3rd Quarter - 1999
3rd Quarter - 1999OC Weekly, September 30, 1999
“A Too-Modest Proposal”
“That stink you smell emanating from the County Hall of Administration
is the stink of defeat.”
Website Direct, OC Register, September 29, 1999
“Coad proposes smaller airport”
LA Times, September 29, 1999
“Airport foes blast display at John Wayne”
LA Times, September 28, 1999
“Cities Against a New Airport Dig Deeper”
“South County coalition, with eight members, plans to double
its publicity spending to about $4 million.”
Website Direct, September 26, 1999
SCAG Population Projections Shows Most Growth Outside
of Orange County
San Diego Union-Tribune, September 25, 1999
“Airport economic study OK'd”
OC Register, September 25, 1999
“Supervisor asks FAA to study jet noise in El Toro
airspace”
OC Register, September 24, 1999
“Panel reviews airport scenarios”
“Passengers would swell John Wayne if LAX doesn't expand”
Newport-Costa Mesa Daily Pilot, September 23, 1999
“Anti-airport forces upping the ante”
“Cities may be asked to contribute $175,000 each as part of public
outreach program.”
OC Register, September 23, 1999
"Cox asked to back airport restrictions"
Website Direct, September 21, 1999
Governmental Affairs
LA Times, September 20, 1999
“Panel Explores Scenarios for Airport Use”
“A study projects 2020 regional distribution of travelers in
various situations, with and without El Toro.”
LA Times, Editorial, September 19, 1999
"The El Toro Summer"
LA Times, September 18, 1999
“El Toro May Be Put in Agency Hands”
“Supervisor Smith says he would favor a joint-powers authority,
if necessary, to get the airfield built.”
Newport-Costa Mesa Daily Pilot, September 17, 1999
“Pro-airport group, Cox plan talks on El Toro”
“Discussion to focus on placing nighttime flight restrictions
like those that exist at John Wayne Airport”
OC Register, September 16, 1999
“Cargo Flights Likely Delayed”
“Aviation leases could require improbable 4-1 vote by supervisors”
OC Register, September 15, 1999
“OMINOUS EVIDENCE”
“The apparent discovery of a radioactive gauge at El Toro puts
pressure on cleanup officials.”
Asahi News (Japan), September 15, 1999
“Airports, airports everywhere, but too few passengers
to land”
OCN "Politically Speaking", September 11-12, 1999
(11:30 am and 8:30 pm)
Silva would support El Toro takeoffs to the west
over Irvine
OC Register, September 10, 1999
“Dissension erupts in pro-airport camp”
“Supervisors and business interests trade potshots.”
OC Register, September 10, 1999
“Private thinking on an El Toro airport”
Newport-Costa Mesa Daily Pilot, September 8, 1999
“Airport foes fuming over possible new initiative”
OC Register, September 8, 1999
“Airport issues top Cox's agenda”
“Mittermeier, Cox discuss privatization for an airport”
Website direct, September 4, 1999
ETRPA TV ad hits county on wasted money
Website Direct, September 4, 1999
John Wayne use continues to slide.
LA Times, September 2, 1999
“Airport Backers Consider Own Initiative”
“The measure would compete with the anti-airfield proposition
headed for the March ballot.”
Website Direct, August 31, 1999
Safe and Healthy Communities Petition Drive Exceeds
Goal
"Airport Foes Set Record"
Website Direct, August 31, 1999
Air Crashes
Website direct, August 29, 1999
Highly Successful Safe and Healthy Communities
Petition Drive Wraps Up
Saddleback Valley News, Guest Views, August
27, 1999
“County’s test is more than just a lot of noise”
- by Supervisor Todd Spitzer
Website Direct, August 27, 1999
County Special Counsel Michael Gatzke is under
fire.
Irvine Citizen, August 26, 1999
“Millennium Plan leaner and greener”
The Boston Globe, August 25, 1999, website posted August
26
“Residents Near Busy Airport Looking For Ways Out”
LA Times, Community News August 24, 1999
Laguna Woods Aquadettes perform to raise money
to fight airport - Monday
night. Call now!!!
Newport Beach gives funds to promote El Toro
OC Register, August 21, 1999
“FAA joins county in delaying El Toro environmental
review “
“Opponents are critical of both agencies' using the same consultant.”
Website Direct, August 20, 1999
Info Sought Re. MCAS Chemical Handling and Cleanup
LA Times, August 20, 1999
“FAA Plans Its Own Study of El Toro”
“Federal agency will evaluate environmental impact from conversion
of closed Marine station.”
Website Direct, August 19, 1999
State Senator Bill Morrow endorses Safe and Healthy
Communites Initiative
St. Paul Pioneer Planet, August 17, website posted
August 19, 1999
FAA DENIES MONEY FOR NOISE CONTROL
“City officials frustrated by denial.”
Website Direct August 18, 1999
Live Coad-Songstad Debate Coverage Provided
LA Times August 18, 1999
"Laguna Niguel" - MCAS El Toro Update
LA Times, August 17, 1999
“Newport Beach”
LA Times, August 16, 1999
“Both Parties Steer Clear of El Toro”
“Airport Debate Threatens Rifts for GOP, Democrats”
LA Times, August 15, 1999
”Airport Foes Stymie Plans for El Toro Officers
Club”
Website Direct, August 12, 1999
Newport Beach meeting scares JWA neighbors.
OC Business Journal, OC Insider column, August
9, website posted August 11, 1999
“El Toro Turbulence: Mittermeier Came Close
to Grounding”
Wall Street Journal, August 10, 1999
“Battles Between Airplanes, Birds Hit New Heights”
OC Register, August 10, 1999
“Newport Beach - Ducey to airport board”
Website Direct, August 9, 1999
Newport Beach lawsuit against Safe and Healthy
Community Initative fails first test
Website Direct, August 9, 1999
Irvine Co. does not get land back if JWA is closed.
Website Direct, August 6, 1999
Where's the Jet Fuel?
OC Register, August 6, 1999
“Search for jail site down to 3 areas”
“The locations are farther than a half-mile from schools, homes
and businesses.”
Website Direct, August 4, updated August 5, 1999
County Airport Project Falls Further Behind Schedule
Website Direct, August 3, 1999
Congressman Ron Packard Endorses Safe and Healthy
Communities Initiative
Newport-Costa Mesa Daily Pilot, August 3, 1999
“$13 million not nearly enough”
“El Toro airport's proponents, opponents agree on one thing:
federal offer to pay for water cleanup at former base much too little.”
LA Times, August 3, 1999
“FAA Chief Hears Noise Complaints”
“Regional administrator says agency will check sources. But he
skirts questions on El Toro conversion”
OC Metro, July 29, 1999, Website posted August
3
"Why El Toro May Not Take Off."
OC Register, July 31, 1999
“Unexpected alliance in El Toro debate?”
“South-county and Newport residents weigh collaboration despite
differing interests.”
Website Direct, July 30, 1999
Environmental Sellout?
OC Register, July 30, 1999
“Opponents of an El Toro airport meet with Cox
in Washington”
LA Times, July 28, 1999
“Supervisors Hear Loud Complaints on El Toro Tests”
“About 200 residents demand end to plans in first formal meeting
with officials.”
OC Register, July 27, 1999
"Forum to address jet noise since base closure"
"Some say it's louder now that the airspace is open to general-aviation
aircraft. FAA disagrees."
Link Added, July 24, 1999
"Noise Measurements Results"
Website Direct, July 23, 1999
"Who Really Cares About El Toro"
Website Direct, July 23, 1999
Somethings Don't Add Up
Website Direct, July 21, 1999
Three Ways to Get More Involved
San Diego Union Tribune, July 20, 1999
“Port director to lead hunt for a better airport
site”
“Plans are to search entire county, bolster Lindbergh”
Website Direct, July 19, 1999
County Finds Little Good to Report on Flight Demos
Website Direct, July 19, 1999
Courtney Wiercioch Reportedly Will Step Down as
El Toro Program Manager
Website Direct, July 19, 1999
County Flight Demo Report to Be Released Today
Website Direct, July 16, 1999
Congressman Cox's Proposal
Website Direct, July 16, 1999
JWA Flight Times Available On-Line
Irvine World News, July 15, 1999
"City fighting move to kill anti-airport vote"
OC Register, July 14, 1999
“FAA disputes reports of more south O.C. jet noise”
“Air traffic officials say no paths have been altered since El
Toro closed July 2.”
Newport-Costa Mesa Daily Pilot, July 13, 1999,
website posted July 14, 1999
“City grants $380,000 to groups supporting El Toro.”
OC Register, July 13, 1999 Opinion
"Start over on El Toro"
Website Direct, July 12, 1999
People are asking whether JWA flight paths have
changed.
Website Direct, July 12, 1999
V-Runways, Pro and Con
Website Direct, July 11, 1999 - Editorial comment
Where is the county’s flight demo report?
OC Register, July 10, 1999
“Cox peddles plan to privatize El Toro base”
“Pro-airport Supervisor Cynthia Coad says GOP legislator has
'some interesting ideas.' “
OC Register, July 9, 1999
“Coad ready to hear Cox out on El Toro”
“The supervisor — who provides the key third vote for a county-run
facility — wants details on possible privatization.”
LA Times, July 8, 1999
“Cox Going to Bat for Airport Foes”
“The Republican vows to get their message across
in Congress before the property is transferred to the county.”
OC Register, July 8, 1999
“Cox goal: force sale of El Toro”
“His effort to ensure that any airport there be
privately run could derail current plans. Reactions are mixed.”
Our Times Irvine, July 7, 1999, posted July 8
“City has banner day in El Toro fight”
OC Register, July 7, 1999
“Anti-airport petition drive hits high gear”
LA Times, July 7, 1999
“WinAir’s Shutdown Plan Clips Long Beach”
Website Direct, July 6, 1999
Christopher Cox Signs Safe and Healthy Communities
Petition
Website Direct, July 3, 1999
"NO EL TORO AIRPORT !"
LA Times, July 3, 1999
"Airport Foes Well on the Way to Initiative"
"Ballot drive has 90,000 signatures and hopes to collect twice
as many as the 71,000 needed."
LA Times, July 3, 1999
"Airport Combatants Turn to Washington"
Website Direct, July 2, 1999
El Toro Marine Base Closes Today. What now?
Newport Beach - Costa Mesa Daily Pilot, July 1, 1999
“Former Newport mayor named to head El Toro advisory
group”
(For full articles see L.A. Times at http://www.latimes.com and O.C. Register at http://www.ocregister.com/news/)
SEPTEMBER
Website Direct, OC Register, September 29, 1999
“Coad proposes smaller airport”
“Supervisor Cynthia Coad said Tuesday that she is willing to support
a smaller El Toro airport with 18.8 million annual
passengers if south-county leaders agree to negotiate.” Coad offered
to keep JWA open, to have operations at El Toro
primarily domestic, to use quiet airplanes-eliminating 747’s, to keep
night curfew, and to protect westerly departures. While
expressing her concerns about “bickering between supporters and critics
of the planned airport,” she suggested that the “county
should take steps to meet the air-travel demand by 2010 and let future
supervisors oversee a new environmental study and
decide if larger facilities should be built.” Click to follow
the changing airport plans.
The Times Orange County added that “Even though the board won't vote
on the final project until May, the supervisors said
they are prepared to recast the scope of the airport, and called on
South County airport foes to embrace the smaller design.”
That “the aim was to shoot through the carefully crafted image of airport
opponents, who have injected increasing doubt over
the project's future.”
ETRPA called Supervisor's Coad proposal "simply a repackaging of the existing airport concept."
Editorial comment: The airlines have expressed their opinions that
they do not support a two-airports
system and that
restrictions on nighttime operations are “unacceptable.” and
commercial pilots have repeatedly expressed their
objections to the county takeoffs plans.
Suprvisor Coad made her comments, see above, while the Board of Supervisors,
meeting as the El Toro Local Reuse
Authority, was debating the presence of an ad at John Wayne Airport.
The item was put on the Agenda by Supervisor Tom
Wilson, asking the board to remove the display. Opponents of the airport
“charge that the message is misleading and,
moreover, that such blatant advocacy has no place in a county facility.”
The board voted 3-2 to leave the sign in place.
“Committing ever-growing amounts to fight the planned El Toro airport,
[ETRPA] a coalition of eight south Orange County
cities agreed Monday night to add $1.75 million to its budget for an
aggressive marketing campaign. The additional money
raises this year's total budget for the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority
to $6.25 million”
"‘It is clear that the coming months probably will determine the outcome
of this rancorous debate,’ Paul Eckles, the coalition's
executive director, said in recommending the new round of city contributions...
The new spending calls for doubling to about $4 million what the authority
plans to spend for marketing, including cable-television ads, direct mail
and consultants.”
“On the opposite side, the city of Newport Beach has been the biggest
spender, recently boosting its contributions to
pro-airport groups by nearly $500,000.” Newport Beach City Council
this week approved $238,234 for the OC Airport
Alliance to subsidize its paid director, Tom Wall. The George
Argyros-backed Citizens for Jobs and the Economy asked
Newport Beach for $150,000 for lobbying in Washington.
Editor:- Residents are urged to contact their city governments and
to express support for local funding for this
important issue. City council members need to know that the
public is behind them.
The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) has projected
the population growth for
the region. Orange
County will show the smallest percentage increase in population between
now and the year 2020, since the county's supply of
remaining buildable land is very limited. While the region's
population is expected to grow by 5,353,000 people in the next
twenty years, Orange County will contribute only 385,400 of this number
or 7.2 percent of the growth.
Opponents note that an airport at El Toro will create a flow of residents
from the largest growing counties - Los Angeles,
Riverside and San Bernadino - driving into Orange County to catch an
airplane.
“Hoping to avoid the pitfall of past airport debates, the San
Diego Association of Governments decided to first quantify the
economic impact of a new international airport and later answer
the question of where it should be located.” Editor:- By
doing so, San Diego County avoids Orange County’s divisive mistake
of approving an airport at El Toro and then
doing the studies afterwards.
“SANDAG's board voted 18-0 yesterday to support the Port District's
plan for phased improvements to Lindbergh Field
while the agencies simultaneously partner to find a new airport.
The board stopped short of authorizing an inventory of
potential sites, which had been urged by some business leaders.
Instead, members [will] conduct the economic study and hold
a ‘public involvement program’ that would present findings to
residents, civic groups and other public agencies.”
“The Federal Aviation Administration may send investigators into backyards
in south Orange County to monitor aircraft
noise that residents say has soared since the Marines left El Toro
in July. Supervisor Tom Wilson wrote FAA Regional
Administrator William Withycombe ... to request an official inquiry
into the source of the noise.”
“If Los Angeles International Airport does not expand, air passengers
will flock to Ontario and Orange County — with or
without a new airport at El Toro, according to forecasts released ”
by the Aviation Task Force of the Southern California
Association of Governments. Five different “scenarios reviewed
Thursday assume LAX would not exceed 70 million
passengers a year, its current physical capacity. Other factors varied,
including the possibility that an El Toro airport will not be
built and that high-speed rail lines from Los Angeles and Orange counties
to Ontario Airport will be developed.”
“The task force, made up of government and aviation officials, took
no action. Additional computer models will be prepared in
coming months. Then, sometime next year, the task force will face a
difficult choice: what to propose as a policy to handle
growth in air travel over the next 20 years.”
“Crafting a policy won't be easy, and the battles now waged within Orange
County over El Toro seem likely to spill over into a
struggle between Orange and Los Angeles counties over which will bear
the brunt of future demand.” Richard Dixon, a Lake
Forest councilman and task-force member said “he will ask analysts
to consider a model that includes no El Toro and increased capacity at
LAX.”
ETRPA spokesperson Meg Waters pointed out to the LA Times that that
the forecasts do not adequately consider new
communications technology that will reduce the need for some air travel.
“‘Heck, 20 years ago we didn’t even have fax
machines.’”
“A coalition of eight South County cities is trying to increase its
war chest in the El Toro airport battle by nearly $2
million....The El Toro Reuse Planning Authority board, said the group
will most likely approve the proposal to increase
spending for its public outreach program at Monday's meeting... The
contributions would require approval from the individual
city councils, but city officials Wednesday, with the exception of
[the new city of ] Laguna Woods, seemed more than willing to give more
money to fight the airport.”
“The extra funding will go toward disseminating more information on
the airport proposal, its impacts on the community and
alternative uses for the site... the program will use direct mailers,
television commercials and other media outlets to spread the
message. “
Newport Beach Mayor Dennis “O'Neil admitted that pro-airport forces
don't have the same ability to raise large sums of
money as quickly as airport foes. However, he said if you factor in
what Orange County is spending on airport planning and
promotions, the pro-airport total is probably much more.”
"Within the last two weeks, the Airport Working Group [of Newport Beach]
and the [pro-airport] El Toro Citizens
Advisory Commission have written [Congressman Christopher] Cox, asking
for meetings and urging him to back an exemption
to Federal Aviation Administration rules against special curfews and
restrictions" for an airport at El Toro.
Editor:- The efforts are seen as insincere self-serving attempts
to win political support for a second county airport by
portraying it to the public as "community-friendly'. Click for more
information on The Changing Airport Plan.
1. The El Toro Citizens Advisory Commission, a pro-airport group
created by Measure A, will meet tomorrow, September
22 at 4:00 PM and discuss a letter by commission member Tom Edwards
of Newport Beach to Congressman Cox
requesting flight curfews at El Toro.
2. The Board of Supervisors will meet on September 28. Supervisor
Tom Wilson will ask the Board to remove two
offending signs at John Wayne Airport. The signs claim that El
Toro airport will impact no homes or schools. Supervisor
Wilson has been seeking their removal through Board Chairman Smith
for three months without adequate response. Please
send messages of support for the sign removal. Click here to see what
the signs look like. (Large file loads slowly.)
This is agenda item #33 at the 6:00 pm meeting and everyone is encouraged
to attend and speak on the item.
3. Congressman Christopher Cox requested the Secretary of the
Navy to "remain neutral" regarding the City of Irvine's bid
to annex the base property. Cox also wrote, on September 20,
that, "We look forward to working with you during the
remainder of the closure process, with a view to defraying the maximum
amount of base closure expenses for the Defense
Department while ensuring that the land is used for the greatest advantage
by the affected community."
“A pending study by the Southern California Assn. of Governments...
could prove a potent weapon for those who oppose the
massive Los Angeles International Airport expansion and construction
of a new airport at the former Marine Corps air base at
El Toro. Foes of bigger airports hope the SCAG study will show that
other airports can assume much of the projected demand in 21 years.”
SCAG is “the agency that controls federal and state funding for regional
transportation projects. Its forecasts typically become
the backbone for plans made by city and county governments. The agency,
governed by 75 elected officials from Southern
California cities and counties, will release an update on its airport
projections... Thursday in Los Angeles.”
“With communities opposed to bigger airports, the agency is acknowledging
that airports might not grow with demand.... Some people are not convinced
that just because airport demand exists it has to be met. SCAG planners
ran a ‘what if’ scenario on
their computers 18 months ago to see what would happen to demand if
El Toro weren't built or LAX weren't expanded. They
found that half of the new demand simply would disappear... About a
quarter of the demand would be redistributed to other
airports and modes of travel, and another quarter would be served by
airports in other regions.”
The Times editorial comments that "The events of recent months have
turned inevitablilty on its side." An inevitable airport at El Toro
no longer looks so cetain. The Times writes that, "The question is
whether it is good public policy, and whether it keeps
faith with the spirit of the base reuse guidelines, to force a major
airport 'for the larger good' on a mostly unwilling surrounding
population." Click for
the full text.
“Increasingly frustrated by setbacks in airport planning, Supervisor
Charles V. Smith said Friday that he would turn over efforts
to build the airfield at the closed El Toro Marine base to a separate
government agency--if that's what it takes to get it built.”
Supporters of the Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative counter that
language in the measure still requires that the voters
approve major actions needed to build and operate an airport.
“Two threats loom to the county's ability to control airport planning.
The first centers on the bare 3-2 board majority
shepherding the airport. After Jan. 1, the county will lose its [special
bankruptcy related] state exemption and will need four
votes to approve leases. The two anti-airport board members already
have vowed to block any leases. The second is a South
County voter initiative, headed for the March ballot, that would require
the county to get approval from two-thirds of county
voters before planning airports, large jails or hazardous-waste landfills.”
“Airport supporters are considering several ways to fight the initiative,
including a request to supervisors to put two competing
measures on the same ballot in an effort to override the South County
initiative, should all pass. One competing measure would
allow a simple majority for voter approval on airport, jail and landfill
plans. The other would let supervisors decide whether any
plan should go before the voters, again for a majority vote.
Such strategies are in the works only because pro-airport forces
are worried that public sentiment has turned against them... ‘This
whole business is nothing more than looking for loopholes to
circumvent the will of the people,’ said Len Kranser.”
“But As both sides continue their maneuvers, airport planning
has been pushed back at least 18 months beyond the county's
initial hope of officially taking over the base last January.”
“NEWPORT BEACH -- Rep. Chris Cox (R-Newport Beach) plans to talk with
the Airport Working Group next week about
proposing federal legislation that would give the planned El Toro airport
the same curfew as John Wayne enjoys. By curbing
the working hours for the proposed airport to between 7 a.m. and 10
p.m., the Airport Working Group hopes to gain more
support in South County for converting the former Marine base into
an international airport. A meeting between Cox and
working group officials has yet to be set.”
“To do so, however, Cox and the working group will have to work around
an existing law... that stripped local communities
of the authority to control airport noise, said Cox, who added he ‘strongly
disagrees’ with that piece of legislation.”
“El Toro activist Tom Edwards [Newport Beach] said he supports placing
restrictions on El Toro at the appropriate time,
which he believes will be after the airport is up and operating. In
fact, he said he plans to discuss the issue at the El Toro
Citizens Advisory Commission meeting next week, includng the possibility
of sending a letter to Cox in support of the idea.“
Editor: Did he say AFTER it is up and operating? Don’t
hold your breath. E-mail Congressman Cox that it’s no
deal.
“Cargo flights are not likely to occur until 2001 at the earliest because
of the expiration later this year of a special [bankruptcy
period] law on approval of county leases.” Orange County supervisors
will have to agree, 4-1 on cargo and other long-term
leases, just as is the case in other California counties.
“The delay represents the latest slip in the timetable for El Toro cargo
flights. The county originally hoped to start flights by the
time the base closed in July. More recently, officials had talked
of flights in the first half of 2000... Opponents of an El Toro
airport celebrated the news as the latest in what they see as a string
of recent successes.”
In a related story, the LA Times refers to a possible formation of a
Joint Powers Authority to circumvent the Safe and Healthy
Communities Initiative. An attorney for the anti-airport groups
points out that the initiative was carefully written to cover such
an attempt. The initiative subjects a number of things to the
mandatory 2/3 ratification vote. Among them is "any action by the
Board of Supervisors . . . approving or authorizing . . . the formation
of any other governmental or quasi-governmental entity . .
. to permit or facilitate . . . the design of construction of any new
. . . civilian airport."
“The first physical evidence that the Navy might have dumped radioactive
material into at least one landfill on the El Toro
Marine Base has been brought forward by a local chemist. The find could
increase pressure on the military to thoroughly
investigate landfills on the now-closed base for radioactive contamination.”
“Chemist Chuck Bennett, a member of a federally mandated citizens panel
that is keeping close track of environmental cleanup
at the base, said he picked up the [radioactive instrument] gauge on
the surface of an old landfill in an area of the northeast
corner of the base that is to become a wildlife reserve. The Orange
County Register reported in July that ground water flowing
from beneath the reserve site was radioactive.”
Editor:- The presence of radioactive material, and the need for its
cleanup, could add further delay to the process for
transfer of the land to the county. See Meetings Section about the
September 29 presentation on this matter.
“The Japanese archipelago is resounding to the impact of an airport
construction boom, even as most existing local airports
struggle to make ends meet... As a result, more local airports are
expected to find themselves in deepening financial trouble.”
“New airports opened in Saga and Akita prefectures last year, and even
newer ones are under construction in Kobe, Shizuoka
and Ishikawa prefectures. For a long time, Saga Prefecture badly wanted
an airport because it was the only Kyushu prefecture
without one. In July last year its dream came true... The opening of
Odate-Noshiro Airport, in northern Akita Prefecture, the
same month had also been prompted by a community desire to rid itself
of the stigma of being ‘like a desert island on land’
because no expressways or Shinkansen [high speed rail] lines go there.
But both airports are facing a hard reality: They are
losing money.”
“Even after an airport is completed, it still costs money--a lot of money--to run.”
Second District Supervisor James Silva was asked by co-host Bill Mitchell
about the delays in the final vote to build an
airport at El Toro to which Silva expressed his dismay.
Mitchell, former director of OC Common Cause, mentioned the upcoming
FAA’s own Environmental Impact Studies, and
asked whether Silva's thinking might change if the FAA would forbid
easterly takeoffs. Silva's reply was that he would never
jeopardize the safety of passengers at El Toro airport and would support
the FAA rules. Mitchell, pushing forward, asked: "So, if the FAA came back
and said that you can only take off to the north and to the west, you will
still support an airport?
Silva: "Yes, I would."
“El Toro airport backers' frustration boiled over Thursday in a sharp
disagreement over how much the county should do to get
a commercial airport built. The squabbling among county supervisors
and some business leaders reflected anxiety over the
perception that airport opponents are gaining momentum. Dismayed
supervisors backing the airport even briefly considered
ending County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier's direct oversight
of the airport push...”
“The bickering comes on the heels of a run of events that buoyed El
Toro opponents: County officials announced a five-month
delay — until May 2000 — in the timetable for final board approval
of the former Marine base's conversion... Supporters of a
March ballot measure meant to block the airport turned in more than
192,000 signatures, more than double what was needed.
Grass-roots opposition picked up steam after flight tests over south-county
homes prompted noise complaints. Rep.
Christopher Cox, the Newport Beach Republican considered the county's
most influential lawmaker in Washington, insisted
that any airport be private and not county-run.”
“Bruce Nestande, president of Citizens for Jobs and the Economy, said
the county's ‘community outreach should be
dramatically intensified’ before the expected March vote on the Safe
and Healthy Communities Initiative.... ‘How do you
survive if you can't keep the public on your side?’ asked Nestande,
whose group is bankrolled by multimillionaire George
Argyros....The county budgeted $25.6 million on El Toro planning, including
public relations, this fiscal year. Airport foes are
expected to spend $1 million-plus on touting the initiative.”
“Word of the squabbling had airport critics crowing. ‘When things
start to crumble, things like this surface,’ said Supervisor
Tom Wilson.”
While continuing its argument, and that of Congressman Christopher Cox,
in favor of privatizing the El Toro land, the Register
editorial notes that “it's a matter of what's the best possible use
for vacant land.... We don't believe the property should be
sold to a company that necessarily would build an airport.”
Editor:- Many in the anti-airport camp believe that a private purchaser
would receive a higher return on investment
and faster payback from non-aviation development of the land.
“Though El Toro proponents remain tight-lipped about the details of
a competing airport initiative, supporters of the Safe
and Healthy Communities Act are already incensed at the whisper of
a possibility. Several pro-airport leaders Tuesday
declined to comment on the possible competing initiative, saying that
nothing has been drafted and no ideas have been
finalized.” Bonnie O’Neil of the Newport Beach-based Airport
Working Group implied that “airport supporters... are planning to place
a counterinitiative on the ballot.”
A spokesman for Board of Supervisors Chairman Charles Smith said that
Smith “has not received any counterproposal, but
would consider one if he did.” A three member majority of the
Board could place a measure on the ballot without the need to
circulate petitions. Backers of the Safe and Healthy communities
Initiative have called the possibilty an attempt to confuse the
voters and thwart the will of 192,000 citizens who have signed petitions
and want “the right to choose” in a clean yes or no
vote.
“Making sure that the federal government spends what it needs to clean
up the El Toro air base and securing noise safeguards
for [John Wayne and] any new airport are the next items on Rep. Christopher
Cox's agenda.”
“Cox wants the El Toro property to be sold, not turned over to the county
for a municipally run airport... And he has vowed to
try to get federal legislation barring a county airport if local lawmakers
don't give privatization a chance.” County CEO Jan
Mittermeir discussed privatization with the congressman but a county
spokesperson said “Only after the Navy Department
turns the base to the county would Mittermeier bring such a privatization
recommendation to the board [of supervisors].”
“Regardless of how El Toro is developed, local and federal officials
have to agree on how to clean up any possible
groundwater contamination at the closed air base....The county and
federal governments are still negotiating the cleanup issue.
Cox said the federal government's ‘foot-dragging’ also applies to the
former Tustin air base, where plans for development
cannot go forward until the cleanup issue is resolved.”
The El Toro Reuse Planning Authority has begun a series of TV ads opposing the county’s airport project. The first televised spot focuses on the $25 million spent to date on plans for an airport, and states that the spending is heading towards $50 million.
In the ad, paper airplanes, made from $100 bills, crash land into a wastebasket.
Click here to see the newspaper
version of the ad.
Click here to download graphics
to make your own $100 bill paper airplane.
Figures released by the county show that passenger use at JWA has continued its two year decline. Through July, passengers count was down 3.8 percent from the prior year. Projecting the current rate, the airport may complete the year carrying 7.2 million passengers. It's use is capped at 8.4 million by an agreement that expires in 2005.
“Backers of a proposed El Toro airport are considering their own voter initiative to compete with an anti-airport measure heading for the March ballot... Charles V. Smith, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, said he has heard the rumblings, but nothing has been submitted to the board. ‘We'd take a good hard look at [a competing measure],’ Smith said.’” The Board, by a 3-2 vote, can bypass the signature gathering required for a voter initiative.
“Smith and [George] Argyros met two weeks ago to discuss a number of El Toro airport issues, including possible competing initiatives, said a source involved in the pro-airport effort. Supervisors have until Dec. 7 to place any such measure on the March ballot. Argyros' blessing on a competing measure would be key because he probably would be asked to finance efforts to promote it. The wealthy Newport Beach developer and financier spent $2 million on two previous airport initiatives.”
Editor:- It seems unlikely that Argyros would draft an initiative without encouragement from the Board that they would place it on the ballot.
“Airport foes branded the idea of a competing initiative insulting, ‘manipulative trickery’ and something that would be ‘deeply resented’ by the 5,000 volunteers who worked for nearly six months to collect 192,298 signatures for the initiative. ‘It would obviously be done with malicious intent to confuse the voters instead of giving us a clean, up-or-down vote on the Safe and Healthy Communities initiative,’ Irvine Councilman Larry Agran said. ‘My gut feeling is that it would backfire.’"
Website Direct, August 31, 1999
Safe and Healthy Communities Petition Drive Exceeds
Goal
"Airport Foes Set Record" - OC Register
Volunteers for the Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative successfully concluded the biggest petition drive in Orange County history today, submitting over 192.298 signatures to the Orange County Registrar of Voters. An enthusiastic crowd gathered at the Registrar’s office in Santa Ana to formally deliver a truckload of boxes containing the signed petitions. The Registrar of Voters has 30 working days to count the petitions.
Initiative proponent Jeffrey Metzger reported that over 5,000 volunteers throughout the county collected substantially more than double the required number of signatures. Approximately 71,200 are needed to qualify for the March 2000 election.
Supervisor Tom Wilson told those assembled, “People are frustrated over quality-of-life issues in Orange County, but this initiative will change that. It protects people near John Wayne Airport as well as those near El Toro.” Wilson introduced Jason Yee (18), of Irvine, the county’s newest voter and an initiative booster.
Supervisor
Todd Spitzer said, “Shame on county government. The people know best.
This initiative gives citizens a choice in planning the locations for airports,
large jails and toxic dumps. It gives power back to the people in
every city of the county.”
City Councilman Mike Alvarez of Orange said “This initiative will pass because it protects the quality of life for people in every part of Orange County, north or south. You can’t be against letting the people choose.” He called the volunteers “the new patriots of today.
Gail Brunell, a former teacher near LAX, and homemaker from Laguna Niguel, spoke of her previous community that deteriorated and how she wants to protect her new home for the sake of families and “the children who are too young to vote.”
Reverend John R. Steward of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
America, in Mission Viejo, concluded that, “passing the initiative is an
application of the golden rule. It is a moral, caring, and ethical
thing to do.”
On this date in 1986, two planes collided over Cerritos near LAX, damaging 18 homes and killing 15 people on the ground, as well as all those on the planes. Today, a Boeing 737 crashed into a golf course upon takeoff in Argentina. Approximately 70 people were killed including a reported 10 on the ground.
Spitzer writes that, “The County’s flight demonstration fiasco was a monument to deception.” Chiding Vince Mestre, “the county’s pro-airport highly paid noise consultant” who designed the noise demonstration, Spitzer says “Mestre has been in hiding since he produced the noise demonstration document”. Mestre’s much delayed report failed to include some significant data on aircraft noise observed during the demo. “Mestre did not even have the professional courtesy to be present at the Board of Supervisors meeting when we discussed his report.”
Editor:- Supervisor Tom Wilson specifically asked former program manager Courtney Wiercioch to have Mestre present during the Board meeting, leaving some to speculate whether it was the El Toro program management’s decision, rather than Mestre’s own, to keep him from answering questions.
Michael Gatzke, special counsel for the county on El Toro related matters, is under legal attack. Gatzke has been called “the million dollar attorney” because of the large fees paid to him by the county. He is regarded as one of the key players in the county's pro-airport effort. The El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, (ETRPA), a coalition of anti-airport south county cities, has called Gatzke’s hiring a violation of state law which requires that 4 supervisors agree to the contract. They are suing to block his involvement in the El Toro project and to recover allegedly illegal fees that were paid to him.
This week, a judge refused to grant Gatzke’s and the County’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. It is scheduled to go to trial on December 6 if a settlement is not reached.
Replying to the county’s objections to the original Millennium Plan ”the city of Irvine is preparing a revised environmental impact report. “The scaled down anti-airport plan has fewer homes, less development area and a central park almost three times the size of the original.” “The plan will be part of the city’s application to annex the former Marines base and the Muscik Jail,” hoping to “end county plans to build an international airport on the site.” “In addition to the Millennium Plan, the city’s application to annex the base must include a fiscal impact report, urban services plan and tax agreement with the county.” The last requirement can be achieved if the “county finds that it would not lose tax revenue” by annexation. “District 1 Supervisor Smith has said that this would be an unlikely scenario.”
“WARWICK, R.I. (AP) Eleven years ago, Monica and Robert Diehl bought their first home together on a tree-shaded street. But once T.F. Green [airport] opened its sparkling new terminal in September 1996, Mrs. Diehl’s life changed... Now, she awakens to her house rattling with every jet landing; her backyard pool is covered with an oil slick and black soot; and her children complain of headaches and earaches.”
“What's more, her home is rapidly depreciating. She bought the two-story house for $104,900 in 1988. Last year, she tried to sell her house after it was appraised at $85,000. With no takers, she took it off the market. "Nobody's buying it," she says. What does she want the airport to do? Her answer: Buy my house, please.” But its not so easy, and airport sound-proofing programs have complicated the picture. Click here for the entire story.
The City Council “approved a $150,000 grant to the [pro-El Toro] Orange County Regional Airport Authority... Newport Beach has contributed more than $600,000 to pro-El Toro groups including the Orange County Airport Alliance, the Airport Working Group and Citizens for Jobs and the Economy.”
“The Federal Aviation Administration will not finish its environmental review of the proposed El Toro airport until fall 2000, further delaying a final decision on the project... With the FAA's environmental review pushed back — partly because of the county's own delay — the county now will not be able to take title to the base until the final months of 2000 at the earliest.”
“William Withycombe, FAA regional director, said Friday that the agency cannot complete its environmental-impact statement until after both the county and Navy reviews are complete. ‘Then we come in because we'd have a known product that we could analyze,’ he said. Withycombe said the FAA will begin public hearings in Orange County next spring.”
“Though the FAA and county reviews follow separate federal and state guidelines, they are linked in several ways. The county and the FAA are using the same consultant — LSA Associates of Irvine — for their environmental reviews. The county also is paying LSA for its work for the FAA.”
"Both Withycombe and Ellen Cox Call, the county's El Toro spokeswoman, said there is no conflict in the use of a shared consultant. ‘The FAA has an obligation to prepare an independent analysis,’ Call said. The consultant ‘does not answer to the county regarding the FAA's environmental-impact statement, so even though we're paying the bills, we're not calling the shots.’... Airport opponents expressed concern, however, over the close relationship between the county and the FAA in their environmental studies. ‘I would hope the FAA ... would approach it with a sincere goal of evaluating the environmental impacts,’” ETRPA’s Paul Eckles said.
“Withycombe said that the FAA review will also include some subjects not considered in the county environmental review, such as the safety of an El Toro airport and how it would fit into the regional and national airport system.”
Persons with first hand knowledge of the chemical and ordinance handling and disposal practices followed at the MCAS El Toro are requested to contact Restoration Advisory Board Member Marcia Rudolph at 949-830-9816.
“The head of the Federal Aviation Administration said ..that the agency will conduct an independent evaluation of whether a commercial airport is suited for the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. ... Jane F. Garvey said her agency will hold public hearings in Orange County next year on the environmental impact of the proposed airport on surrounding neighborhoods. It will weigh factors like noise and the availability of other travel options, she said.”
“The review, to be completed by the end of 2000, is separate from environmental studies currently being conducted by the county and the Department of the Navy.” Editor:- The original plans for El Toro showed a Navy environmental review being completed by late 1997. Numerous changes by the county have pushed that date back by about three years.
“The FAA administrator pledged that the agency's review will [examine] the airport's impact, including safety concerns and worries that jet noise will make neighborhoods and schools unbearable. For example, she said, officials should consider the impact of noise from each jet landing or departing, rather than evaluating only noise averaged over a 24-hour period--the current [CNEL] standard under federal law....Garvey's comments heartened airport foes, who noted that the county cannot proceed with its building plans until the FAA gives its approval.”
“Federal noise law passed in 1991 makes it extremely difficult for local governments to restrict airline operations, including night-time curfews. Garvey said the FAA cannot impose curfews unless an airport first justifies its request through a comprehensive study, which no airport has yet attempted. She wouldn't comment on expected requests for a curfew at El Toro and an extension of John Wayne Airport's existing curfew, which expires in 2005.
Senator Bill Morrow has lent his strong support to the initiative. The senator's district includes part of Laguna Woods, Mission Viejo, the cities of Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, and south to Del Mar and inland to Escondido in San Diego County. Click for his statement.
“Minnesota lawmakers believe the city of Richfield deserves at least $30 million from the Metropolitan Airports Commission to deal with a coming cacophony of airplane noise.” created by a new runway and $2 billion expansion of Minneapolis St. Paul airport. “That [expansion] would route planes directly over more than 1,000 Richfield homes. The city had planned to use the money ordered by the Legislature to buy those single-family homes and rebuild the area with commercial properties and sound-proofed apartment buildings.”
“But the Federal Aviation Administration says the airport commission is not allowed to give Richfield that money... under federal regulations, the airport commission is permitted only to spend money on projects directly related to air transportation. The planned Richfield project does not qualify.”
“It is possible the FAA would approve spending money for the project after the impact of noise resulting from the new runway is fully documented. The agency also said impact of noise rising from airport expansion needed further study. ‘Now the federal government is saying this should be studied further and our residents should be told to put their lives on hold while the runway is being built. That's not only wrong, it's plain cruel', Richfield mayor Martin Kirsch said.”
Laguna Niguel "Residents will receive information countering the proposed El Toro airport in a newsletter that will be mailed Thursday. City officials worked with Waters & Faubel, the public relations firm working for the anti-airport El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, to put together the four-page packet. 'Since there have been so many changes with the airport, we as a council felt the need to update the city in a comprehensive manner,' said Councilwoman Cathryn DeYoung."
Editor:- The Laguna Niguel City Council voted unanimously to support the Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative. Their newsletter contains information critical of the airport plan and provides the address of this and the Safe and Healthy website. If your city is not keeping residents fully informed about El Toro developments, contact your mayor, city manager, and council and demand that they do more.
“A top foe in the El Toro airport debate said a meeting held in Newport Beach last week was a blatant attempt to mislead residents and scare them into supporting a commercial airport at the former Marine Corps base.”
“‘I was very disturbed to see how people were being scared with these horror tales of how John Wayne [Airport] will double and triple if there isn't an airport at El Toro," said anti-El Toro airport activist Leonard Kranser.” No other alternatives were presented at the meeting.
“Contentiousness over a proposed international airport at El Toro Marine base has both major political parties in Orange County tiptoeing around the issue... County GOP Executive Director Bill Christiansen cringed when asked if the party would take a position on the airport. He said the Republican central committee has ‘stayed clear’ of debates on El Toro because it is too divisive an issue among longtime GOP activists and elected officials on both sides. One GOP activist went so far as to call the airport an ‘A-word’ that could rip the party apart, much like the GOP's often emotional fights over abortion.”
“The Orange County Democratic Party has skirted the edge of the El Toro debate. It recently passed a resolution, also approved by state Democrats, calling on Gov. Gray Davis to convene a Southern California conference on airport growth. The resolution noted that airports have a corrosive effect on communities and should be built only where they are welcomed. [However], Democrats aren't any more eager than Republicans to wade into the El Toro quagmire.
“Only one of Orange County's three Democrats at the state and federal level has waded into the airport maelstrom: Assemblyman Lou Correa (D-Anaheim).” Correa, responding to pro-airport construction labor backers, actively “fought anti-airport legislation attempted by [Assemblywoman Pat] Bates” in the state legislature.
Airport foes won another small battle in their war of attrition against the county's oft-delayed airport plan. “Just weeks after touting the former El Toro Officers Club as the new hot spot for wedding receptions and other special occasions, Orange County officials have closed the facility... Navy officials... have refused to give permission for the sale or consumption of alcohol at base facilities... The county estimates that it has lost $13,000 a week since taking over several base buildings July 3”, though losses have shrunk as a result of recent layoffs.
“Officials said they have no idea when the Navy might open the spigots. The issue is mired in Sacramento before a state commission mulling a usually routine procedure for transferring police powers from the federal government to the state. So far, the state Lands Commission, which meets next month, hasn't scheduled a hearing on the issue. The snag occurred after [ETRPA], a coalition of South County cities opposed to a commercial airport at El Toro challenged retrocession, the legal term for the police-powers transfer.”
“The county was relying on revenue from the Officers Club to help pay for other [non-aviation] functions that have continued under county management since the base closed July 2... Without that revenue, the county may have to reconsider its ability to keep the rest of the base open, [Supervisor Charles] Smith said. ‘If we don't get this resolved pretty soon, the whole thing will start to come apart,’ he said.”
“The slowness in resolving the police jurisdiction issue is even more troubling, Smith said, because it could jeopardize the county's ability to sign a master lease with the Navy to take over the entire base. The master lease is necessary before county officials can proceed with plans for air-cargo flights from the base. Smith said South County airport foes have turned the issue into a ‘political football’ in Sacramento by opposing retrocession, which is considered a procedural formality. ‘I guess that's their strategy,’ he said.”
The Airport Working Group of Newport Beach held a meeting tonight, designed to scare residents into supporting an airport at El Toro. Over 200 people, including a sprinkling of South County activists, heard a horror story of what allegedly could happen, to John Wayne Airport and Newport-Costa Mesa neighborhoods, if El Toro is not built.
An AWG brochure stated, “South County Wants to Double The Size of John Wayne Airport”, but the speeches made it even worse. Rick Taylor of AWG, presented county drawings and documents describing proposals for doubling and tripling of JWA. He criticized Supervisor Tom Wilson for opposing these alternatives. Taylor chilled the audience with descriptions of the devastation that these plans would produce.
Tom Wall, representing the county, made a pitch for more airport capacity, telling how products from Mexico will be trucked through Orange County on the way to LAX if El Toro is not built, ducking a question about a potential new airport in San Diego County and downplaying the role of the airbase at March.
Mayor Dennis O’Neil said that his city opposes what he called the “Unsafe and Unhealthy Initiative” Indicating that two-thirds of the county would vote for expanding JWA some day, he said, “It’s bad and I urge you to not support it in any way.”
South County activists distributed flyers saying that “Our future airport needs will never be solved by costly attempts to shift planes from one unwilling community to another” and “We should work for modern 21st Century regional airports, with good ground access, in outlying areas - where the people want more development and an airport.”
“OC CEO Jan Mittermeier almost lost control of her pet project, the planned El Toro Airport, the Insider has learned. Pro-airport supe Chuck Smith, frustrated over delays in getting the Marine base transferred to county control, recently floated the idea of creating a new entity to handle the base reuse process.... But after talking it over, Smith and Silva concluded it would do more harm than good to the airport cause to eject Mittermeier.”
“Geese, cranes, buzzards ... have plagued aircraft since the dawn of aviation. Bird strikes already have claimed more than 300 lives in air crashes...”
“The FAA, which has long overseen the problem, issued its first advisory circular on the issue in 1997. Among its recommendations; locate golf courses... and other wildlife attractions no closer than 10,000 feet from where jet planes might be parked or moving, and five miles from approach or departure space.”
Editor:- County planners intend to surround El Toro with parks, golf courses and a wildlife habitat.
“Peggy Ducey, deputy city manager...[will] serve full time with the Orange County Regional Airport Authority.” She will receive $150,000 annually, and will be employed by the city but directly responsible to the OCRAA board.” She can have her old Newport Beach city “job back in one year”.
Editor:- OCRAA is a Newport Beach front organization consisting of several central and north county cities who pay little or nothing to belong. Newport Beach provides the funding, leadership through Ducey, and legal services. OCRAA was created to try to convey the impression that backing for El Toro Airport is wide-spread.
Click for information on Thursday evening open meeting at Newport Beach Public Library.
Judge Ronald Kline ruled against a Newport Beach group's motion to change venue (move their lawsuit out of Orange County). The anti-initiative Newport Beach group hoped to have their lawsuit heard elsewhere and not where public support is strongly in favor of the Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative. Judge Kline decided to ask the Judicial Council to appoint a disinterested out-of-county judge to hear the case, but in Orange County. That is a victory for proponents of the initiative, who want the case decided here. While there will be a judge from outside, the case will remain venued here, and any appeal goes to the appellate panel in Santa Ana--who are elected by Orange County voters.
In order to counter a frequent misconception that has shown up in letters to newspapers, the website has published the deed between the county and the Irvine Company. The airport property does NOT necessarily revert to the company if the county stops flying commercial airlines out of John Wayne. There are other uses that allow the county to keep the property after JWA is closed to jets, including continuing to serve small planes.
Following published reports from county consultants that El Toro airport will require an estimated 2,000,000 gallons of jet fuel per day, the website has updated its Issue article on Where's the Jet Fuel? The county doesn't have an answer yet.
“A group looking for a place to build a maximum security jail has narrowed its search to one of three remote unincorporated sites next to the Eastern toll road just north of Irvine.
“Officials from Irvine, Lake Forest, the Sheriff's Department and the Irvine Co. began looking for a site after former Sheriff Brad Gates moved forward with plans to expand the James A. Musick honor farm into a 7,500-bed maximum security facility to ease jail overcrowding. Irvine and Lake Forest city officials protested because Musick is adjacent to the Irvine Spectrum and 700 feet from homes.”
“Assistant Sheriff Rocky Hewitt said the list of alternatives had been whittled from nine to three. He wouldn't comment on the locations, but described them as being in a ‘remote area, much farther than a half mile’ from schools, homes and businesses.”
Editor:- Part of the impetus for the search is the Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative, which when passed, would require the county to get a two thirds vote of the public before locating a large jail within 1/2 mile of a residential community.
At a press conference today, county officials acknowledged additional slippage in their airport planning. They announced that the Draft EIR and Airport Master plan will not be released to the public for comment until November 19, 1999. This starts a 60 day public review and a 90 day response period. Final Board of Supervisors approval now is rescheduled for May 18, 2000.
As of this morning, the county's website still claimed that, "The draft EIR is expected to be finalized in late summer 1999 and the Board will vote on the final EIR and Master Plan by the end of that same year." That has now changed.
In 1996, the Department of the Navy originally expected to complete a federal environmental impact study by January 1998 and to make a final decison regarding the base disposition by last March, 1998. Continual changes in the county's plans has put the Navy approximately two and a half years behind schedule. Click for the Timeline for Key Milestones.
The slippage causes the project cost to increase. It also
creates additional legal and political problems for the county in its efforts
to take over the base property. Proponents expect the Safe and Healthy
Communities Initiative to be approved by the voters on March 7, 2000 -
thereby blocking implementation of the unfinished Airport Master Plan.
Congressman Packard (R-Oceanside) today “reaffirmed his strong opposition to a commercial airport at El Toro” by announcing his support of the Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative. Packard’s endorsement message, follows the petition signing by Congressman Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach). It is especially important because his district includes South Orange County, North San Diego County, and a portion of Riverside County. This positions him in a leadership role to work for a regional airport solution.
Packard’s 48th Congressional District stretches along the coast from Laguna, Dana Point, San Clemente, and San Juan Capistrano to Oceanside, and inland to Temecula in Riverside County. Constituents and other interested citizens are invited to visit his website and to send messages of support to him at rep.packard@mail.house.gov.
“If the federal government wants to be released from any future liability for ground water contamination at the El Toro air base, officials from both sides of the El Toro fight say paying local agencies $13 million just won't fly.”
“After a trip to Washington last week, officials with the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority said the Department of Justice is actively negotiating a deal with the Orange County Water District and the Irvine Ranch Water District. Under that deal, the two agencies would accept all liability for ground water contamination cleanup, including radioactive waste and the toxic plume underneath the site, for a onetime payment of $13 million. The agencies also would accept complete responsibility for all future cleanup, regardless of what may be found or how much it would cost to remove.”
“[Supervisor Tom] Wilson emphasized that the federal government should not be released from its liability. ‘To release the federal government from all future liability would be irresponsible,’ Wilson said.”
LA Times, August 3, 1999
“FAA Chief Hears Noise Complaints”
“Regional administrator says agency will check sources. But he
skirts questions on El Toro conversion”
“The Federal Aviation Administration's top regional administrator on Monday told a standing-room-only audience of [approximately 400] south Orange County residents that he is willing to bring his staff to "their backyards," if necessary, to check if jets are straying from their routes and flying over their homes. William C. Withycombe made the comment after he was challenged by residents who said that since the closure of El Toro Marine Corps Air Station on July 2, jets have been flying low.”
“FAA personnel said the noise residents may be hearing may be a result of the warm summer weather. Jets perform better in the colder air of winter, enabling them to climb faster and get out of earshot quicker.” Many residents at the meeting were not buying that. Data brought by the FAA showed that planes departing John Wayne were lower, more closely concentrated, and further inland over South County in July than during a winter period shown for comparison. Officials also noted that established flight paths permit pilots to deviate by a mile or two on each side, and by a thousand feet or more in altitude.
“Withycombe, however, skirted the main issue that was on everyone's mind: Does the FAA think El Toro should become an international airport?” Burt Goldstein of Laguna Niguel asked, "Why can't you make your decision now, saving us millions of dollars [in hearings, legal fees and planning]?" Supervisor Tom Wilson, who organized the meeting, said he has asked the same question in Washington and can’t get an answer. “Withycombe said that Orange County supervisors must first complete an El Toro master plan before the FAA can hold hearings.”
“For years, the debate over airports in Orange County has pitted two communities [Newport Beach and South County] against each other... But what if both sides could find common ground? That idea surfaced this week among those who spoke before the county Board of Supervisors.”
“‘We all have common goals, and nobody wants the airport by them,' said Rick Needham, an Aliso Viejo resident who attended the meeting. ‘The good thing that's coming out of this is that Newport and south county can unite and become allies. And we can force our political leaders to come up with a sensible solution.’"
"‘My thinking was to tell the south-county people, 'Look, if you were part of our team and helping us solve our problem, I'd be more than willing to work with you to work on your problem," said Derek Leason, who lives in Bayview Heights, an unincorporated neighborhood of Newport Beach. Help limit the impact of John Wayne Airport — perhaps with requirements that only the quietest jets be allowed in the future — and Newport Beach residents might work with El Toro foes to stop the base airport’, Leason said.”
“Eddie Hill of Aliso Viejo showed the supervisors a videotape of the noise created by jets during the flight demonstration last month. After the meeting, he said he would be willing to work with Newport Beach residents — but only if the goal was to eliminate an El Toro airport. ‘If we could find a solution that would keep John Wayne at its current capacity and not build El Toro, I'm all for that,’ Hill said.”
“Ideas offered during and after the meeting included extension of toll roads to Ontario International Airport or airports at the former George and March Air Force bases, or working with San Diego County, which reportedly is considering a new airport site, possibly in the northern part of the county.”
“Others, though, suggested that there is little room for major compromises. ‘I think it would be a good idea for the parties to get together and agree on some kind of compromise,’ Newport Beach Mayor Dennis O'Neil said. ‘But a compromise that would involve some kind of limitation on John Wayne Airport and no airport at El Toro is no compromise at all. I would not favor that at all.’”
According to a press release from the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, “Federal officials told the ETRPA delegation [in Washington this week] that the Department of Justice is in active negotiation with the County of Orange, the Orange County Water District and the Irvine Ranch Water District. These agencies would accept all liability for groundwater contamination cleanup which includes radioactive waste and the toxic plume underneath El Toro. The county would receive a one-time payment of $13 million and accept complete responsibility for all future clean up, regardless of what may be found, or what it would cost. Currently, the county's plan for remediation of the toxic plume is to merely monitor the site and ‘see what happens’".
Editor:- The effort by the county is intended to remove an obstacle to transfer of the base property. Some county officials appear willing to sell out the future well-being of the county in order to remove an impediment to the airport project.
The unknown potential cost could be enormous. In 1995, the Occidental Chemical Corp. agreed to pay $129 million, plus other costs, to clean up the 70 acres of Love Canal in New York State.
“A group of mayors and other city officials opposed to an airport at El Toro made a lobbying trip Thursday and met with members of Congress, including Rep. Christopher Cox, who in recent weeks has stepped up his efforts to derail the plan for a new county airport.”
Cox’s Washington office issued a statement that, "They think there are a number of issues they can work together on, including extending the noise caps on John Wayne (Airport) and ensuring similar protections would apply to El Toro" [if there were ever to be an airport there].
Editor:- The delegation members are all officials with total uncompromising commitment that there will never be an airport at El Toro. They have been seeking cooperation at the Newport Beach, county, and federal level to also protect residents near John Wayne Airport - by promoting use of an airport in a remote location. The Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative, which originated in South County, will require a two-thirds vote of the people before John Wayne could be expanded.
The Metro, referring to the El Toro Airport repeatedly as "LAXSouth" provides encouragement to those who sometimes question whether the press is giving sufficient time and space to a full discussion of the subject. The Metro shows the harm that an airport would do to Orange County. Click here to read the complete article.
“South County residents still fuming over noise made by commercial jets flying over their homes made some of their own Tuesday night before the Orange County Board of Supervisors and its pro-airport majority. About 200 residents demanded an end to plans to build a commercial airport at the retired El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, arguing jets that flew in and out of the military base as part of a noise experiment produced an unbearable roar as they descended over communities from Dana Point to Laguna Woods and departed over Irvine, Anaheim Hills, Foothill Ranch and Coto de Caza.”
“The meeting marked the first time residents had the opportunity to formally address the board on the results of the test flights... Supervisor Todd Spitzer said he took offense that Vincent Mestre, an acoustic engineer in Newport Beach who has been hired as the county's noise expert, was not present for the meeting. [Supervisor Tom Wilson previously had specifically requested that Mestre be available.] Spitzer added that noise data vital to constituents in his district was "conspicuously missing" from the county's noise report.”
“Newport Beach residents were also in attendance Tuesday night, countering that noise from two days of demonstration flights in June were significantly quieter than what Newport Beach deals with every day from John Wayne Airport traffic. Derek Leason of Newport Beach told supervisors it was incumbent upon them to find a transportation solution that didn't "pit Newport Beach against South County."
"Residents who say that jet noise has rained down since El Toro Marine Base closed July 2 will have the ear of federal aviation officials at a public forum Monday." County Supervisor Tom Wilson set up a forum with FAA officials for Monday, August 2 at 7:00 PM at Sea Country Senior Center, 24602 Aliso Creek Road, Laguna Niguel. The public is invited.
Editor:- E-mail messages received by this website, regarding the apparent changes in flight paths over South County, have been collected and forwarded to Supervisor Wilson for inclusion in his meeting information.
On July 22, the county posted 15 pages of results, including noise measurement data and monitor locations, to its website. Viewers may wish to review this data prior to attending Tuesday evening's Board of Supervisors meeting and discussion of the demonstration. For a link to the county data, click here.
A multi-year study of Letters to the Editors, published in the major newspapers, shows that Newport Beach residents are by far the largest and most vocal part of the pro-airport effort, even though they constitute only 3 percent of the county's population. Vocal support for building a new airport at El Toro is relatively light from the remainder of the county. Newport Beach residents are organized to move the jet noise out of John Wayne, in what is little more than a NIMBY campaign. If an airport at El Toro was a matter of good economics and sensible land use planning, it would be supported by a greater percentage of the county's residents.
The county released John Wayne Airport Statistics for June and passenger traffic was down, compared to the prior year, for the 20th time in the last 22 months. Usage is off by 4.5 percent so far this year. This hardly supports the arguement for building a second airport.
The LA Times reports today that "Rents Rise to Record Levels in Southland". "Analysts called the trend a troubling one, noting that higher housing costs will force many families to seek cheaper housing inland, leading to longer commutes, more freeway congestion and more smog." Housing for low paid airport workers would be in critical short supply. This supports the arguement for building the non-aviation Millennium Plan - which includes a mix of housing - and freeing up El Toro's "No home buffer zone" for residential development.
1. Attend the next El Toro Reuse Planning Authority meeting on Monday evening, July 26 at 6:00 PM at Lake Forest City Hall. ETRPA is the organization of eight south county cities promoting the non-aviation reuse of the Marine base. Encourage your city council representatives, who are fighting against the airport. Public comments are welcomed at these meetings. Monday night will feature a presentation on the major cargo airport being planned for the former George Air Force Base in Victorville, in competition with El Toro.
2. Write to Congressman Christopher Cox. His proposals are good for south county, which is why Newport Beach is flooding his mailbox with protests. Click here for details.
3. Sound off on El Toro via the website’s brand new Message Board.
“The man newly hired to run the [San Diego] Port District and Lindbergh Field says he is ready to lead the search for a new international airport site anywhere in San Diego County.” Dennis Bouey, the port’s executive director, said “the search will begin in the north and move south.”
“While not ignoring the need to improve Lindbergh, Bouey seems to have adopted a two-pronged strategy that would push the Port District to the forefront in the quest for a new airfield, rather than have it wait for others to solve the region's perennial airport dilemma.”
“Bouey favors continuing to plan for a second runway at Lindbergh, but the runway concept he favors is contingent upon the closure of the adjacent Marine Corps Recruit Depot. He would drop the idea of a second runway if a new airport site were chosen.”
Editor:- Many leaders of the El Toro Airport opposition believe that a regional solution, involving Orange and San Diego counties, makes far more sense than to try to shoe horn an airport into the closed Marine base with its surrounding mountains and homes.
Website Direct, July 19, 1999
County Finds Little Good to Report on Flight Demos
An unusually bland county report on the June 4-5 flight demonstration says they “show the projected flight paths, and demonstrate that aircraft can operate safely into and out of the airfield.” Yes, if two days of flying into the mountains, without a crash, is safe enough.
“We hope that everyone in Orange County has a better sense of whether or not they are likely to notice aircraft noise at El Toro.”, said Courtney Wiercioch. They didn’t have to spend over a million dollars to demonstrate that the planes won’t be heard in Cypress or Seal Beach.
The county fell back on its use of average CNEL noise levels. According to an analysis done by ETRPA, “The county did not seem to want to inform the public that they will hear an aircraft noise event of approximately 75 to 90 dB every 2 to 3 minutes.” Click for decibel ranges reported.
A reliable source reports this morning that Mrs. Wiercioch is pregnant and under doctor's orders to reduce her stressful involvement as Manager of the county's El Toro planning project. Michael Lapin, an attorney recently appointed as Wiercioch's second in command, will take over. We wish her good health and luck.
County planners will brief supervisors privately regarding the flight demo data produced on June 4-5. The long-awaited report will then be released to the media at a press conference that will be closed to the general public.
The schedule gives airport opponents little time for rebuttal, and gives reporters minimum time to analyze the information or solicit public reaction, before the deadline to finalize stories for Tuesday’s newspapers. Releasing a report in the afternoon, tends to preserve the county staff’s spin on the story.
The Board of Supervisors will meet Tuesday morning at 9:30 AM. While the report has not been placed on the advance agenda, it can be discussed. Public comments are allowed on off agenda items. Citizens are urged to attend and make statements. Click here for directions.
County program manager Courtney Wiercioch is expected to say that no homes or schools are within the 65 CNEL noise contour, which is the California legal standard for mandatory sound proofing.
Click here for editorial comment on what the privatization proposal and other action by the Congressman means. The Congressman has been under attack by vocal El Toro airport proponents in Newport Beach.. Newport Beach residents constitute a mere 7 percent of the voters in his district. South County residents, who make up the bulk of his district, are largely supportive of his proposal.
Through a link to the John Wayne Airport Spotter's Guide, our viewers now can see when planes are observed arriving and departing from the county's airport. The earliest arrival reported is at 7:20 AM and the latest departure is at 9:15 PM. For data on John Wayne utilization click here.
Editor:- The El Toro Reuse Planning Authority (ETRPA) is also participating
on the side of the initiative campaign. The lawsuit, brought
by the Newport Beach groups, is an attempt to block the popular
initiative and to waste the funds of the citizens group that is putting
it on the March 2000 ballot. Attorneys for the initiative say that
this nuisance suit has no legal merit.
OC Register, July 14, 1999
“FAA disputes reports of more south O.C. jet noise”
“Air traffic officials say no paths have been altered since El
Toro closed July 2.”
“Some residents south of the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station say that in recent weeks, they have been bombarded with commercial jet noise they never heard before the Marines wound down operations. Many have a theory: Air-traffic controllers are taking advantage of El Toro's airspace and directing planes into areas that were reserved for Marine pilots until the base's closure July 2.”
“But Federal Aviation Administration officials and air traffic controllers say nothing has changed that would alter the path of commercial jets over south county. ‘There have been no changes to the flight procedures for the standard arrival-departure route,’ said FAA spokeswoman Kirsti Dunn, referring to John Wayne Airport.”
“Further, flights from Los Angeles International, Long Beach and Ontario airports are not taking different routes, either, said William Withycombe, FAA regional administrator for four states including California.”
“Since El Toro closed July 2, the FAA did issue a Notice to Airmen that lifts the restrictions for flying into El Toro's military airspace using visual-flight rules. But that applies to general-aviation pilots flying small aircraft. Pilots of commercial carriers using instrument-flight rules must continue following the long-standing, strict flight patterns that keep planes away from El Toro's airspace, Withycombe said.”
“A representative of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said El Toro's closure had not changed how airplanes fly over south Orange County.”
Several south county residents don’t buy the explanation and report hearing commercial jets where none flew before.
Editor:- Two days of investigation by the website produced a variety of reports from officials. The John Wayne Noise Abatement Office circulated an internal e-mail dated July 8, stating that, “The FAA is now using the El Toro space for large commercial and private aircraft.” Their source was the FAA complaints hot-line for Southern California. That local FAA office said, “There are some apparent changes in management of airspace at El Toro since it is no longer Class C [restricted] airspace.” However, Vicky Matthews, head of public information at John Wayne Airport stated yesterday that, ”We were initially told by the FAA that [a change] was the case. We now understand that it’s not the case.”
The Newport Beach City Council “voted 6-0 Monday to award $380,000 in grants... to groups supporting the El Toro Airport.” Councilman Tod Ridgeway “wondered whether that would be enough. ‘Maybe we need to give more money to these groups to send a strong message to Christopher Cox,’ Ridgeway had said. ‘Cox has reneged on his honor and lied to us.’”
“The grants -- $200,000 for [the George Argyros founded] Citizens for
Jobs and the Economy, $150,000 to the Airport Working Group and $30,000
to the Orange County Airport Alliance -- are part of the city's pledge
to support the proposed commercial airport at ... El Toro. Mayor Dennis
O'Neil said he wanted to assure everyone that the council was completely
in favor of the El Toro airport. The money comes from the Airport
Management Account in the city's General Fund. The account contains more
than $1.1 million, officials said.”
Supervisor Tom Wilson says that, "The county's current approach to an airport is absolutely biased." and he recommends a five step approach to starting over. Click here to read the editorial. Then contact Supervisor Wilson and also Congressman Christopher Cox - who is part of Wilson's proposed solution.
We have received reports of perceived changes in aircraft approaches to John Wayne Airport. Some of the airspace around El Toro had been restricted, and one FAA spokesman says it is "plausible" that some pilots are following modified routes now that these restrictions have become meaningless.
In trying to get a definite answer, we called TRACON, which handles air traffic in Southern California. An Airspace and Procedures Specialist said "there have been no procedural changes at JWA." and referred me to John Wayne. The Noise Abatement Office at John Wayne said that they would not comment and referred me to Public Information. That office sent me to FAA Public Affairs in Seattle, where I was promised a reply tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll have an answer for you soon.
The latest attempt as promoting a "resident friendly" airport at El Toro is the V-runway plan proposed by Newport Beach resident Russell Niewiarowski. We don't think that there is a need for another airport, it wastes 4,700 acres, and still creates traffic and air pollution. We've posted his editorial, and a link to a rebuttal from commercial airline pilot Charles Quilter II.
El Toro Program Manager Courtney Wiercioch called the June 4-5 flight demonstration “a snapshot” intended to give residents an idea of what commercial flights would sound like. It was an instant snapshot, because everyone knew right away that the planes were low and loud and upsetting. The press, websites, and the county were deluged with protests. A school administrator said the noise drowned out talk, parents reported that their kids were scared, and people who had worked their whole life to buy their dream house spoke of selling and moving.
There was little more that could be said, other than to publish the actual data on aircraft weights, flight paths and the county’s noise monitor readings. These had been kept secret during the flights, with reporters and citizens shooed away from the instruments, the Air Line Pilots Association denied observer status in the control tower, and airfield access tightly limited. Wiercioch called the demonstration “unscientific”, so why the delay in releasing the unscientific raw data?
The Board of Supervisors met on June 29 to discuss El Toro at a public meeting. Whereas Wiercioch originally had said that, “our goal was to issue a final report on the flight demonstration by the end of the month”, not even an interim report was on the agenda. “The end of the month” has come and gone, and the public is left wondering what massaging of the message is going on behind closed doors.
Normally, we shouldn’t care, because nothing that county planners say will change the reality of what people saw and heard. However, past practice suggests that the report may be issued to the supervisors in private meetings, and then given to the press with the county’s “spin”, in sessions closed to the public. Some hectic reporter, facing a deadline, may use the press release as the basis of a story. A headline writer may search for, and choose the wrong words, and we may end up reading in the paper that it really wasn’t so bad after all.
Supervisor Cynthia Coad, who represents central Orange County, met with
Congressman Christopher Cox yesterday. “Coad said she and CEO Jan Mittermeier
will meet with Cox in the next two weeks....Since his comments on privatizing
El Toro, “he has talked with the mayor of Newport Beach and Supervisor
Tom Wilson, and received a call from major airport booster and Orange County
business mogul George Argyros.”
“El Toro watchers were dumbfounded this week when Cox changed his tactics
with regard to the future of the closed Marine base. Cox, R-Newport Beach,
insisted he will do all he can to prevent a county-run airport at El Toro,
although he would support one run by a private entity that negotiates noise
issues and other matters with south-county residents. That was music
to the ears of his south-county constituents. It was troubling to voters
in Newport Beach and other pro-airport forces — including county officials
who have been laying plans to run the airport.”
“For several years, Cox quietly promoted his idea of a private sale. Now he's gone public in a big way.” ‘My hope is that these meetings will lead somewhere,’ Cox said. ‘I think for a variety of reasons the timing is good to broker a higher degree of cooperation.’"
“And Cox has at least one congressional colleague interested. Rep. Ed Royce, R-Fullerton, said Friday that he, too, is interested in Cox's theories.”
“Another member of Congress, freshman Rep. Gary Miller, R-Diamond Bar, said he can understand Cox's need to represent his south county constituents. But Miller remains squarely behind an airport — even if it's county run.” More below.
“County Supervisor Cynthia Coad — a potential swing vote— said Thursday that she is willing to listen to Rep. Christopher Cox's proposal to privatize the operation. And legislative watchers in Washington, D.C., said that ... there are ways that Cox, a member of the Republican leadership, can at least put some roadblocks in the negotiations between Orange County and the Navy over the transfer of the closed base.”
“The developments came a day after the Newport Beach lawmaker shocked many in the El Toro debate by saying he would push to have the county sell the former Marine base to a private company that could develop an airport. He believes south-county residents who fear airport noise will get more concessions from a profit-driven private entity that needs to foster public good will.”
Editor:- Several website viewers have expressed confusion as to whether privatization helps or hurts an airport project. One way to tell, is to see who is for it, and who is against sale of the land. Anti-airport leaders are strongly behind the move. They sense that private investors are less likely, than county politicans, to pour money into an airport that has failed to get support from the aviation industry or airline pilots, and which faces years of costly litigation. Leaders in Newport Beach want an airport at El Toro and are against the land sale proposal.
“... one local business leader is worried Cox's new focus will be what slows the process. Stan Oftelie, president of the [pro-airport] Orange County Business Council, said he is ‘perplexed.’ ‘An influential congressman asking questions will slow down the program,’ said Oftelie.”
“South-county Supervisor Tom Wilson would consider supporting the proposal to let the land be sold to the private sector, with the proceeds going to the county or federal government. However, he opposes any airport. ‘I haven't heard of any compromise that would fly,’ Wilson said. ‘Any size — from zero on up — would probably be unacceptable.’"
“Cox's local office reported that of the 70 constituent calls received Thursday, 50 supported his position and 20 were against it.” To support him, send e-mail to Congressman Cox..
In an editorial, "A factor change in the airport debate", the Register expresses satisfaction with Cox’s proposal to sell the land for private development. “If the buyer wants to build houses and shopping malls, so be it. If it is sold for a private airport, so be that also.” A spokesperson for the anti-airport El Toro Reuse Planning Authority is quoted in the editorial saying, “‘We’re thrilled also that he put into a framework his dissatisfaction with the [county planning] process. Whoever bought it would have to work with the community... We think that’s important.’”
Read this and then e-mail messages of appreciation to Congressman Cox
at: christopher.cox@mail.house.gov
Encourage friends to call or fax him to counter the Newport Beach pressure.
Phone (949) 756-2244 FAX (949) 251-9309
“In his strongest denunciation of county plans for El Toro Marine base, Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) blasted Orange County officials Wednesday for disregarding South County residents who oppose an airport there and suggested he would use his clout in Washington to affect the decision. Cox, the fifth-ranking Republican in House leadership, pledged to work with the House and Senate armed services committees to assure that South County communities get heard before the Department of the Navy deeds the property to the county next year.”
Cox wants the land sold to the highest bidder to help the Department of Defense defray the $1 billion cost of the base closure. “The effort by Cox, could derail the county's methodical plan to complete environmental-impact statements for a proposed international airport at the base and have El Toro transferred into county hands within two years.”
“Over the weekend, he signed a petition supporting a ballot measure that would effectively allow the airport issue to again go before voters countywide. ... Cox said he supports the [Safe and Healthy Communities] ballot proposition because ‘the residents of south county have been left no alternatives. They have only gotten the back of the hand from the county government.’"
“Cox has long opposed the plan for a county-run El Toro airport but until the past week had taken few public steps to promote his views.” He does not oppose the idea of a privately owned airport. “If a private company develops an airport at El Toro, Cox said, the largely anti-airport south-county residents are more likely to get the accommodations they seek and a compromise that both sides can live with.”
Editor:- Reaction from the anti-airport side was mixed. Airport opponents are happy to derail the county’s airport plans. They are cautiously hopeful that the highest bidder for the land might prefer to develop it for non-aviation uses. Anyone purchasing the land for an airport would have to contend with many objections raised by nearby cities, the airlines, and commercial pilots who are dissatisfied with the current county plans. Pro-airport forces were unanimously aghast at the possibility.
According to the Newport Beach Daily Pilot, "Local officials expressed bewilderment." "'I am shocked", said Newport Beach Mayor Dennis O'Neil.", of Cox signing the Safe and Healthy Communities petition.
“Newport Beach City Councilwoman Norma Glover called Cox's actions "a black day" for Cox's hometown.” which wants an airport at El Toro to reduce noise from John Wayne airport. However, Cox who represents both Newport Beach and South County was unequivocal. "‘It's unacceptable to jam one community's views down the throats of its neighbors,’ Cox said.”
“Irvine kicked off a new phase in the propaganda war against the county by hoisting an anti-airport banner at City Hall.” The Blue Skies, Quiet Skies over El Toro! banner “enumerates the number of days” since the base closed July 2, and will be updated each Monday. In a related matter, “city officials still hope to push through their own concept for the base,” and “recently sent the Millennium Plan back to the designers with orders to make it more attractive by reducing residential and commercial development.” “Once the plan has council approval, the city will try to annex the former base.” “The Local Agency Formation Commission, which decides local government boundaries, cannot consider the city’s request until Irvine agrees to a property tax split with the county, which is unlikely.”
In a related matter, the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority mailed an informational brochure, promoting the Millennium Plan - the non-aviation alternative for use of the Marine base property - to 405,000 residences throughout the county. Click here to see one of the brochure’s six panels, which says the “costly, wasteful and unpopular airport plan is now trash.” The ETRPA coalition of eight south county cities has voted to spend $2.2 million this year to get out the anti-airport message.
Assemblyman Bill Campbell, R-Villa Park, along with Congressman Christopher Cox, signed the petition “to cheers”. “‘Almost everyone was yelling, No to the airport.’ Campbell said.”
“WinAir Airlines, which Long Beach city leaders had hoped would revive their underutilized airport, announced it would cease operations.” “American Airlines and America West will continue to operate a limited number of flights from Long Beach which has long been considered one of southern California’s most underutilized airports.”
Congressman Chris Cox, (R) of Newport Beach, has joined the rapidly growing ranks of those who have signed the Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative. The Congressman was in Lake Forest for the annual Fourth of July parade. Christine Grey, one of fifteen volunteer petition gatherers covering the holiday festivities in her city, approached Cox, and Assemblyman Bill Campbell of Villa Park, both of whom added their signatures to her form. Cox’s signature is seen as a big boost for the petition drive.
Christopher Cox is the highest ranking Californian in Congress. Throughout his work in Congress, Rep. Cox has focused on reducing the role of the government, protecting individual freedom, and promoting job growth, quality education, and family security. Rep. Cox has introduced the Budget Process Reform Act, which would require a simplified, binding budget in the form of a law, before Congress could spend taxpayers' money. Overriding the budget – which would include all accounts except Social Security – would require a supermajority vote.
The Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative requires that constructing or expanding an airport, large jail or toxic dump - similarly would require a supermajority vote.
That's what the banner says. A small plane is following the beach and parade crowds this weekend, towing a banner with the celebratory message. The El Toro Reuse Planning Authority (ETRPA) arranged for the advertising message to drive home the point that there is No El Toro Airport. The county has failed in its attempts to begin interim airport operations at El Toro as soon as the Marines departed. Every passing day, that the base stays quiet, makes it harder - legally and environmentally - to restart flight operations.
Supporters of the Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative have collected "far more than the 71,000 names of registered voters needed by Sept. 1 to qualify the measure for the ballot next March." However, they intend to collect twice that number "to ensure success" and make a strong statement. Approximately 1,000 "energized and recharged" volunteers are doing the job.
The measure is "an 'anti-airport initiative', said former Supervisor Bruce Nestande, chairman of a pro-airport group formed in 1994 by businessman George L. Argyros." The group, along with the City of Newport Beach and other Newport Beach based organizations has brought a lawsuit against the initiative. "Anti-airport forces said the lawsuit was filed to waste their money and defuse their efforts." An attorney predicted that a judge would throw out the Newport Beach lawsuit and the initiative will be on the March 2000 ballot.
"It's anyone's guess when the [Marine] base... will actually be converted to full civilian use. It wasn't supposed to be this way."
"Three years ago, Orange County officials signed a cheery proclamation pledging that the base would be deeded to the county by January 1999 for a new commercial airport. They figured cargo carriers would begin interim freight flights from El Toro as early as today. But these optimistic plans for acquiring the property are 18 to 24 months behind schedule, a victim of ardent South County opposition and plodding state and federal bureaucracies."
"The focus of attention now shifts to Washington, where the next phase of critical decisions will be made." Both sides in the battle have hired lobbyists to present their cases to the federal government.
After 50 years of honorable service to our country, MCAS El Toro closes today. The flags come down during ceremonies this morning.
The big question is “What now?” Airport advocates hoped to start commercial cargo flights from the base this month, and to move FedEx and UPS out of John Wayne, but were shot down on those plans.
The runways will go quiet. The county says the delay will be until Spring of 2000. However, airport opponents, who helped to cause the delay, are working to keep planes from ever again flying from El Toro.
The base property belongs to the Navy, and there are many hurdles before the deed can be transferred. Board of Supervisors Chairman Charles Smith predicted that this will take an additional “18-24 months” or until 2001. Passage of the Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative in March of 2000 is one of several efforts underway to stymie any efforts to build an airport on the land.
In the interim, the county will be paid $5 million a year by the Navy to be the caretaker of the property, cutting the grass and maintaining the facilities. Income from operating the stables, pool, golf course, and Officers Club will help to defray a small part of these costs.
“NEWPORT BEACH -- Local officials Wednesday applauded the election of former Newport Beach Mayor Tom Edwards as chairman of the El Toro Citizens Advisory Commission, saying he would provide a strong voice for supporters of the proposed El Toro airport. ‘I can think of no better person for the position,’ said current Newport Beach Mayor Dennis O'Neil. ‘I'm delighted that he will continue to participate in the pro-El Toro efforts, and this will enable him to take a significant role in forwarding this cause.’”
“The commission plays an advisory role, providing input and recommendations to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. ‘I think (Edwards) is one of the best-informed individuals in the county,’ said City Councilman Tom Thompson. ‘He's an attorney and former mayor, and he certainly knows the desires and needs of Newport Beach, and we're lucky he's here,’ Thompson added.”
"PLANE REACTIONS How well are county officials listening to all the concerns regarding the proposed El Toro airport?" Call [the Pilot’s] Readers Hotline at (949) 642-6086 or send e-mail to dailypilot@earthlink.net. Please spell your name and give your hometown and phone number (for verification only).
