Project '99 Newsletter, September 1999

A Plan of Action to Protect and Improve Our Community
A Note from Larry Agran Chair of Project 99

Dear Neighbor,

        On March 7, 2000 Orange County voters will have the opportunity to vote “Yes” on the Safe & Healthy Communities Initiative.  If the voters adopt the initiative, Project 99 supporters will be able to mark the completion of step one in a two-step strategy.

        As Jeff Metzger,  the initiative’s Official Proponent told Project 99,  “ultimately, we not only need to defeat the airport and defend our communities against noxious uses, but we need to replace the current County plan for El Toro with the non-aviation Millennium Plan.”

        The Millennium Plan has as its central feature a 2,000-acre Great Park and nearby wildlife preserve, surrounded by colleges, art museums, theaters and a public sports and entertainment area.

        Listen to your neighbors’ written comments — taken from our August survey — expressing their support for the Millennium Plan.
        *         “The Millennium Plan will be wonderful for the entire area and make living in Orange County more desirable than ever.”
        *         “The Millennium Plan is such a superior use I can’timagine anyone not supporting it as the reuse process continues.”
        *         “We need a major private university.   The Millennium Plan could provide for that.”
        *         “The Millennium Plan is a once in a lifetime opportunity to create a treasure for generations to come.”
        *         “I support the Millennium Plan because I want this area to remain beautiful, peaceful and pollution-free.  I want my children to be able to enjoy it for years to come.”

        Project 99 is dedicated to the proposition that the people of Orange County are entitled to a real choice for a better future at El Toro.  The Safe & Healthy Communities Initiative and the Millennium Plan will offer the voters that choice.

“WE DID IT!”
Safe and Healthy Communities Petition Coalition More Than Doubles Signature Goal

It was the biggest, most successful petition drive in Orange County history.     On August 31, volunteers for the Safe & Healthy Communities Initiative delivered 192,298 sig-natures to the Registrar of Voters — more than any other petition on record.  If passed, the initiative will stop the County’s proposed El Toro International Airport and pave the way for adoption of the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority’s (ETRPA) non-aviation Millennium Plan.
        A cheering crowd gathered at the County Registrar’s office in Santa Ana as a truckload of boxes containing the signed petitions was unloaded.  The signatures should be verified by mid-October, Registrar Rosalyn Lever said.
        Project 99 supporter and the Official Proponent of the Safe & Healthy Communities Initiative, Jeff Metzger, announced to the crowd that over 5,000 volunteers throughout the County collected more than double the required number of signatures.  “We did it!” Metzger proclaimed.
        Approximately 71,200 verified signatures are needed to qualify the initiative for the March 2000 election.
        Project 99 Outreach Director Ed Pope concurred.   “The Yes on Safe & Healthy Communities Initiative coalition met and exceeded its goal,” Pope said.  “Project 99’s mail-in petition drive played a key role in that process—setting a blistering pace out of the blocks with 7,000 signatures immediately after the countywide campaign started.”
        Pope pointed out that after the early mail-in petition drive Project 99 volunteers continued working along with thousands of other signatures gatherers during the six-month drive.
        “Our supporters should be very proud,” Pope said.  “Project 99 was instrumental in this historic effort.”
        The Safe & Healthy Communities Initiative calls for a two-thirds vote of the public before the County can build or expand commercial airports, large jails within a half-mile of homes and hazardous-waste landfills.   ETRPA’s research indicates that more than 70% of the voters in all five supervisorial districts support this concept.
        Among those supporting the initiative are Congressmembers Christopher Cox of Newport Beach and Ron Packard of Oceanside. Both Cox, the fifth-ranking Republican in the House, and
Packard objected to the County’s “heavy-handed” approach in pushing through airport plans.  The County has ignored residents most affected by the proposed airport, according to Cox and Packard
          Supervisor Todd Spitzer agrees.   “The people of this County are sick and tired of being ignored and having our voices fall on deaf ears at the Hall of Administration,”  Spitzer told the rally at the Registrar’s office.  Spitzer and Supervisor Tom Wilson form the County Board of Supervisor’s anti-airport minority.
        City Councilman Mike Alvarez of Orange reminded the crowd of the countywide appeal of the intuitive.  “This initiative,” Alvarez said,
“will pass because it protects the quality of life for all of Orange County , north and south”  He called the petition drive volunteers “the new patriots of today.”
        Project 99 activist and North County petition coordinator Marion Pack emphasized that the coalition that was formed during the petition drive will bring a more democratic voting process to Orange County on March 7, 2000 — the date that the Safe & Healthy Communities Initiative would appear on the ballot.
        “Ultimately, the voters will replace the County’s special-interest com-mercial airport plan with the non-aviation Millennium Plan,” Pack said.  “Right now, we’ve got work to do.  It’s time to prepare for the battle ahead and spread the word to vote yes on Safe and Healthy Communities.”

SURVEY RESULTS

More than 500 Project 99 supporters completed our August survey showing overwhelming support for Orange County open space and environmental protection programs.

The top three most important factors for supporting the Millennium Plan were: “Healthy Environment” with 76%, a “Central Park” with 59%, and a “Habitat Preserve” with 56%.

Survey participants were asked to rank statements on a scale of 1 to 10 — “10” being the most important to their support of the Millennium Plan and “1” being least important to their support.

Ninety-three percent of those surveyed said their support has increase for the Millennium Plan this Summer.

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Project ’99 is a special project of the Tides Center, a duly registered public charity. Donations to Project ’99/Tides Center are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.