NEWS
- December 2004
El Toro Info Site report, December 23, 2004
Agran selected to
chair Great Park Corporation
LA Times, December 23, 2004
"Fullerton Council
Backs El Toro Bid"
LA Times, December 22, 2004
"Rivals Fire
at Hahn's Record"
El Toro Info Site report, December
21, 2004
Fullerton Council
sticks to pro-airport position, 3-2
El Toro Info Site report, December 21, 2004
- updated
Meetings of
interest today - BOS action against the PLA
El Toro Info Site report, December 18, 2004
Supervisor Smith's
final newsletter is troubling
El Toro Info Site report, December 17, 2004
Congressman Miller
weighs in against Fullerton proposal
Coastline News, December 17, 2004
"El Toro
fight rolls on"
El Toro Info Site report, December
17, 2004
Fullerton seeks to
rectify blunder
El Toro Info Site report, December 16,
2004
ALUC stalls
supervisors' El Toro request
OC Register, December 15, 2004
"Airport backers
refuse to be grounded"
OC Register, December 14, 2004 -
Late breaking
"County guards
against airport revival"
LA Times, December 14, 2004
"DHL Picks
March Base as New Hub"
El Toro Info Site report,
December 13, 2004
Supervisors respond
to Fullerton tactic
Los Angeles Daily News, December 13, 2004
[LA Mayoral
Candidate] "Alarcon wants new major airport . . . proposes creating
countywide agency"
El Toro Info Site report, December 12,
2004 - updated
More on the
"bizarre" Fullerton story
El Toro Info Site report, December 10, 2004
The Fullerton caper
OC Register, December 9, 2004
"Fullerton pursues airport at El Toro"
LA Times, December 8, 2004
"LAX Project Advances Amid
Storm Clouds"
LA Times, December 8, 2004
"Bid Would Open El Toro
Housing"
LA Times, December 7, 2004
$499.5
Million to Make
LAX a Good Neighbor
El Toro Info Site report, December 3,
2004
The
pro-airport
insurgency
El Toro Info Site
Report,
December 2, 2004
Five years ago - a
crucial
event
El Toro Info Site report, December 2, 2004
LA County fights LA
City for
limits on LAX
El Toro Info Site report, December 1, 2004
The tip of the
iceberg
Click
here for last month's news stories
El Toro Info Site report
2004 - THE EL TORO YEAR IN REVIEW
The long fight over El Toro has consumed ten years since 1994 when
Measure A was narrowly approved by voters and headed the former
military base towards commercial aviation reuse. After three more
ballot measures, the battle continues but El Toro moves closer to a
non-aviation future.
Here are a few of the stories that made the El Toro Info Site headlines
this year.
JANUARY - Irvine receives final Local Agency Formation Commission
(LAFCO) approval to annex the El Toro property and bring it under city
Great Park zoning.
FEBRUARY - ETRPA and the Airport Working Group reach a "global
settlement" ending several lawsuits including the last challenge to
anti-airport Measure W.
APRIL - The Southern California Association of Governments, SCAG adopts
a 2004 Regional Transportation Plan, omitting El Toro airport.
MAY - The Navy temporarily switches gears and announces that El Toro
will be sold piecemeal rather than in one auction.
JUNE - Los Angeles World Airport releases a long-awaited 2001 passenger
study revealing that 9.9 percent of passengers at LAX were visitors or
residents going to or from Orange County. This supports the website's
estimates of OC passenger volume and debunks higher claims by El Toro
proponents.
JULY - Newport Beach efforts to buy John
Wayne Airport gets a cool reception from supervisors.
AUGUST - The Navy again shifts gears and decides to sell the entire
base at one auction.
The business of providing trees
for the Great Park becomes a big campaign issue in the Irvine election.
SEPTEMBER - A "consensus plan" for modernizing LAX emerges but the
airlines and FAA withhold comment on limiting the airport's passenger
capacity. Controversy over the LAX plan fuels renewed discussion of El
Toro as part of a "regional airport solution".
OCTOBER - The federal government announces that the El Toro auction
will begin in January 2005 with close of escrow by July.
NOVEMBER - Invitations for Bids are released for the El Toro sale.
Minimum opening bid is set at $525 million.
There is renewed talk of a
state-mandated regional airport authority with power to force a
commercial airport at El Toro. A
former El Segundo mayor, Los Angeles City, LA County and SCAG officials
are considering the proposal.
DECEMBER - State Senator Alarcon introduces a regional airport bill.
Fullerton asks the Secretary of
Transportation to allow the city to run El Toro airport. It’s a bad
idea that goes nowhere.
Board of Supervisors rescinds the
old El Toro Environmental Impact Reports and begins to raise defenses
against regional intrusion in
OC's land use control.
PREDICTIONS FOR 2005:
The El Toro auctions begins. However, transfer of title to the property
and removal of the Airport Land Use Commission's development
restrictions around the base will drag on.
It will be several years before anything substantial enough to block an
airport is built at El Toro. Pro-airport forces will use the time to
attempt final resuscitation of the project.
Efforts to divert much of the region's future air passenger growth from
LAX to other airports will fuel the drive for a commercial airport at
El Toro. Political leaders from Los Angeles, with some Orange County
support, will push legislation for an airport under Los Angeles
control.
If state legislation creating such a regional authority passes, and is
signed by the Governor, the El Toro fight will continue indefinitely.
Otherwise, the war will be over. ETRPA will close up shop. The El Toro
Info website will wind down as a daily news source. Happy New Year.
El Toro Info Site
report, December 31, 2004
Two more working
days till . . .
It is two more working days and counting down till the start of the El
Toro sale . . . probably less taking off for a New Year's eve
holiday. Beginning the auction marks a hugely important milestone in
the anti-airport effort.
Airport proponents hoped to prevent the sale and see the El Toro
property turned over to the Department of Transportation. Under the
schemes put forth - by Los Angeles last year and Fullerton/OCRAA this
year - the DOT would own and rent the former base to an airport
operator.
For airport proponents, renting has major benefits. Most obviously, it
removes the need to quickly raise about a billion dollars to buy the
former base. Los Angeles could do it. Fullerton could not.
Perhaps more importantly, El Toro would remain federal property. Irvine
and Orange County non-aviation restrictions would not apply. Great Park
zoning and Measure W would become largely moot. Furthermore, ALUC
airport-related land use rules on development around the property would
stay in place.
Next week's start of the sale effectively kills these hopes. The fat
lady will start to sing but she still must finish the song. In coming
days we will review the events of the past year and examine the still
viable - but dwindling - options left to airport proponents in 2005. Happy New Year. Len.
Irvine World
News, December 30, 2004
"Great Park has
business plan for initial revenue"
"Fees ranging from $2 per parked car to $200 million per developer will
go toward building the Great Park during its initial years, according
to the draft business plan presented by the Great Park Corp."
"The plan also describes an operating budget of $15 million after five
years, an executive staff of nine people and various revenue
generators."
"The draft plan also suggests that the board consider privatizing the
sports park by allowing various leagues to assume the operating costs
of a particular field in exchange for control of that field."
"A formal park needs study is planned for summer and the completion of
the design of the park is expected by December. Work on the park would
begin in early 2006." Click for the entire article.
El Toro Info Site report, December 28,
2004
Who will lead the
Board of Supervisors?
2005 will be a crucial year in the redevelopment of El Toro. We look
forward to the start of the Navy auction, cleanup of the property, its
transfer to the tax rolls, and progress toward building a great
non-airport asset for Orange County residents.
2005 also will bring a final attack on the will of local voters by
backers of an airport. As we observe this last ditch assault - getting
underway in both Washington and Sacramento - one question hangs heavily
in the air. Who will lead the Orange County Board of Supervisors'
defense?
The next Chairman of the BOS - elected on January 4 - will articulate
the county's position when the state legislature debates the merits of
a regional airport authority - and whether it should have power to
override local zoning. If a regional authority is established, the
Board's Chairman may be key in appointing Orange County's
representatives. He will nominate our Southern California Association
of Governments, SCAG rep and Airport Land Use Commission, ALUC members.
The Chairman will direct the Board's agenda as it grapples with the
regional threat to local control.
More than a year ago, this website cautioned against reelecting
airport advocate Jim Silva to be vice-chairman of the Board and
next in line for the chair. However, his colleagues stuck with him in
January 2004.
Silva does not represent the will of the voters of this county. He
signed a 2003 letter to Transportation Secretary Mineta endorsing the
turnover of El Toro to Los Angeles to be run as an adjunct to LAX. This
month, he voted against rescinding the environmental studies for an
airport.
We hope that Supervisors Bill Campbell, Chris
Norby, and Tom Wilson will unite behind an anti-El
Toro airport leader. Continued anti-airport control of the Board is
essential to protecting the victory that the three supervisors and the
people of this county worked so hard to achieve.
El Toro Info Site report, December 27, 2004
Measuring OCRAA
The letterhead of the Orange County Regional Airport Authority, OCRAA
lists 10 "member" cities, down from 14 in 2003. Meetings are not held
on a regular schedule because of OCRAA's difficulty in attracting a
quorum. At most, 6 or 7 reps show up.
Last year,
only 4 cities - Costa Mesa, Cypress, Seal Beach and Villa Park - paid
dues. Founding member, Newport Beach seemingly has stopped
attending or contributing money.
Documents obtained by this website through the California Public
Records Act show that in the fiscal year ending
June 30, 2004, the organization raised only $25,200, and tapped its
dwindling reserves to pay Executive Director, Jack Wagner's $40,000
salary.
None of this stops OCRAA from portraying itself as a serious joint
powers authority and passing resolutions endorsing an airport at El
Toro
run by either LAX or Fullerton Municipal Airport . . . take your
choice.
CNN.com, December 25, 2004
"Travelers battle
airline chaos"
"Tens of thousands of travelers spent Christmas in an airport, as
Comair canceled all of its flights and many US Airways passengers
waited to be reunited with their luggage."
"Comair . . . called off all 1,160 daily flights for both Saturday and
Sunday. The computer system Comair uses to book pilots for flights
broke down, [a spokesman] said."
"US Airways said Saturday that so many travelers had been separated
from their luggage that the company transferred bags between hubs by
flying jets filled [just] with suitcases."
"In addition to severe weather across much of the country Thursday, a
'record' large numbers of flight attendants and baggage handlers at
Philadelphia International Airport called in sick Friday."
Website Editor: Major flight delays
are
usually attributed to poor weather, labor problems, security breaches,
air traffic control failures, and computer glitches. Lack of airports
or runways might join the list of bottlenecks someday but other factors
generally limit system capacity today.
LA Times, December 24, 2004
"U.S. Funds Tunnel
Study"
"A controversial idea to build a commuter tunnel under the Santa Ana
Mountains connecting Orange and Riverside counties will continue to be
studied, thanks to $2 million from the federal government."
"The burst of federal funds should help keep alive the idea of building
another traffic route between the counties, said Bill Vardoulis, a private Irvine civil
engineer who for the past five years has pushed for three 11-mile
tunnels - one in each direction for cars, and one for trucks and
utilities - from Highway 133 in Irvine to Cajalco Road at Interstate 15
in Corona.
"The money was included by Rep. Chris Cox (R-Newport Beach) in a
$388-billion overall spending bill for the balance of fiscal year 2005,
which began Oct. 1."
"Cox said the money was a down payment on $14 million included in a
pending transportation bill for a comprehensive study of a bi-county
tunnel. Costs include work by the Army Corps of Engineers to determine
suitable locations for one or more tunnels linking Orange
County to an airport on the other side of the Santa Ana Mountains,
possibly March Air Reserve Base or a new airport site."
Click for the entire article.
El Toro Info Site report, December 23, 2004
- revised
Agran selected to
chair Great Park Corporation
The Irvine World News reports today on
changes in the organization for the Great Park Corp, which will run the
non-aviation redevelopment of El Toro. Former Mayor Larry Agran was
selected to become chairman of the GPC, replacing former councilman
Chris Mears.
This website hopes that Agran's
overlapping control of the Irvine City Council, the public Great Park
Corporation and the private Great Park Conservancy will be administered
employing the highest possible standards for making financial
transactions transparent to the public. Agran's opponents in the recent
bitter city election campaign questioned whether this would be the case
but the voters expressed their confidence in him through the democratic
process.
On the very positive side, we can think of no one more committed than
Larry Agran to utilizing the city's resources to advance the park
project and to oppose any attempted reactivation of El Toro airport
plans.
LA Times, December 23, 2004
"Fullerton Council
Backs El Toro Bid"
Website Editor: The Times provides a
brief report on Fullerton's proposal to Transportation Secretary Mineta
- that the city take over operating an airport at El Toro. An FAA
comment stops far short of supplying either the clear "yes" or "no"
answer that the pro- and anti-airport sides might like to find in their
Christmas stockings.
"We are generally in support of increasing aviation capacity,"
Department of Transportation spokesman Brian Turmail said Wednesday.
"But we have deferred [the decision on El Toro] to the will of the
local community. Having said that, we will take a very close look at
the [Fullerton's] resolution."
Airport opponents hope that the
Department of Transportation maintains the position expressed in a July 22, 2003 letter
from Secretary Mineta to Congressman Chris Cox. That letter explained the department's
rejection of a much more credible request from the city of Los Angeles
to operate El Toro. "We have no plans to interrupt the Navy's process."
Meanwhile, the clock is running
out on efforts to derail the Navy's scheduled January 5 start of the
land sale.
LA Times, December 22, 2004 - revised
"Rivals Fire
at Hahn's Record"
"Challengers
accuse incumbent of only protecting environment when forced to do so."
"Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn came under fire for dragging his feet
on everything from cleaning up the port to fixing intersections as the
five leading mayoral candidates squared off Tuesday at a rambunctious environmental debate."
"All the challengers attacked Hahn's $11-billion Los Angeles
International Airport modernization plan for failing to advance a
regional airport plan that would shift traffic to other airports in
Southern California, such as the city's airports in Palmdale and
Ontario."
"The mayor fired back that his plan to increase public transit to and
from the airport would relieve traffic and improve air quality, and he
said that he still would like to see a regional plan."
"Hahn said he would even like to
revisit the highly controversial idea of turning the former military
airfield at El Toro in Orange County into a commercial airport."
Website Editor: We cringe to see
this
important issue becoming a mayoral campaign football about
winning votes in communities near LAX rather than about where aviation
capacity is needed. How politically convenient it is to promote
an airport someplace where the impacted citizens can't vote in the
mayor's election.
"The Daily Breeze reports that candidate State Senator Alarcon
criticized Hahn's LAX plan, saying the city should instead build a
brand-new airport elsewhere in the county."
El Toro Info Site report,
December 21, 2004 - updated
Fullerton Council
sticks to pro-airport position, 3-2
With County Supervisor Chris Norby, Irvine Mayor Beth Krom, ETRPA
consultant Meg Waters and Fullerton residents attacking the absurd idea
of Fullerton running
an operation at El Toro, diehards on the city council voted 3-2 to
stick with their original position.
Current Mayor Nelson and Council member Quirk voted against it, saying
that El Toro was neither in the best interests of Fullerton nor
specifically any of Fullerton's business.
Speakers were unable to convince the three pro-airport councilmen
-Wilson, Jones and Bankhead - that the city could neither fund nor
handle a
project of this magnitude. It also has no business trying to impose an
airport on another city, Irvine.
The meeting demonstrated how three self-important local politicians,
from just one of the county's 34 cities, can try to push their own
pet interests ahead of those of the majority of county voters and the
county Board of Supervisors.
Fullerton has enough problems operating its
municipal airport.
OCRAA, the Airport Working Group, and Charles Griffin
from Newport Beach spoke for the pro-airport side.
Click for more from the OC Register.
El Toro Info Site report, December 21,
2004 - updated
Meetings of
interest today - BOS action against the PLA
This morning, the Board of Supervisors gave notice that the county
would not extend the Project Labor Agreement (PLA) that was approved on
January 11, 2000. Supervisors Smith, Silva, and Coad originally
approved the PLA that was widely regarded as a deal to buy union support for
the El Toro Airport project.
Approximately three dozen speakers, most union representatives spoke
for the PLA. Several contractors opposed it saying that it had cost the
county money. Only one directly mentioned that the agreement was a
"political decision to help get union support for the airport."
Supervisor Chuck Smith, attending his final board meeting, urged his
colleagues to delay action and give the matter more study.
Supervisor Wilson responded that the original agreement was approved
without analysis and that his request for study prior to the PLA's
passage in 2000 was denied. Supervisor Norby noted that his review of
the action, which occurred prior to his joining the board, confirmed
Wilson's position that "it was rushed through in the first place."
The decision not to extend the PLA was approved 4-1 with Smith
objecting and Supervisor Silva providing a convoluted explanation for
reversing his earlier stand.
This afternoon at 4 PM, the Fullerton City Council seeks to correct
outgoing Mayor Mike Clesceri's blunder when he fired off an unauthorized
December 7 letter to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta during
his last hours in office. The Council will revisit the matter, accept
public comments and vote in the open as required by state law.
El Toro Info Site report, December 18, 2004
- revised
Supervisor Smith's
final newsletter is troubling
Outgoing Supervisor Chuck Smith sent his final First District
newsletter containing this troubling prophetic message on
transportation: (Emphasis added)
Smith has continued meeting with pro-airport officials and is
expected to remain a player in Los Angeles efforts to run a regional
airport authority. More than two years ago, this website
warned that some "in Orange County are allying themselves with those
who would turn this county into LA's colony."
Last year, Smith - and fellow pro-El Toro diehard Jim Silva - supported LA's attempt to takeover El Toro.
This week, the duo opposed placing the county's lobbyists on
guard against renewed threats to local control.
El Toro Info Site report, December 17, 2004
Congressman Miller
weighs in against Fullerton proposal
Congressman Gary Miller (R-42) wrote to
Transportation Secretary Mineta on December 15 decrying the
Fullerton airport proposal for El Toro and "urging [Mineta] to reject
this request." Miller represents several inland Orange and Los Angeles
cities. He is a member of the House Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure.
Miller wrote, "I can think of nothing more undemocratic than allowing
the fate of local communities be determined against their will."
Coastline News, December 17, 2004
"El Toro
fight rolls on"
"Talk of creating
an airport on old Marine air station not quite dead yet."
The Laguna Beach paper has put together an article and editorial that provide a
very good summary of news and cautionary opinions that we have been
posting on this page and the website message board in recent weeks.
"'It's not over until the fat lady sings - and I am the fat lady,' said
LB Councilwoman Cheryl Kinsman, who represents the city on the El Toro
Reuse Planning Authority."
"The authority met at a special meeting Monday night in Irvine. A
closed session was held to discuss the initiation of potential
litigation but no action was reported."
"'There are some very serious threats on the horizon,' said Kinsman,
who has urged continued vigilance by opponents of the airport and has
fought attempts to cut the city's financial support to the authority."
Kinsman notes Orange County pro-airport efforts but says, "Los Angeles,
which would dearly love to offload some of its flights to an
international airport in Orange County, poses a much bigger threat."
"There . . . has been speculation that L.A. would bid on the El Toro
property, according to the reuse authority's executive director Paul
Eckles."
"'We are monitoring that,' Eckles said. 'L.A. has a lot of money and it
already owns Ontario International Airport in San Bernardino County and
airports in Palmdale and Van Nuys.'"
Website Editor: A Los Angeles
purchase of El Toro, either in the auction or subsequently from the
successful bidders, would then be coupled with state legislation to override Measure W
and Irvine park zoning.
El Toro Info Site report,
December 17, 2004
Fullerton seeks to
rectify blunder
The Fullerton City Council seeks to rectify outgoing Mayor Mike
Clesceri's blunder when he fired off an unauthorized letter to
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta during his last hours in office.
The Council will revisit the matter at its December 21 meeting at 4 PM,
receive comments and vote in public as required by the Brown Act.
Presumably the 3 member pro-airport majority will temper and put a
somewhat more rational face on their proposal that the small Fullerton
Municipal Airport run a huge commercial operation at El Toro.
Expect other
OCRAA cities to pop up with pitches for an airport at El Toro -
whether their residents support the idea or not. It is all part of a
last-ditch attempt to create the impression of support for the airport
project which voters rejected when they passed Measure W.
El Toro Info Site report, December 16,
2004
ALUC stalls
supervisors' El Toro request
On October 6, 2004 Supervisors Wilson and Campbell requested that ALUC
start planning the administrative steps to rescind the obsolete El Toro
Environs Land Use Plan. At the October 21 ALUC meeting Executive
Officer Joan Golding said her staff was "booked solid" with other
"priorities" in preparation for ALUC's November and December meetings.
On her suggestion ALUC stalled action on the supervisors' request until
January.
However, ALUC's November meeting agenda was one of the lightest in
recent memory. The December meeting, scheduled for today, was cancelled
for lack of business. Golding sent the following email to commissioners:
We are left wondering what "priority" work had ALUC's staff of
public employees "booked solid" and unable to work on the supervisors'
request.
OC Register, December 15, 2004
"Airport backers
refuse to be grounded"
"Is the [El Toro] airport really dead? 'I don't think so,' said
Tom Naughton, president of the Airport Working Group, one of several
entities still laboring to bring passenger service to El Toro."
"AWG supports a proposal by Los Angeles Councilwoman
Cindy Miscikowski to create a regional airport authority such as
the one in San Diego, which would have power to make decisions about
the location and level of air service throughout the area. It likely
would require state legislative action to create such an authority."
"Among the groups supporting the idea is the Orange County Regional
Airport Authority, which also worked for an El Toro airport. 'El Toro
Airport is still on the table; maybe the political climate will
change,' said Jack Wagner, executive director."
"To Naughton, Wagner and other airport supporters, no setback is fatal
or permanent."
"'Once the base is sold, we will have crossed a major threshold,' said
Beth Krom, mayor of Irvine. She says Rep. Cox, R-Newport Beach, has been working
very hard to get the base sold, freeing Irvine to develop the Great
Park."
"Krom said it's time to move on and address what she and others see as
a major challenge facing Southern California - ground-transit systems
that will relieve freeway congestion and get passengers to airports
such as Ontario that want more air traffic."
Click for the entire article.
OC Register, December 14, 2004 -
Late breaking
"County guards
against airport revival"
"The board
majority tells their lobbyist to fight any bid to create a regional
authority that might want to put an airport at El Toro."
"This morning - on a 3-2 vote - supervisors instructed their Sacramento
lobbyists to oppose any efforts at crafting a regional airport
authority that could end up deciding to put an airport at the
former El Toro Marine base. Their expressed desire would be to oppose
any land-use decision that goes against what the current zoning for the
property entails, plans dominated by a large park."
"Two supervisors - Jim Silva and Chuck Smith - remained silent on the
issue, acknowledging the current anti-airport board majority, but voted
against the action."
"Despite concerns about airport plans resurfacing, county lobbyist
Scott Baugh told supervisors today that once the Navy sells the land,
which is expected in January, there is no turning back."
"'Once that sale goes through, it's going to be difficult to put the
toothpaste back in,' he said."
Website Editor: We hope he is
correct. Los Angeles already owns one airport in a neighboring county -
Ontario.
Click for the entire article.
LA Times, December 14, 2004
"DHL Picks
March Base as New Hub"
"The shipping firm
gets a below-market deal for the joint-powers base near Riverside.
Neighbors, fearing noise and pollution, are suing."
"Shipping giant DHL has picked March Air Reserve base in Riverside
County to be its new cargo hub in Southern California."
"For backers of the facility, DHL's announcement was a relief after a
decade of efforts to bring private, profit-making businesses to the
joint-powers base, and stiff competition from nearby Ontario and San
Bernardino International airports." All three Inland Empire airports
campaigned hard to land the contract and the development it will bring.
"The company will pay about 6 cents per square foot in rent for its
facility to the Joint Powers Authority . . . Normal rents for Southern
California airport cargo space run between 50 and 60 cents per square
foot, industry experts said."
"DHL selected March because of the financial package, easy access to
freeways and its ability to have the hub open by next autumn."
Some nearby residents are suing over environmental issues. "'I still
hope we can get some agreement from DHL to both minimize any noise and
overflight over residential areas in the Riverside area during
nighttime hours,' [Supervisor Bob Buster] said. 'That needs to be
provided for and it hasn't been.'"
Click for more . . .
El Toro Info Site report,
December 13, 2004
Supervisors respond
to Fullerton tactic
Supervisors Bill Campbell and Tom Wilson sent a
December 8 letter to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta making
it clear "in the strongest terms" that "former mayor Mike Clesceri's
request" for control over El Toro was "wrong-headed."
They wrote "In summary, the Orange County Board of Supervisors will not
stand for any attempt to thwart the will of the voters and the land use
decisions made by the community as a whole . . . Orange County's
decision is firm and unwavering."
"We urge you to reject any suggestion to overturn our citizens' solid
resolve to make El Toro a true countywide asset."
Meanwhile, Supervisor Chris Norby was actively investigating the
Fullerton blunder that was made without formal action by the City
Council or in a legal and properly noticed meeting.
Suspicions are growing that the Orange County Regional Airport
Authority (OCRAA), certain die-hard Orange County politicians and
staffers, and Los Angeles authorities had a hand in the matter.
Los Angeles Daily News, December 13, 2004
[LA Mayoral
Candidate] "Alarcon wants new major airport . . . proposes creating
countywide agency"
"State Sen. Richard Alarcon has developed his own strategy: Build a
major new airport in fast-growing northern Los Angeles County. Alarcon,
a Van Nuys Democrat who is running for mayor [against incumbent James
Hahn], plans to introduce a bill this week to create a countywide
authority that would pursue construction of another international
airport -- one that would relieve congestion at LAX."
"'Most major jurisdictions have two major airports, and there's no
reason why Los Angeles County shouldn't,' said Alarcon.. . . Among the
options, he said, is expanding Palmdale Regional Airport . . . However,
he doubts the city of Los Angeles, which owns the facility, would ever
push to expand it."
"Alarcon also believes another international airport should be built
with cooperation from communities throughout Los Angeles County, rather
than allowing the city of Los Angeles to dominate the process."
A Hahn aide said "'The reality is, under Mayor Hahn, the city of Los
Angeles already operates a regional airport system [Los Angeles World
Airports, LAWA]. Mayor Hahn helped Ontario grow into a first-rate
international airport, and he's expanding operations at Palmdale.'"
"State Sen. Tom McClintock, (R-Thousand Oaks), whose district includes
Santa Clarita, said he believes Palmdale should be expanded into an
international airport, as intended decades ago."
"Assemblyman Mike Gordon, the former mayor of El Segundo who has been a
leading opponent of LAX expansion, said the greatest population growth
for the region is projected for the Inland Empire, so Ontario Airport
should be the focus of expansion efforts."
Mayoral candidate and City Councilman Bernard "Parks would also like to
see state legislation that would create a six-county Southern
California authority that would jointly plan regional
air-transportation issues."
Candidate "Former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg does not see the need
to build a new airport or create an additional airport bureaucracy, but
supports a five-county regional approach to air-transportation
planning, said campaign spokesman Matt Szabo."
Click for the entire article.
Website Editor: At this point, Alarcon's
embryonic bill, SB 32, is titled as a "Los Angeles County Regional Airport Authority."
It looks like a campaign football transferring power from the city of
Los Angeles and its Los Angeles World Airports to the County of LA.
During a previous LA mayoral campaign, the idea of limiting LAX to 78
MAP, in lieu of the larger airport favored by Mayor Richard Riordan,
took hold as a political promise.
With the airport authority proposal in
play in the Legislature, watch carefully as pro-El Toro parties try to
morph it into a bureaucracy encompassing Orange County and the
remainder of the SCAG region.
El Toro Info Site report, December 12,
2004 - updated
More on the
"bizarre" Fullerton story
Hours before he left office as Fullerton Mayor, Mike Clesceri submitted
a December 7th letter to Secretary of
Transportation Norman Mineta asking that the city be allowed to operate
a federally owned commercial airport at El Toro. Click here for
a copy of the letter (which will be brought to the City Council for its
consideration on December 21).
Clesceri finished 4th
in the November 2 city election and lost his bid to retain a city
council seat.
As noted by OC Supervisor Chris Norby, Clesceri made the "bizarre" proposal as
Mayor without first bringing the scheme to a City Council vote.
Clesceri's unconvincing rational for the city operating El Toro is that
it currently operates Fullerton Municipal Airport. Fullerton's recently
completed Master Plan for that general aviation airport's next 20 years
calls for no growth beyond its historical level of operations. This
hardly fits with Clesceri's prescription for a region "with a
tremendous and growing need for airport capacity."
The Clesceri letter - which presumably was written for him by serious
players - promotes concepts still being pursued by Los Angeles
interests, such as asking that the Department of Navy convey the El
Toro property to the Department of Transportation for leasing it to an
airport operator. His letter cites the Washington Metropolitan Airports, a
regional airport authority with powers to circumvent county control.
The Fullerton-El Toro proposal may be dismissed by some as an
unauthorized last-ditch wild idea from a politician about to be out of
a job. However, we see it as part of a larger orchestrated conspiracy
by regional forces hoping to paint a picture of continued interest in
an additional Orange County commercial airport.
El Toro Info Site report, December 10, 2004
The Fullerton caper
Los Angeles' bid
to take over El Toro for an airport annex to LAX was a dead serious
attempt,
submitted in secret to Transportation Secretary Mineta, in hopes that
it could
gain traction before it became public.
In contrast, this week´s bid by the City of Fullerton to run
an
airport at El Toro is a Keystone Kops caper with no chance of success.
Unlike
the LA scheme, it was not done in secret but was readily publicized to
the media for
public consumption.
This writer sees the Fullerton move as part of an insurgency against
the will of
Orange County voters orchestrated by major players hiding out of the
limelight.
The Fullerton letter, like an earlier letter
by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher to the OC Register, is an attempt
to put an
Orange County public face on a Los Angeles push to restrict the growth
of LAX.
It is likely that we will see other participants from throughout the
region
weighing in on the issue of an airport at El Toro. We are looking at
the tip of
the iceberg
so far. Those planning this next move in the airport war are working
behind the
scenes while others are writing the letters and setting the stage.
OC Register, December 9, 2004
"Fullerton pursues airport at El Toro"
The activity below the iceberg continues with the City of Fullerton throwing its weight into the debate. As reported today by both the OC Register and the LA Times, "City Council members sent a letter Wednesday to the U.S. Department of Transportation asking that it consider allowing Fullerton to operate a commercial airport at the former El Toro Marine base."
"A similar proposal by the city of Los Angeles was rebuffed last year. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta returned the letter, saying he lacked the authority to overrule Orange County's decision to build parks and housing on the land."
The LA Times added that "the Navy, which owns the base, has held steady to its plan to auction the land to developers Jan. 5. On Wednesday, the Navy rejected a plan by a local developer and an advocacy group to turn old military housing on the base into affordable homes."
Supervisor Chris Norby, who represents Fullerton, said he was "baffled by the letter," especially since only two weeks ago County Board of Supervisors decertified EIRs 563 and 573 that had been drafted for an airport at El Toro.
"As the City Council overwhelmingly approved Mayor James K. Hahn's modernization plan for Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday, county supervisors, airport-area residents and several local cities prepared to file suit to stop the project."
LA County county Board of Supervisors, however, "which has repeatedly said the plan fails to limit capacity at LAX or spread air traffic among the region's airports, voted unanimously Tuesday to file suit to block the proposal." Many airport-area residents, as well as the cities of El Segundo, Inglewood and Culver City are considering joining the lawsuits.
While the City of Los Angeles is considering limiting capacity at LAX to 78.9 million annual passengers by controlling the number of gates where airplanes park, it could violate the 1990 Capacity Act that prohibits local government from regulating airports' operations.
"An Orange County advocacy group and a developer that have been lobbying the Navy to reopen military housing at the closed El Toro Marine base have submitted a formal proposal to the federal government that offers $255 million for the buildings and the land."
"There are close to 1,200 single-family homes on the base as well as barracks that could be converted into apartment units. The buildings occupy more than 400 acres on the 3,700-acre property. Under the proposal, Affordable Housing Resources would renovate the units and rent them to military and low-income families, said Ken Lee, a spokesman for Ocmil.com."
As reported previously the Defense Department, after first considering using the houses in El Toro for Camp Pendleton Marines, later rejected the idea as, among other reasons, would require too long a commute to Camp Pendleton.
Five years ago today, overly confident airport
supporters celebrated the expected removal of a final obstacle to
commercial
aviation at El Toro. They were stunned when their plans collapsed the
following
day. On December 3, 1999, this website reported
"FLASH - County Fails to Convince State on Transfer. Airport Opponents
are
Jubilant." The event was one of the most dramatic, crucial,
least
understood, and most forgotten victories in the long seesaw battle
against an
airport at El Toro.
An obscure panel, the California State Lands Commission dealt county
officials a
devastating blow by delaying an expected transfer of jurisdiction over
El Toro
from federal hands to the state. The commission voted 2-0, with 1
abstention, to
postpone retrocession action.
Prior to the meeting, the OC Register reported, “If the commission
agrees to
the recommendation of its staff, it will approve the transfer and
Orange County
will take over law enforcement at the base. The transfer - a
process
called retrocession - would allow the county to open more of the base
to public
uses. That could include everything from cocktails at the old Officers
Club to
air cargo flights as the county works to create an international
airport at El
Toro.”
The County planned to start interim cargo flights as quickly as
possible after
the Marines left in July 1999.. However, this necessitated obtaining
control
over the property from the Navy. Airport opponents - led
by ETRPA - delayed this crucial retrocession step for months.
The delay allowed the clock to run out at the end of 1999 on a special
[bankruptcy period] state law temporarily allowing OC supervisors to
approve
long term leases by a simple 3-2 majority. By the time the Lands
Commission
revisited the retrocession decision in 2000, the Orange County BOS
needed a 4-1
vote, just like other California counties, to approve leases of the
sort
required for air cargo operations.
They couldn't get the 4th vote. Tom Wilson and Todd Spitzer were able
to block
the leases, cargo flights became infeasible, and
ETRPA eventually removed its objections to retrocession.
Had cargo flights begun, El Toro would have become a de facto airport.
The
county's steamroller would have been nearly unstoppable. Instead, the
events of
2000, including the overwhelming passage of Measure F, prevented
airport
supporters from regaining their
momentum that was broken on December 3, 1999.
El Toro Info Site
report,
December 2, 2004 - updated
LA County fights LA
City for
limits on LAX
Click
here for two articles from today's LA Times and the Daily Breeze.
Los
Angeles County supervisors are seeking to force limits on an LAX
remodel plan
headed towards passage by the LA City Council.
"The county is pursuing . . . a last-ditch attempt to stop the mayor's
plan, which it argues fails to limit growth at LAX and spread air
traffic among
the region's airports."
County Supervisor Don Knabe, who is leading the county effort, advocates
a regional airport authority which some would use to promote
reactivating a
commercial airport at El Toro.
El Toro Info Site
report,
December 1, 2004
The tip of the
iceberg
Letters
to the Daily Pilot by pro-El Toro hopefuls like Bonnie O'Neil and
Donald
Nyre of Newport Beach are just the cautionary tip of an iceberg. Below
the
surface there are serious players - congressmen, state legislators,
county
supervisors and well-placed bureaucrats - still meeting and plotting to
resurrect the airport project. It is an effort by a broad coalition
representing
powerful interests from throughout Southern California..
Ten years after the passage of Measure A, which initially designated El
Toro for
commercial aviation reuse, the airport is dead. Or is it in a deep coma
from
which revival is possible with the right combination of power, luck,
and
overconfidence by the anti-airport side? Stay alert. Stay tuned.