
"At Tuesday night's meeting, the City Council unanimously approved an
impromptu motion made by [Councilmember Christina] Shea that requested
information from a variety of agencies regarding companies that might
be preparing to bid for Great Park contracts."
She also made a "request that the Great Park Conservancy disclose all
its donors and the amounts donated" and "all financial information."
Click here for both articles.
Daily
Pilot, September 28, 2004
"Airport
struggling to stay under the cap"
"With passenger
levels at John Wayne climbing every month, activists already are
looking past 2015, when limits on travelers annually are scheduled to
end."
"John Wayne Airport's passenger levels have soared every month for the last year as
a result of increased capacity allowed by the settlement agreement that
governs airport operations. August was its busiest month ever, with
more than 872,000 people using the airport."
"If the airport were to reach the cap before the end of a given year,
it would have to be shut down until the year's end, [AWG's Tom]
Naughton said." Website Editor -
That won't happen because airport managers withdraw a small fraction of
each airline's seat allocation months in advance if traffic is running
ahead of projections.
"Solutions will be a long time coming, but officials and airport
activists are working toward them, both behind the scenes and out in
the open."
"In the next few weeks, Newport Beach city
officials will begin discussions with Orange County supervisors about
four issues over which the city would like to have more control. One of
those issues is John Wayne Airport."
"[City Manger Homer] Bludau said it will be several months before he
can provide details on what the city is proposing, but keeping a tight
hold on airport passenger levels will be a top priority for the city
for at least the next decade."
"Hoping to address the transportation problem regionally, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Cindy
Miscikowski is pushing a plan to manage traffic at LAX that could
include creating a regional airport authority, a body that would
essentially force Southern California officials to come to the table
and talk airports."
"'The councilwoman recognized that we do need to have some sort of a
regional solution,' said David Kissinger, who is Miscikowski's
airport-relations deputy. 'Typically, state legislation would enable a
regional authority that would require the local agencies to sit down
and be a part of this regional authority.'"
"A regional authority theoretically would have the power, for example,
to resurrect the proposal for a commercial airport at the closed El
Toro Marine Corps Air Station, an option Orange County voters nixed in
2002 when they voted to rezone the land as a park. Some Newport-Mesa
activists have tenaciously held on to the El Toro airport idea."
"'I don't see it as likely,' Kissinger said. 'My own personal view is
that, today, if you wanted El Toro to happen, you would need federal
intervention.'"
"[Charles] Griffin . . . said recently that he plans to travel to
France later this month to suggest that plane manufacturer Airbus buy
El Toro when it's auctioned off this fall and use it to accommodate the
new, larger passenger plane the company is developing." Website Editor: Sorry Charles, This is not
likely to meet Irvine's zoning regulations.
Click to read the entire article . . .
LA Times,
September 28, 2004 - updated
"Trade Group
Endorses Revised LAX Plan"
"As the City Council on Wednesday begins to weigh a modernization plan
for Los Angeles International Airport, Mayor James K. Hahn and
Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski are working overtime to win over the
remaining detractors in the community."
"Miscikowski's plan would allow projects with a broad consensus to move
forward, including a consolidated rental car center, a transit hub and
a FlyAway bus system. Her plan would also move the airport's
southernmost runway 50 feet closer to El Segundo."
"But the jubilation that accompanied the airlines' endorsement could be
short-lived. Negotiations with other major players, such as the city of
El Segundo and a coalition of community groups, have hit turbulence and
it's unclear if the city will be able to appease them."
See articles below for more on this development. Click for the Times report . . .
The Daily Breeze reports The ATA President
"declined to discuss capacity issues . . Instead, he focused on
what he said were the compromise plan's benefits."
"Carriers still have concerns about the plan's goal of constraining the
world's fourth-busiest airport to its current theoretical capacity of
78.9 million annual passengers and 3.1 million annual tons of cargo. .
. .Some experts believe efforts to constrain the airport will prove
fruitless, and some airline officials believe LAX's actual capacity is
well above 78.9 million passengers."
El Toro
Info Site report, September 27, 2004
Airlines endorse
modernization of LAX
The Air Transport Association today endorsed a modernization plan for
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) that would expedite development
of much needed airport improvements.
An ATA press release "calls for the airport to move forward with
essential elements of the LAX master plan, such as the realignment of
the South Airfield to improve runway safety and enhancements to the Tom
Bradley International Terminal. It would also require additional
analysis and review before more controversial projects, such as
Manchester Square, could proceed."
James C. May, ATA's president and chief executive officer spoke today at a
media event on behalf of ATA member airlines, as well as the LAX
Airlines Airport Affairs Committee, which represent 80-plus passenger,
cargo, domestic and international carriers that serve the airport.
”From the beginning, we shared Mayor Hahn's dual objectives of creating
a safer and more secure LAX while continuing to set a high standard for
customer service,” May said. "The LAX Consensus Plan is good for Los
Angeles. It's good for the airlines. It's good for travelers. It's also
good for local jobs in greater Los Angeles. And it's good for the local
economy by energizing LAX as one of this region's primary economic
engines."
If approved by the Los Angeles City Council, the consensus plan would
allow for work to begin on non-controversial or ”green-lighted”
projects, which the airline industry estimates will cost $3 billion to
complete. Airport users, including the nation's airlines, would share
the costs for LAX improvements; the exact amount would be determined
after federal grants are in place.
Click here for the entire press release and
May's statement. The Air Transport Association made no specific
mention of LA efforts to bar future growth at LAX and to move airport
expansion to
other parts of the region.
El
Toro Info Site report, September 27, 2004
"Consensus Plan for
Los Angeles Airport Master Plan Wins Major Endorsement"
A Los Angeles World Airports Media Release with the above headline
reports that at 9:00 AM Monday. "Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn and City Councilwoman Cindy
Miscikowski (District 11) will hold a news conference to announce
a major endorsement of the Consensus LAX Master Plan for Los Angeles
International Airport (LAX}."
Stay tuned. We will post a report on the mystery endorser after the
press conference.
Details on the Master Plan which boosts the call for regionalization of
airports is online at http://www.laxmasterplan.org/
The Hahn-Miscikowski consensus plan includes overriding the Los Angeles
County's Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC).
The Master Plan EIR is to be certified despite an appeal by the City of
El Segundo. The city opposes relocation of a runway approximately 50
feet south to accommodate a new center taxiway between the south
runways. The new center taxiways will improve airfield safety and
reduce the possibility of runway incursions.
Under the LAX Master Plan (Alternative D), "the number of aircraft
gates will decrease from the existing 163 to 153 to place practical
constraints on numbers of operations and passengers handled and limit
the throughput of LAX to approximately 78.9 MAP."
LA Times,
September 24, 2004
"Cargo Hub
OKd at March Air Base"
"Panel approves
plans to build a warehouse, allow 20 flights daily, including 11 at
night."
"An early Thursday morning vote to permit a commercial [air] cargo hub at March
Air Reserve Base capped a marathon public hearing that revealed the
deep divide between longtime residents and newcomers to the rapidly
growing suburbs of Riverside County."
Opponents, "waved signs reading 'Let My Children Breathe' and 'Count
Sheep, Not Planes.' "'I moved here because of three words: quality of
life,' said one young veteran. 'Don't destroy my family's dream.'"
"Proponents said the project would create as many as 3,000 indirect
jobs, reducing commuter traffic to Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Critics countered that those would be low-paying warehouse jobs for
people who could not afford to live in the higher-priced homes being
built nearby."
Website Editor: Click here for the
article, which echoes the El Toro
battle of a few years ago.
LA
Times, September 24, 2004
"Ethics
Policy Takes Root With Great Parks Board"
"Vendors involved
in the Marine base makeover must declare their links to members of the
panel."
"Members of Irvine's Great Park Board of Directors adopted a
conflict-of-interest policy Thursday after complaining that Mayor Larry
Agran appeared to be directing business to one of his political
contributors." Website Editor: The
"complaining" came almost entirely from Irvine Councilmembers Christina
Shea, Mike Ward and Chris Mears. The four public members of the Board
largely avoided the allegations against Agran.
"Directors unanimously adopted the ethics guidelines after learning
that city staffers had been directed on behalf of Agran to work with
Raphael 'Ray' Chaikin, who holds an interest in nurseries, on providing
trees for the proposed Great Park."
"Agran rejected the concerns, but voted to strengthen the ethics policy
by requiring vendors to declare relationships with board members. Agran
said he has had many contacts with people who want to do business at
the park — and there's nothing wrong with it."
"Chaikin, who now lives in Alaska, said in an e-mail that the tree
issue has been overblown by the mayor's political enemies to attack
Agran's integrity before the Nov. 2 election."
Click for the entire Pasco story.
Website Editor: Councilmember
Christina Shea, asked that City staff collect information on the
contributors to the Great Park Conservancy and an on three entities
involved with Great Park trees. She withdrew the motion after
protracted debate.
LA
Times, September 23, 2004
"A state agency
gives tentative approval to a high-speed rail line route that would go
through Palmdale."
"The California High-Speed Rail Authority board tentatively approved a
plan Wednesday to route the proposed bullet train through the Antelope
Valley, with a station in Palmdale [near the airport]. A final vote is
scheduled for December."
"The proposed 700-mile rail network, with trains traveling up to 220
mph, is intended to whisk riders from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 2
1/2 hours . . . The entire project, from San Diego to Sacramento, is
projected to cost more than $30 billion." Experts estimate the trip
from downtown Los Angeles to Palmdale will take "as little as 26
minutes."
Website Editor: The project will
relieve pressure on LAX by delivering LA County passengers to Palmdale
for flights and by reducing the number of air passengers overall. Data
in the LAX Master Plan shows that one-third of all origin and
destination passengers using the SCAG region's six airports are going
to other airports within a 400-mile radius with the Bay area topping
the list.
Click for entire article.
El
Toro Info Site Report, September 22, 2004
Lively Great Park
Corp. agenda for Thursday
The Great Park Corp. Board will meet on Thursday, September 23 at
4:00PM in the City Council Chambers at Irvine City Hall. The agenda has been posted on the City
website.
Item 4.3 Revised Procurement
Policy agendized by Councilman Mike Ward seeks to add language
to the GPC procurement rules to "require the 'Proposer' [of a contract]
to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest."
Item 9 Great Park Contracts agendized
by Councilmember Christina Shea is intended to examine controversial
expenditures such
as contracts involving trees for the park.
Members of the public who favor an open and honest development of the
Park are encouraged to attend.
OC
Register, September 22, 2004
"Airport plan
could put El Toro in play"
"L.A. councilwoman
proposes airport authority that would include O.C."
"A Los Angeles city councilwoman is proposing creation of a regional
airport authority that would have broad powers on the location and
levels of commercial air service."
"As envisioned, representatives from Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside,
San Bernardino and Ventura counties would be included in the authority,
which conceivably could seek to resurrect El Toro as a commercial
airport."
"Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski said she will bring up the regional
airport authority issue at meetings beginning next week to address Los
Angeles County concerns in the Los Angeles International Airport master
plan about air quality, traffic and dispersal of future air traffic
growth. LAX lies in Miscikowski's district."
"Regional airport authorities such as those in San Diego, New York,
Boston and Washington, D.C., typically hold the power to override local
decisions on airports and so, for example, could determine that an
airport ought to be built at El Toro."
"But even backers of such an airport authority concede that recapturing
El Toro as a commercial airport would take federal intervention."
Click for the entire article.
Website Editor: The federal
government probably would need to stop the sale scheduled to begin this
fall and to be completed by mid-2005. It likely would take an act of
Congress to change the Navy's disposal plans. The California
legislature - where Los Angeles has much more clout than Orange County
- then would get involved, overriding local authority on the zoning. It
is theoretically possible, but not easy.
OC
Weekly, September 17-23, 2004, posted September 20, 2004
"Agran Trips on His
Own Poll"
The Weekly continues its heated attack on Irvine Mayor Larry Agran, to
the discomfort of those of us who want the non-aviation development of
El Toro to proceed with maximum community trust and support. The Weekly
summarizes several accusations reported elsewhere.
Click for the entire Scott Moxley article.
Calendar Thursday, September 23 at
4:00 PM when the Great Park Corporation - not to be confused
with Dornan's Great Park Conservancy - will hold its regular open
public meeting at Irvine City Hall. We hope some confidence will be
restored.
Press-
Enterprise, September 20, 2004
"Stakes run high as
airports compete"
"Three Inland airports vying for a DHL air-cargo hub are fighting for
more than just the 300 jobs they hope the company will bring to the
area. Also on the line is a chance at business opportunities that would
be difficult for those airports to otherwise obtain."
"Officials at March Air Reserve Base near Moreno Valley, the former
Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino and Ontario International
Airport are pursuing DHL. Ontario already boasts an air-cargo facility
operated by industry giant UPS."
"DHL wants to build a Southern California air-cargo hub to compete with
FedEx and UPS in the cargo-delivery market . . . An air-cargo center is
a necessity for high-end manufacturing companies and logistics and
distribution firms, Inland economist John Husing said."
More . . .
El
Toro Info Site Report, September 19, 2004
A job for the Great
Park Conservancy Advisory Board
In a letter attached to the email bulletin quoted below, Supervisor
Bill Campbell writes, "It was my understanding in joining the Great
Park Conservancy Advisory Board that the Great Park Conservancy was
established to raise funds for the Great Park's construction and to
facilitate public input in the planning process."
This website recently published documents
showing the amount of funds raised and how some of it was spent.
When the website editor requested a copy of the $30,000 international
"expo feasibility study" we learned it was not available to the public.
Had the Great Park Corporation sponsored the expo study, instead of the
Conservancy, it would have been subject to disclosure under the
California Public Records Act.
Our website has campaigned for open, honest, and speedy non-aviation
development of El Toro. We are troubled by recent reports of possible irregularities
in that process, all involving Conservancy Director Ed Dornan..
Hopefully, the Great Park Conservancy Advisory Board,
to which Supervisors Campbell and Wilson lent their names, will advise
the Conservancy on building public confidence in how money that is
donated is put to use.
Supervisor
Bill Campbell's Third District Report, September 17, 2004
"Great Park
Conservancy"
"Recently the OC Weekly and the Los Angeles Times reported that the
Great Park Conservancy increased a $36,000 bid submitted by a private
contractor for tree removal services at MCAS, El Toro to add $20,000 to
support the Conservancy. This did not seem proper. Therefore, I wrote
to the Chairman of the Conservancy asking for an explanation. To view the letter, click here."
The connection between Tom Larson, the contractor referenced in the
supervisors' letter and Ed Dornan was found by this website through an
Internet search on Great Park trees. At a 2003 conference in Los
Angeles, Dornan introduced himself as director of the Great Park
Forestry Trust Inc. Larson and an associate, identified as principals
in the Great Park Landscape Co. participated with Dornan in a panel
presentation. We had not previously heard of either organization.
North
County Times, September 16, 2004, posted September 17
"New [SD] East
County site recommended for regional airport
"Consultants working for the San Diego Regional Airport Authority, the
panel charged with looking for a place to build a new regional airport,
may add one more location to its list."
"The potential site is in East County at Corte Madera Valley, about 45
miles east of San Diego and five miles south of Interstate 8."
"The sites currently under review are: the March Air Reserve Base in
Riverside County; two sites at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San
Diego; Camp Pendleton, north of Oceanside; North Island Naval Air
Station in Coronado; an unspecified location in the Imperial County
desert; the existing downtown San Diego airport; a site in Anza
Borrego, 95 miles northeast of the existing airport; and a site in
Campo, 75 miles east of the airport."
Click for more.
El
Toro Info Site report, September 16, 2004
"8.4 and block the
door."
AirFair, a Newport Beach based group, wants John Wayne Airport limited
to 10.8 million annual passengers. See September 2 story below. While
Airfare's mantra is "10.8 and lock the gate" the Orange County Land Use
Commission, ALUC apparently supports "8.4 and block the door."
OC's ALUC is ducking its responsibility. ALUC's are created to protect
airspace from encroachment by nearby land development. State law
requires ALUCs to look 20 years into the future, plan around the
projected growth of airports, and set land use restrictions
accordingly.
However, the OC ALUC resists updating its John Wayne airport environs
land use plan, which is based on noise contours developed in 1984 for
the airport's obsolete 8.4 MAP limits. If ALUC fails to protect the
planned 10.8 MAP airspace, encroaching high-rise buildings and
residential development in the flight paths could limit the airport's
ability to grow.
Instead, its staff of county employees is engaged in the wasteful
business of reviewing plans of all nearby cities for conformance with
ALUC's out-of-date JWA restrictions.
That is typical for the renegade commission that also refuses to rescind its El Toro airport
restrictions.
LA
Daily News, September 15, 2004
LA County
"Supervisors reject Hahn plan for LAX"
"Los Angeles County supervisors voted Tuesday to reject Mayor James
Hahn's proposed $9.1 billion plan to modernize LAX and to study a new
proposal by mayoral rival Councilman Bernard Parks."
"The board voted 5-0 and said it believed more attention should be
given to the alternative proposed by Parks, which would focus more on
regional airports, cap yearly passenger capacity at 78 million, extend
the Metro Green Line light rail, and make enhancements to the Tom
Bradley International Terminal."
"'We believe 10 years has been spent studying the wrong plan,' Parks
told the board. "They have been studying an expanded LAX. They should
have studied a master plan to enhance air transportation for the entire region.'"
Website Editor: Councilman Parks'
proposal includes the
creation of a regional airport authority. Many who take this position
hope to impose more airport capacity on Orange County, eg. at El Toro.
NY Times,
September 13, posted September 14, 2004
LAX, the TV Show
"How could something that feels so right be so wrong? Heather Locklear
and Blair Underwood are dream casting, the trashy version of Faye
Dunaway and Steve McQueen. There was every reason to expect their new
series on NBC would be as deliciously campy as 'Dynasty' and 'L.A.
Law.'"
"It isn't."
"'LAX,' which begins tonight [Monday], actually takes itself seriously
as a drama about the Los Angeles airport." More . . .
El
Toro Info Site report, September 13, 2004
SCAG region air
passengers up 8.8 percent
The number of passengers flying from the six airports in the Southern
California Association of Governments region rose by 8.8 percent in
July 2004 when compared to the same month a year ago.
International travel out of LAX set the pace, showing a 13 percent
increase in volume. Foreign travel generated 29 percent of the
passengers at LAX and 20 percent of the region's total traffic for the
month.
John Wayne Airport, where the limit on the number of passengers that
can be served was raised, is part of the trend with a 6.8 percent
increase over the previous July. Click here for a graphical presentation of
JWA traffic data.
LA Times,
September 13, 2004
"Irvine Mayor
Target of Ethics Accusations"
"A former ally
accuses Agran of improperly aiding political backers. He denies those
charges, but some officials are seeking an investigation."
"Much is at stake for [Mayor Larry] Agran, who has spent most of his
adult life in government or working for nonprofit organizations he
created to promote civic activism."
"The [November Irvine City Council] election will influence the
degree of Agran's continued sway over Irvine's ambitious $411-million
redevelopment of the former El Toro Marine base as a Great Park. Agran
introduced the park idea as an alternative to the county's plans for a
commercial airport at El Toro and regards the park as his political
legacy."
Website Editor: The Times article summarizes several
ongoing controversies involving Larry Agran and his allies, including a
utilities project, the award of city ambulance service contracts, and
moneymaking opportunities in trees for the Great Park. The newspaper
packages the story under a headline sure to appear in anti-Agran
political mailers.
El Toro
Info Site report, September 12, 2004
Delay of sale is
costly
The Navy hopes to realize around a billion dollars from the El Toro
sale. At today's interest rate on the national debt, the delay is
costing taxpayers in the general neighborhood of $100,000 a day.
A top Navy official said this week that the sale "would begin this
fall." He went on, "We expect [the documents] to be completed within a
month or two." See story below. The long awaited "documents" that
begin the sale are the Invitations for Bids, IFBs that detail
the terms and conditions and instruct prospective buyers how to submit
offers.
It appears that the General Services Administration and the Navy may
delay actually taking bids until after the Christmas - New Years
holidays. Too bad. If the auction were begun a month sooner, there
could be an extra $3 million in the government's stocking.
Los
Angeles Times, September 11, 2004
"Fall
Auction for El Toro Parcels Set"
"We are ready
to go,' says a Navy official. The
sales of the Marine base land are expected to be completed by July."
"Offering the
most definitive timeline yet for
the sale of the closed El Toro Marine base to developers, a high
ranking Navy
official said Friday that the auction for the land will begin this fall
and be
completed before the end of July."
"Demolition
of the former military airfield's
runway could begin shortly after that, erasing the physical vestige of
a
political battle that divided Orange County for a decade."
Click
here to go to a site for
details about how to pre-qualify for auction bidding.
Click here to read Daniel
Yi's entire LAT news story in the Early Bird News section.
Daily
Breeze, September9, 2004
"Can
LAX growth be restricted by edict?"
"The
fourth-busiest airport in the world is
expected to reach its proposed passenger cap of 78 million a year in
2014, but
experts are split on whether it can be enforced."
"Four years
ago, a magic number materialized and
proceeded to influence a mayoral race, frame the future of one of the
world's
top airports and prompt politicians to genuflect before it like members
of a
royal court."
"The
number is 78 million, which is the most
annual passengers that Los Angeles International Airport could
theoretically
serve in its current configuration."
" But
is the concept feasible? Aviation consultant
Jack Keady of Playa del Rey believes the answer is no."
Click here to read Ian Gregor's entire
story.
Los
Angeles Times, September 8, 2004
"Daily
Flights to Resume at Palmdale"
"After six
years, airport will start service to
North Las Vegas. The city is offering a year of free rent and subsidies
to
Scenic Airlines."
"The
city's airport agency plans to reopen Palmdale Airport this fall in
hopes that
the dusty desert outpost 70 miles north of downtown will eventually
lighten the
burden on aging Los Angeles International."
"After offering no commercial service for six years, the terminal will
open in November to a tiny Nevada airline with daily flights to North
Las
Vegas."
Click
here for Jennifer Oldham's complete story in the Early Bird News
Orange
County Register, September 6, 2004
"A
breakup with a future "
"Massive
O.C. construction projects will generate millions of tons of old
concrete that
developers hope they can use."
"Roads,
runways and building pads in Orange County no longer needed or at the
end of
their serviceable lives soon will become part of some of the world's
largest
concrete recycling projects. And Tuesday, a preview of that work gets
under way
in Laguna Canyon, where a road built in the county's rural days will be
born
again."
Click
here for the complete article
LA Times Editorial, September 5, 2004
"An Immodest Proposal"
"Things
are getting back to normal at Los Angeles International Airport after
three
slow years. A double-digit increase in passenger traffic this holiday
weekend.
A near-collision between a departing plane and an arriving jet last
month. And
— ho, hum — plans to modernize the terminals and reconfigure the
runways are
stuck in the same holding pattern they've been in for a decade. Yep,
business
as usual."
What about
Palmdale?
Click
here for the entire LA Times editorial
Press-Enterprise,
September 3, 2004
San Bernardino
"Airport master plan projects growth"
"San Bernardino International Airport could evolve in the next 20 years
to where it serves about as many passengers each year as Long Beach
Airport and moves as many as 750,000 tons of cargo, according to a
draft master plan presented Thursday."
"The plan, which projects growth at the airfield portion of the former Norton
Air Force Base, is the first step toward additional funding from
the Federal Aviation Administration. The money would pay for runway
extensions and new buildings the airport will need to accommodate that
expected growth."
"Initial projections call for the San Bernardino airport to attract
nearly 400,000 passengers and 410,000 tons of cargo by 2008, increasing
to more than 900,000 passengers and 500,525 tons of cargo by 2013. The
study projects that by 2023 the airport could serve as many as 2.5
million passengers and nearly 750,000 tons of cargo." Click for more . . .
Website Editor: SCAG forecasts SBDI serving a more
ambitious 8.7 million passengers in 2030.
El
Toro Info Site report, September 3, 2004
Organizing for the
Great Park
The Great Park Corporation and the Great Park Conservancy are two very
different organizations despite their similar names..
The publicly-created Great Park Corporation oversees the
park development. The
Corporation will collect over $300 million dollars from developers
and
award the
contracts that turn the former El Toro airbase into a site for
parkland, sports fields, museums, and other public serving space. It
operates under bylaws thrashed out in public debate last
year. Five of its nine board members are
elected by the voters. The Irvine City Manager and staff conduct its
day-to-day business. Its meetings are open and its files are subject
to scrutiny under the California Public Records Act.
We are confident that the Great Park Corporation will be closely
scrutinized and expect its work to be public, "squeaky clean", and
to pass "the smell test."
The non-profit Great
Park Conservancy (also known as the Foundation for
the Great Park) is far less subject to public review. Its board of five
private volunteers, including embattled Ed Dornan, selects its own
members and makes its own rules.
The Conservancy raised almost $800,000 in private contributions during
2001-3.
It spent about $650,000 according to annual reports required by the IRS. Much
of this went for "public information campaigns" and
"community outreach" including newsletters, solicitations, special events and a
website.
Additional sums were
spent on projects including
$14,000 to study a tree farm at El Toro, $30,000 for an
international "expo feasibility study", and $20,600 for a "history
project", a book about the genesis of the park.
Daily
Pilot, The Bell Curve, September 2, 2004
Newport women lead
the fight against more flights
Columnist Joseph Bell writes, "I met for coffee recently with two
Newport Beach women who are helping to recruit an army of Orange County
residents pledged to making life miserable for any public officials who
attempt to raise, ever again, the current limit on commercial
passengers or flights out of John Wayne Airport. Jean Watt and Melinda
Seely were representing a political action committee named AirFair that
was formed two years ago solely for that purpose."
Jean Watt said, "We are tree-huggers, symbolically tying ourselves to
the tree of JWA expansion."
"Since AirFair is adamantly opposed to any further expansion of John
Wayne Airport, what does it suggest as an alternate solution to the
clear problem of escalating demand in Orange County for airport
facilities?"
"As to alternate solutions, AirFair simply opts out. 'This isn't about
solutions but rather about presenting a problem in a very loud way,'
Seely said. 'It isn't our role to come up with answers. It is the role
of the people we elect. We're simply trying to require government to
look for solutions that absolutely do not include any more concessions
to the expansion of JWA.'"
"The flag, which AirFair is carrying into battle, reads: '10.8 Let's
Lock the Gate.'"
Website Editor: The call for limiting
John Wayne utilization to 10.8 MAP is echoed by residents around LAX,
calling for "78 [MAP] and lock the gate." Someone has got to be
thinking about the solution to how we all get around when the airports
stop growing and the population does not. We agree with AirFair that it
is the job of Orange County electeds and agencies of government
including SCAG.
Columnist Bell thinks South County is part
of the problem. Once El Toro is fully removed from the
formula and our constant attention, this website hopes to turn its
energies to taking part in the solution.
OC Weekly, August 25 - September 2, 2004,
Website posted September 1
"Agran’s Tree
People"
"Somebody’s going
to get very rich on the Great Park"
This website reported concern upon
learning of fundraiser Ed Dornan's possible involvement in the purchase
of trees for the Great Park.
The OC Weekly now
reports in depth:
"Trees, it turns out, are like gold. Thousands of new trees will be
needed on the 4,700-acre project; thousands of trees worth as much as
$20 million already on the base will require relocation before
construction; other trees will be deemed surplus and removed, perhaps
for lucrative resale, after the U.S. Navy auctions the parcels to
real-estate developers in the coming months."
"One thing is certain: somebody is going to get very rich from the
Great Park tree business."
Website Editor: The Weekly suggests
that the beneficiaries will be Ed Dornan and other political allies of
Irvine Mayor Larry Agran. If any of this were true, support for the
park development would benefit from Dornan resigning as a Director of
the Great Park Conservancy and withdrawing from any dealings with the
project.
Click for the entire Weekly article . . .
Click here for previous news stories