Today's Headlines - click on date for full story
Orange County Register, October 31, 2002
"Storm over Prop. 51 brewing in Irvine"
"Some say city projects that windfall would fund aren't best for O.C. "

Los Angeles Times, October 29, 2002
"City Studies Airfield Takeover"
 "Air Force may shut the site in Palmdale, threatening possible commercial air service."

Los Angeles Times, October 27, 2002
"Regional Airport Agency Founders"
"Conflict appears to doom board asked to create a broad-based aviation plan, even as passenger, cargo traffic are expected to surge."

Daily Pilot, October 26, 2002
"Candidate's JWA claims questioned"
"Campaign literature by Newport Beach candidate Rick Taylor challenged by current council members."

Los Angeles Times, October 26, 2002
"Developers Back Prop. 51 With Eye on Irvine"
"Measure would divert vehicle-tax revenue to projects like the Great Park. One group that got donations funded pro-Agran mailers."

El Toro Info Site report, October 24, 2002
County defends Measure V against lawsuit

El Toro Info Site report, October 24, 2002
SCAG Aviation Task Force moves forward without El Toro

Daily Pilot, October 24, 2002
Candidate Christopher Cox on O.C. Air Transportation Needs

El Toro Info Site report, October 24, 2002
Internet activism works

OC Register, October 23, 2002
"Top legislator vows to sue if Prop. 51 passes"

El Toro Info Site Report, October 23, 2002
More ideas on "regional solution"

Press-Enterprise, October 20, website posted October 21, 2002
"Reason for trip may not fly"

Associated Press, October 21, 2002
"Survey shows 22% drop in flights for shorter trips after 9/11"

LA Times letters, October 20, 2002
Opinions on Prop 51

El Toro Info Site report, October 18, 2002
Newport Beach candidates attack each other over airport measure voting records

El Toro Info Site report, October 17, 2002
What is the regional aviation solution?

OC Register, The Orange Grove, October 16, 2002
"Beware of Measure B"

Daily Pilot, October 15, 2002
The John Wayne Settlement Agreement
Newport Beach Councilman Gary Adams

El Toro Info Site report, October 15, 2002
Six years ago today

Orange County Business Journal, October 14, 2002
"Great Park Eases Projects Planned For El Toro Buffer

El Toro Info Site report, October 13, 2002
Both major papers speak out against Prop. 51

LA Times, Inland Valley Voice, October 12, 2002
"Train study gets regional backing"

El Toro Info Site report, October 11, 2002
Getting all excited about JWA's pickup in traffic

El Toro Info Site report, October 11, 2002
Times story on Prop 51 stirs airport passions

Daily Pilot, October 11, 2002
The Race for Newport Beach City Council:
"I don't think El Toro is dead yet."

El Toro Info Site report, October 9, 2002
SCAG eliminating El Toro from planning

El Toro Info Site report, October 9, 2002
Laguna Woods bests county in El Toro lawsuit

LA Times, October 8, 2002
"Irvine Wants State Taxpayers to Fund Big Park"
"Proposition 51 would give city $110 million in state funds, which angers many."

LA Times, Irvine local, October 7, 2002
"Now Irvine Mayor Is a Major Player"

El Toro Info Site report, October 5, 2002
Regional aviation demand in a hole

El Toro Info Site report, October 2, 2002
FAA to SCAG - No planning for El Toro!

OC Register October 2, 2002
County to defend two election rules in court

Click here for earlier news.

"Irvine will get $300 million for four projects if Proposition 51 is passed next week - more guaranteed money than the measure would provide to any other city in the state."

"The Irvine projects range from the ambitious - $120 million for a park at El Toro - to the basic - $40 million to improve safety at two railroad crossings"

"Its backers - including Irvine Mayor Larry Agran and a handful of Irvine developers - say it will force the state to pay for needed projects and return a fairer share of tax dollars to Orange County."

"Opponents - including many transportation agencies and Irvine City Council candidates who oppose Agran - say it is bad government based on politics and popularity."

"'The 'Great Park,' like Balboa Park in San Diego, is not intended to serve the city, but the county and the entire region,' he said. 'I'd be surprised if more than 10 percent of the people who use the (airport bus center) live in Irvine - it just happens to be in Irvine.'"

"Candidates challenging Agran and his allies are upset that he has raised money for the Prop. 51 campaign from local developers who do business in the city."

"The Irvine Co., which has projects throughout the area, gave $45,000 to Prop. 51, continuing its long-held practice of donating money to all the ballot measures that improve infrastructure or schools in the area, said spokesman John Christensen.
'Although Proposition 51 may not be perfect legislation, it is a significant benefit to Orange County in general, and specifically to the people on the Irvine Ranch, including Irvine,' Christensen said."

Click here for the Complete Story

"The city agency that operates Los Angeles International Airport is exploring a takeover of an Air Force plant at Palmdale Regional Airport in hopes of heading off a shutdown that could jeopardize plans to restart commercial air service there."

"Budget constraints led the Air Force earlier this month to curtail operating hours at the airfield that serves the 5,600-acre Plant 42, said Larry Magnon, an Air Force spokesman. The same constraints could cause the closing of the facility next summer, he said."

"The Palmdale Airport is very important to us from a regional standpoint," said Lydia Kennard, executive director of the city agency that operates four regional facilities, including Palmdale. "We're working with the Air Force to make sure it remains viable, even should the Air Force pull out."

"The airport agency is drafting a master plan for Palmdale Airport that addresses the effects expansion would have on traffic and the environment and analyzes the demand for service there. The city owns a 17,750-acre parcel next door to Plant 42."

"The Air Force also leases portions of the site, which is 62 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, to aerospace companies including Boeing, Northrop Grumman Corp. and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. Those companies also use the airfield. Leaseholders said they would be open to talking about various options."

"'Our biggest concern is that we don't want any interruption of service,' said Dianne Knippel, director of communications for Lockheed Martin."

See Early Bird News for the full story

"It was a fitting epitaph. When asked recently what had become of a 17-year-old agency created to resolve Southern California's airport capacity woes, City Councilman Hal Bernson swung his right hand up and then down in a crash-and-burn motion."

"The Southern California Regional Airport Authority has disappeared from the radar -- again. In 1985, and again in 1991, lawmakers concerned about the inevitability of an air-traffic jam tried to get the agency off the ground. Each time -- after the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of tax dollars -- infighting and the inability to reach consensus led to failure."

"Los Angeles County doesn't show up for meetings, Los Angeles city isn't participating and Riverside County has taken its toys and gone home," said James Campbell, a spokesman for Orange County Supervisor Chuck Smith, who holds a seat on the airport authority. "You can't have a viable entity without participation from all players at the table."

"Regional planners hoped to put millions of passengers at the former El Toro Marine base in Orange County. But that plan died when Orange County supervisors formally dropped a decade-long effort to build an airport after voters approved conversion of the 4,700-acre base into a so-called Great Park."

"Other facilities expected to take up some slack from LAX include former Air Force bases such as March in Riverside County, Norton in San Bernardino County and George in Victorville. Airports in Ontario, Burbank, Palmdale and Long Beach, and John Wayne Airport in Orange County, were expected to take on additional passengers and cargo."

"We're concentrating" on March Air Force Base, said Jim Venable, a county supervisor in Riverside. "We're not concerned about Orange County and its little problems with El Toro. We're not concerned with what's going on with Los Angeles and with San Bernardino."

"Regional airport authority officers dispute the perception that the board is on life support, saying it can carry on without Riverside County and the city of Los Angeles."

"'With three members you can conduct business, but you cannot change the bylaws,' said Chief Executive Peggy Ducey."

See the Early Bird News for the entire story.

"NEWPORT BEACH -- While City Council candidate Rick Taylor's credentials as a tireless advocate for an El Toro airport have never been questioned, council members are challenging just how much he worked on the extension of flight caps at John Wayne."

"A mailer sent out earlier this month by Taylor's campaign touts that he "volunteered thousands of hours resulting in the successful negotiation of the John Wayne Settlement Agreement." But Councilman Dennis O'Neil and Councilwoman Norma Glover, two of a trio of council members who helped put together the settlement agreement ratified earlier this summer, say the wording embellishes Taylor's role."

"Taylor's answer to the charges is that O'Neil and others are "parsing" the words on the mailer. He points to his eight years volunteering with the Airport Working Group as evidence that he has devoted countless hours to the airport cause."

"Glover, however, did dispute Taylor's description of his advocacy for extended restrictions for John Wayne, saying that the working group's focus always was on getting the El Toro airport built."

"I think that [the working group] has been working on El Toro," she said. "I am not aware of anything they've done on the settlement agreement."

"Both O'Neil and Glover pointedly disagreed with Taylor's description of the agreement, emphasizing that they don't expect a legal challenge and, if one were to come, that lawyers have assured them the city would prevail"

"Taylor, who has the backing of Greenlight, also charged present City Council members with not doing enough to push for an airport at El Toro.

"I never saw Norma Glover, Gary Adams, Tod Ridgeway, Denny O'Neil, Gary Proctor or John Heffernan out there speaking with me," he said."

Complete story.

"Companies with development interests in Irvine have poured $300,000 into two groups backing a statewide measure that would redirect $1 billion a year in state vehicle-tax revenue to special projects -- including $110 million for the Great Park at El Toro."

"According to campaign finance reports updated Thursday, a dozen local companies have donated since April to two groups pushing for passage of Proposition 51, which is backed by Irvine Mayor Larry Agran."

"One of the groups -- the Traffic Congestion Relief Initiative, Proposition 51 Committee -- in turn donated $25,000 last month for a flurry of slate mailers urging Irvine voters to support Agran and his council allies in the Nov. 5 election."

'The Irvine mailers, called the Hometown Voter Guide, are produced by longtime Agran ally Ed Dornan. They are distinctive because each appears to be traditional campaign literature focusing on Irvine politics. A listing of other races and measures is confined to a portion of the back page."

"The slate mailers "are an end-run around contribution limits," said longtime campaign reform advocate Shirley Grindle of Orange."

"Business donations to Proposition 51 include $45,000 from The Irvine Co.; $50,000 each from Crow Winthrop Development and Colton Properties, both of Irvine; and $25,000 each from William Lyon Homes of Newport Beach, and from a limited partnership hoping to build homes in the Irvine Business Center."

See Early Bird News for the complete story

Click here for past newspaper coverage of Prop 51

County Counsel filed a demurrer yesterday, challenging the legal sufficiency of the lawsuit against Measure V. A hearing is set for November 22 at 10:00 AM. The case will be argued on points of law without the need for evidentiary hearings and may proceed quickly to a resolution.

Measure V passed in March of this year. It gives the voters of the county the right to elect a replacement in the case of a supervisorial vacancy. Prior to Measure V the governor would appoint any replacement.

The suit against Measure V was brought by a group of labor leaders. Click here for the stated reasons for opposing the initiative.

Third District Supervisor Todd Spitzer is likely to be elected to the State Assembly in November. Under Measure V, once he vacates his county position, the Board of Supervisors would call a special election within 3 business days and hold the election within 70 days.

The Southern California Association of Governments Aviation Task Force met Wednesday in connection with the development of a new 2004 Regional Transportation Plan. The Task Force will not consider any alternatives that include passenger service at El Toro.

The planning will reexamine SCAG's previous forecasts of future aviation demand which many think are too high.

The group discussed assigning high priority to Maglev high-speed rail connections between LA and March Inland Port with a stop at Ontario Airport.

"The county's demand for an airport is a long-term need, Cox says. It therefore demands a long-term solution, one that looks 20 to 30 years into the future."

"'We know we will need major new capacity,' he said."

"Both March and George Air Force bases are possibilities. In theory, he added, Camp Pendleton is a better option than El Toro because there is more open space, but there is no prospect of the military giving part of the Marine base up. Still, he said, given the long time period, a surprise is possible."

In a related matter, the San Bernadino Sun reports that, "$300M plan to develop Norton base site wins OK."

"The former Norton Air Force Base is heading on a new path for redevelopment that if goes as predicted, will lead to an investment of $300 million and the employment of nearly 6,000 people by 2010."

Planning includes "a master development agreement for between 400 and 500 acres of San Bernardino International Airport property . . [and] an aircraft repair company in one of its seven empty hangars.   Companies that specialize in executive jet passenger service and air charters have recently expressed interest in the space."

We have a report that the Governor received the following number of messages from constituents prior to his veto of AB2333, the Nakano bill:
 

E-mail	1,200
Snail mail	60
Phone calls	2

The thousands of subscribers to this website's e-mail bulletins accounted for many of these messages.  On August 28, we sent them a bulletin Subject: E-mail the Governor about Airport Bill that provided particulars and a hyperlink to the governor's office.

Allan Songstad, Chairman of ETRPA, subsequently sent us a letter saying: "On behalf of the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, I want to personally thank you and the anti-airport activists for all your efforts to secure the governor's veto of AB 2333. I am sure that without the overwhelming response from the public the outcome might have been different."

The El Toro fight is almost over. Our most recent bulletin was an update, Subject: Nearly All Quiet on the El Toro Front.  However, until the runways are torn up, these occasional bulletins are the next best thing to visiting the website regularly for staying informed on what is happening at the former base. We never share our e-mail  list. Sign up now.

"SACRAMENTO – Armed with an opinion from the Legislature's attorney, Senate leader John Burton said Tuesday that Proposition 51 is unconstitutional and that lawmakers will ask a court to overturn it if it's approved by voters."

"The Nov. 5 ballot measure would earmark 30 percent of the taxes on vehicle sales to pay for a variety of projects that supporters say would relieve traffic congestion or replace unsafe school buses." .

"The Legislative Counsel's Office says the measure would violate the requirement that ballot initiatives deal with a single subject. 'We conclude that the wide variety of environmental projects and programs, development projects and programs and certain other projects and programs included in the initiative ... are not reasonably germane nor functionally related to each other,' the opinion says."

"Eddy Moore, transportation director for the Planning and Conservation League, the environmental group sponsoring the initiative, said all of the measure's projects have some connection to transportation." It includes funding for a park at El Toro

Click here for the full article and to join our message board thread on Prop 51.

Newport Beach city council candidate Laura Dietz suggests centralizing the demand at LAX in this quote from today's Daily Pilot: " If there were a high-speed train that went from Orange County to [LAX] that got you there in 15 minutes without the driving and the parking hassles, that could go a long way toward taking care of the increases in traffic the [Airport Working Group] says are coming....We should look at mass transit options coming out of Orange County to LAX."

Congressional candidate John Graham is also quoted in the Pilot. "Graham points out that most voters in the 48th Congressional District are opposed to an El Toro airport. His suggestion: using part of Camp Pendleton for an international airport that would serve both Orange and San Diego counties."

Read more ideas about a regional solution. The SCAG Aviation Task Force will take up the topic at their meeting, which was postponed to today. 

"Apparently, the Southern California Regional Airport Authority's swan song will be a junket to Germany at taxpayer expense."

"The five-member authority has been limping along with only three members since Los Angeles city officials stopped coming to meetings more than a year ago and Riverside County dropped out in July."

"Yet the remaining three members [including Orange County's Chuck Smith] decided on Tuesday to spend $25,000 on a four-day trip to Stuttgart to view a high-speed train between airports and cities."

"The junket to Germany is just the kind of thing that sours people on politicians. It should be canceled."

Website Editor: Orange County's Board of Supervisors gave the SCRAA $50,000 of O.C. taxpayer money in June at the request of Supervisor Smith.

"WASHINGTON – Security checks, random searches, new airline ticket fees and other hassles since the Sept. 11 attacks have kept many people off planes and on the road, particularly for short trips."

"The number of people flying commercially 200 miles to 400 miles dropped 22 percent in the year after the attacks, according to a survey by D.K. Shifflet & Associates Ltd. in Falls Church, Va.[that] surveys 45,000 households each month to assess their travel patterns."

"While some of the drop in passengers is due to fear, experts say many others are choosing ground transportation over planes to avoid airport hassles."

"The news is not all bad for air travelers. Flight delays are down, largely because the number of flights has fallen, from 710,000 in June 2001 to 664,000 this past June, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics."

Website Editor: If the findings are applied to Southern California it means fewer flights to popular destinations like Las Vegas and San Francisco and less need for airport expansion.

In the lead letter, Irvine Mayor Larry Agran says "Proposition 51 gives Orange County voters the power to get back our fair share of the millions of dollars we have donated to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento -- and it will help us create one of America's greatest parks for the enjoyment of every Orange County resident."

He also writes that "it allocates $50 million for the Fly Away program - a transportation program that will enable Orange County air travelers to use the Irvine Transportation Center to buy their tickets, check their luggage and board an express bus to airports outside the county, including Los Angeles International, Ontario International and Long Beach airports."

The Times editorial board and other letter writers disagree. The website has posted some additional information on Proposition 51 and partisan views on County Measures A and B. We do not endorse individuals unless an election is between pro- and anti-airport candidates. 

On October 13, the Daily Pilot took to task AWG leader Richard Taylor. Taylor, "one of the most ardent supporters of an El Toro airport and one who says he is intent on keeping the flight caps on John Wayne, did not vote in the spring Measure W vote that ended up rezoning the closed Marine base as a park." The AWG website did not carry the article.

Today, the Pilot reports that "City Councilman Gary Adams did not vote in the 2000 primary election that included Measure F, the anti-El Toro initiative, voting records show."  The AWG site carries that story.

Newport Beach Councilmember Gary Adams recently stated that "We need to start looking for a long-term solution . . . that might include El Toro." Everyone wants a regional aviation solution but few seem to agree on what it should be.

From our files, we've assembled a gaggle of varying viewpoints on what constitutes a regional solution. They range from Mike Stevens' blunt "LAX No, El Toro Yes" to Bruce Nestande's parochial "People in Los Angeles and Riverside should be able to not allow Orange County residents to fly out of their airports". Almost four years ago, Larry Agran wrote, "How smart do you have to be to see that some communities want airport construction and airport expansion while others are opposed?"

SCAG's Aviation Technical Advisory Committee meets this week with an agenda to "Define new regional aviation system alternatives, for the years 2005, 2010 and 2030, consistent with new political realities and other changed circumstances occurring after the adoption of the 2001 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). No alternative will include demand at a commercial airport at the former MCAS El Toro."

A comprehensive study needs to look at: future demand distribution, airline economics, expansion potential of each airport, flight paths and airspace congestion, environmental impacts, ground access, technological changes during the plan period, and political acceptability. 

In an op-ed piece published in today's Register, website editor Len Kranser outlines why he is voting "No" on County Measure B.

"Measure B has no effect upon whether El Toro is cleaned or not."

The original letter before editing by the newspaper said, "In fact, Measure W, the Orange County Central Park and Nature Preserve Initiative which voters passed in March 2002, provides our best environmental safeguards. By changing the use of El Toro from 'dirty' airport to 'clean' park uses, Measure W, together with the federal Environmental Protection Act, requires the Navy to provide a high standard of cleanup."

This website provides information on a few measures in the November election that have some relevence to El Toro's future. We do not endorse individuals unless an election is between pro- and anti-airport candidates. 

"I think we've built up countywide support [for the settlement agreement extension]. I think we're doing what needs to be done to make our voice heard in Washington and we're very close to getting the federal court's blessing ....Once that's in place, we need to start looking for a long-term solution. I think it does need to be a regional solution and that might include El Toro."

Website Editor: One more reason why El Toro opponents can't let their guard down.

The website's first news story from six years ago read:

Orange County Register, October 15, 1996
"Pilots Wave Off Easternly Departures from El Toro"
"The nation's 44,000 major-airline pilots will steadfastly oppose commercial flights at El Toro if the county insists on easterly takeoffs, because the pilots contend such takeoffs would be unsafe." The pilots' position, which conflicts with the County Reuse Plan, would put more planes over central and north county.

"The Great Park initiative did more than kill an airport and free up land for development at part of the 4,480-acre former El Toro Marine base. It made building around the base a lot easier."

"While attention is on the upcoming auction of base land by the Navy to developers, there is even more land for building in the 14,000-acre buffer zone around El Toro."

“'Virtually all of the land within the old military buffer zone is either already developed, being processed for development or protected as permanent open space,' according to an Irvine Co. report."

"But the death of an airport makes planning buffer land a lot simpler—there’s no worrying about how close homes would be to an airport or about sound-proofing buildings."  Click here for the entire article. 

Today's Times, editorializes: "In case California voters need another reason to reject Proposition 51, Irvine Mayor Larry Agran is providing one."

"After months of Agranspeak about a Great Park that would replace the former El Toro air base without using public funds, it turns out that the mayor has been pushing for more than $100 million in state money. The park funding is written into the Traffic Congestion Relief and Safe School Buses Act on the November ballot." See more about the Times coverage of this issue in a story below.

The Register writes about Prop. 51 in terms of the broader push behind the measure:  "Prop. 51 is a 'roll the dice' chance for specific companies and interest groups to get you - the California taxpayer - to pay for projects they don't want to pay for themselves."

"• Ross Perot Jr.'s Hillwood Development Corp. is building a cargo center near the San Bernardino airport, and needs four railroad crossings to serve the project. Far easier to donate $150,000 to fund the initiative than to build the crossings itself."

"• The Agua Caliente band of Cahuilla Indians gave $250,000 to the initiative. . . . Prop. 51 funds a $120 million rail line that goes from Los Angeles to Palm Springs, and then ends in Indio right near the tribe's casino."

"• Pardee Construction Co. gave $300,000 to support the initiative campaign, and the initiative would fund a $137 million project that connects Interstate 5 and Route 56, and which would allow the company to build an additional 3,000 homes."

"• Playa Capital Co. gave $830,000 to the initiative sponsor's conservation action fund. Prop. 51 includes $55 million that would go to Los Angeles County to buy coastal wetlands in the Ballona Creek watershed . . .  Playa Vista owns undevelopable land in the watershed and might get a piece of this action."

The El Toro park is one of the 45 projects. It is regrettable that some are using the measure as fuel for a political attack on Irvine and the park plan. Click here to post your thoughts about Prop. 51.

"A proposed high-speed train that would stop in Ontario on its way between Anaheim and Las Vegas inched closer to reality this week as [San Bernardino Associated Governments] transportation officials agreed to provide $125,000 toward a study of the project."

"The Orange County Transportation Authority and Anaheim have yet to vote on contributing, said a SANBAG spokeswoman."

"The train could make the [Ontario] airport more attractive to Orange County residents, he said, because the train trip from Anaheim to Ontario would take only about 10 minutes. The idea is to make it easy to transfer to airlines from the train, with luggage checked in at the train station moving to passengers' flights without having to be checked in again at the airport."

"The train would travel at speeds up to 310 mph and the entire 270-mile Anaheim to Las Vegas journey would take about 90 minutes with stops along the way

"The California-Nevada project is no longer seen as competing against a high-speed rail project proposed by the Southern California Assn. of Governments that would connect Los Angeles International Airport and the Ontario Airport. . .  Proponents see the two projects as mutually beneficial and have formed an alliance to back each other's proposals." 

Yesterday the Daily Pilot reported "John Wayne Airport passenger traffic increased 50.4% in September compared to the same time last year, officials said." The news earned a larger than the usual type size headline from the Airport Working Group, which is perennially excited that JWA will burst its seams.

The Register added a more realistic note to the airport spokeswoman's spin. "Passengers using John Wayne Airport increased 50 percent in September, compared with the same month last year, when the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks closed the airport for three days and frightened travelers."

In fact, passenger traffic at JWA in September 2002 was about even with the same month in 1997 and 2000 and behind the volume for September 1996 and 1999. We are glad that business is returning to normal but there is no evidence that the airport is about to overwhelm its neighbors with a huge increase in traffic.

An October 8 Times article about Proposition 51 and headlined "Irvine Wants State Taxpayers to Fund Big Park" is stirring passions. The news story editorialized:

"Maybe it was the words 'no new taxes' that that made many voters think Irvine officials were promising to convert the closed El Toro Marine base into one of the largest urban parks in the nation without costing taxpayers a dime."

"Irvine officials would like to clarify: When they said 'no new taxes' in the ballot measure that approved the park, they merely meant no local taxes. They actually want taxpayers statewide to pick up the tab."

"Not only is the wealthy City of Irvine trying to stop a truly regional plan for airports, the wealthy City of Irvine wants us to pay for the park they promised to put in instead of El Toro airport."

"As noted in the attached Times article, Irvine's own Larry Agran is a board member of the organization that wrote Prop. 51 and put it on the ballot.  Unfortunately, a lot of these ballot propositions are written the same way: they sound good on the surface, but what really happens is that a few rich developers and rich cities make out like bandits and the rest of us pay."

Candidate Allan Beek "worked to curb John Wayne Airport expansion. He acknowledged that the council's powers to act on an El Toro airport are limited while the settlement agreement extension is not yet finalized and he applauded the city attorney's efforts to secure the extension. But, he said, there's another hope for protecting residents against air traffic increases."

"'I don't think El Toro is dead yet,' he said. 'I will work very hard to keep El Toro alive.'"

The Southern California Association of Governments' Aviation Technical Advisory Committee has a new study objective: "To determine whether the airspace in the Southern California Airspace Basin can feasibly accommodate forecast 2030 regional aviation system demand." The meeting scheduled for October 10 has been put off for a week.

The study project objective states: "Define new regional aviation system alternatives, for the years 2005, 2010 and 2030, consistent with new political realities and other changed circumstances occurring after the adoption of the 2001 Regional Transportation Plan. No alternative will include demand at a commercial airport at the former MCAS El Toro."

Website editor: It remains to be seen whether SCAG will either reduce its demand forecasts or announce that it just can't be done without El Toro. SCAG previous long-range forecasts predicted that there would be a capacity shortfall, and were wrong.

Last Thursday, a court ruled in favor of the City of Laguna Woods in a suit brought by the county regarding El Toro airport. The county sought to block the removal of airport-related restrictions in the city's general plan for future development.

The court dismissed the suit saying that it is moot in view of the passage of Measure W and the Navy's decision to sell the property for non-aviation uses.

"Buried deep in the text of Proposition 51--the Traffic Congestion Relief and Safe School Buses Act--among alternative transportation projects, school bus funding and freeway expansion work, is $110 million in state funding for the so-called Great Park."

"Should the measure pass, the park will become a priority project in the state budget."

"That has some crying foul. The California Budget Project, the California League of Women Voters and other groups warn that making 'luxury' projects such as the Great Park a priority during a budget crunch will force cuts in essential state programs and services."

Website Editor: I find the headline and Times' writer's editorializing very anti-Irvine. There is no question that Prop 51, like most initiatives, is controversial. The Committee for Safe and Healthy Communities, which led the political fight for Measure W and the "Great Park" campaign, could not reach agreement to work as an organization on behalf of 51.

However, while the Times makes it sound like an all-Irvine boondoggle, the initiative includes funds for a variety of projects in many communities including the City of San Bernardino, Port of Oakland, Tahoe Transportation District, Sacramento Regional Transit District, City of La Cañada-Flintridge, County of Los Angeles, City of Santa Clarita, City of Laguna Woods, and the City and County of San Francisco Golden Gate Park Concourse Authority.

Voters are urged to read the arguments carefully for and against the bill on the League of Women Voters' website as well as  the text of the bill. 

"Strengthened by his leadership of the successful movement to kill the proposed El Toro airport and instead build a 'Great Park' at the closed 4,700-acre Marine base--a quest that not long ago was widely considered nearly as quixotic as his 1992 presidential campaign--Agran has become a progressive titan in a conservative area."

"El Toro remains at the top of Agran's platform. He insists that the airport threat is not completely gone. And he has been promising voters that if reelected, he will personally be involved in ripping out the runways with a jackhammer within months."

Website editor: Viewers interested in more on the Irvine City election battle can click here to read the entire article. 

In 2000, the six airports in the SCAG region handled 88.8 million passengers. The Southern California Association of Governments forecast that volume would grow to 157 million per year by 2020. However, for the 12 months ending August 31, 2002 the actual usage dropped to 74.2 million annual passengers.

According to activist Nicolas Dzepina, this leaves actual traffic running about 18 million passengers behind SCAG's projected rate of passenger growth. To put the 18 million-passenger shortfall in perspective, it equals the combined traffic of John Wayne, Ontario, and Burbank airports.

This year was unexpectedly disastrous for the airline industry. Nevertheless, the lower traffic volume and long-term changes in aviation use must be considered when SCAG reworks its Regional Transportation Plan (RTP).

At its September meeting, the organization opted to push the horizon for crystal ball gazing out to 2030. The Aviation Task Force is to make recommendations for RTP revisions with "the future of El Toro as a commercial airfield in doubt."

A September 27th letter from the FAA to the Southern California Association of Governments spells out the conditions under which the FAA will provide SCAG with $1.5 million for regional planning purposes.

The final condition 11 included in the grant reads as follows: "The parties agree that none of the funds provided through this grant may be used for any new planning efforts involving consideration of the reuse of the MCAS El Toro facility."

The SCAG Aviation Task Force will have to find realistic regional solutions that do not include El Toro and "have sufficient local support."

This is a major blow to pro-El Toro forces, coming on the heels of the Measure W victory in court and the Governors veto of AB2333. Strike three!

The condition that the funds could not be used by SCAG for any El Toro purpose was included in the grant thanks to Congressmen Chris Cox and Ken Calvert and the hard work of Tom O'Malley and others on the ETRPA team.

"The Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday to defend a measure approved by voters that requires a special election to fill most vacancies on the board. Measure V changed the manner of replacing supervisors who leave office before their terms expire. Previously, the governor appointed replacements."

"Four Orange County voters filed suit Sept. 23 in Superior Court, seeking to overturn the measure . . . The challenge is being financed by a coalition of about 100 labor representatives, said Joe Kerr, president of the Orange County Professional Firefighters Association and a lawsuit plaintiff."

"Without Measure V, Democrat Gov. Gray Davis would be able to choose Spitzer's successor. 'I believe the public should choose,' [Supervisor Todd] Spitzer said."

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