On March 5th, 2002, and election will be held that is key to the future economic growth of Orange County. Our choices will be economic growth or possible stagnation.

Measure W is the latest attempt by the anti-El Toro airport faction to perpetrate a hoax on the citizens of this county in their zeal to
prevent the long-term economic health of our county by the reuse of El Toro as a commercial airport.

Recent polling by the Orange County Business Council shows that voters clearly opposed to any additional taxes to pay for the Great Park. When voters are made aware that a property tax increase would be necessary to finance the Great Park, the initiative fails. With your financial help we can get this message out.

Measure W would change the county general plan to allow only park use for the 4,700 acres at El Toro and pave the way for what the City of Irvine calls its "Great Park." However, there is no funding today or in the future to provide for this park in Measure W.

A huge tax increase is the only way to build, operate and maintain what has been promised in the "Great Park." Currently, south Orange County has 103,000 acres of parkland and open space (13 times the open space in North County). They recently received open space gifts of 11,000 acres from the Irvine Company and 14,000 acres from the Rancho Mission Viejo. Conversely, north Orange County has merely 8,000 acres of parkland and open space.

It is unreasonable and irresponsible to ask the taxpayers of Orange County to finance another park for the City of Irvine.

The recent "Environmental risks Report" prepared by the chairman of the El Toro environmental review board concurs with the City of Irvine's estimates that this "Great Park" cleanup could cost in excess of $1billion. Again, this latest study serves as a validation of Irvine's own analysis of contaminants at El Toro.

In addition, the Department of the Navy has made it very clear that they will only clean El Toro up for the purposes of a like-use, i.e. and airport. The Navy will not, nor do they have the funds, to clean up El Toro to the standard for uses like the "Great Park." There is not enough money in the entire Navy's cleanup budget to allow Irvine to build this park.

So, what will happen to El Toro if Measure W passes in March? Since the County is currently operating at a loss of $5-7 million annually by supporting no-aviation uses and maintenance at El Toro, the base could be shutdown and padlocked to minimize cost to the County's general fund. With no funds available for cleanup to park standards, much less park development, operations and maintenance dollars El Toro might be vacated and the weeds will take over. El Toro will become a blighted 4,700 acres with severe land use problems. This is exactly what the City of Irvine desires, but is it what taxpayers want?

We have formed a committee - No on the Great Tax - to fight this hoax and stop the billions of dollars in taxes that will be needed to realize it. As you are probably aware, the "Great Tax" advocates have already spent over 40 million dollars of South County taxpayer funds to kill an airport at El Toro and promote this latest scheme. We are asking for your help to stop this abuse of our system and to ensure that Orange County will continue to grow and prosper. We need to raise $1 million for the "No on the Great Tax" committee to defeat Measure W. Please make your checks payable to "No on the Great Tax - Measure W" and send it to:

No on the Great Tax - Measure W
c/o Citizens for Jobs & the Economy
949 South Coast Dr., Ste 600
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
ID#: Pending

Sincerely,
 

Cynthia P. Coad, Chair
Supervisor, Fourth District

James W. Silva
Supervisor, Second District

Chuck Smith
Supervisor, First District
 

P.S. Preserving the economic future of Orange County is very important to us. We look forward to your assistance in this effort and attendance at a fundraiser on Tuesday, February 5th, at Antonello Ristorante, 1611 W. Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana, from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Please R.S.V.P to Lara Saunders at (949) 706-2593. If you have any question or possible donors, please do not hesitate to contact us.