Rohrabacher in Hot Water Over Desert Base : Politics: His intervention in plans for closed Victorville military site angers local officials, who say it was on behalf of O.C. developers.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) has sparked an uproar in the Mojave Desert, where angry officials charge that the congressman has jeopardized their plans for a new, small airport in order to protect the interests of high-powered Orange County developers.

The dispute is over George Air Force Base, near Victorville, where 5,600 acres of lucrative commercial property was suddenly put up for grabs last December, when the base was closed in a cost-cutting move.

The resulting power struggle stretches from the halls of Washington to the truck-stop towns of California’s High Desert. It involves wealthy Republican contributors, top leaders in Congress and small-town city officials.

As Victorville Councilman Terry E. Caldwell recently charged: “This process is dominated by secret agreements with greedy developers and side deals with congressmen who don’t even represent this area. Obviously, there’s a tremendous amount of money to be made.”

Shortly after the base closed, San Bernardino County and three cities near the base joined forces as the Victor Valley Economic Development Authority in hopes of building a commercial airport, a junior college, a park, temporary housing and several other projects on the military base property.

But Rohrabacher, in an extraordinary move in March, sought action from the Pentagon to block the development authority’s plan in favor of a rival proposal by the neighboring desert city of Adelanto. Its plan for a much larger international airport involves two major Orange County developers.

The congressman who represents the base area--Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands)--was so outraged at the intervention by a fellow Republican that he immediately called Rohrabacher at home to chastise him, and he ordered a special meeting of the House GOP leadership.

“I cannot remember in all my time in public affairs having been as angry,” said Lewis, who helped prepare the Victor Valley development authority plan. “It’s just plain wrong. I mean, can you imagine me telling Orange County congressmen what to do about El Toro (Marine Corps Air Station)? It’s unfathomable.”

Rohrabacher strongly defended his action, saying that Orange County has an important interest in the future of the George base.

He said a big airport at the George base might relieve traffic at John Wayne Airport. And he noted that transportation officials are exploring the possibility of a high-speed train between Anaheim and Las Vegas that could pass near the site.

“I was merely protecting Orange County’s interests,” Rohrabacher said.

The airport proposed by Adelanto might take some of the burden off John Wayne Airport, while the smaller facility favored by Victor Valley residents would not be of much use to Orange County airline passengers.

But Rohrabacher also admits that his action was prompted, in part, by a request from Newport Beach developer William (Buck) Johns, a prominent Republican contributor who bought property near the desert base three years ago in anticipation of its conversion.

Rohrabacher said his help was also sought by Adelanto, with a population of about 12,000. Adelanto’s plan includes an agreement for Orange County’s Koll Co. to develop part of the base property, but Rohrabacher said he doesn’t recall any request for assistance from Koll.

Based on those contacts, Rohrabacher intervened by convincing Rep. Dick Armey (R-Tex.)--the No. 3 GOP leader in the House--to support Adelanto’s development plan. Armey subsequently wrote a letter to the Air Force asking for a delay in the transfer of property to the Victor Valley development authority.

Armey said in a statement that he became involved because, “as the principal author of base-closing legislation, I have a responsibility to protect the process and look out for the interest of taxpayers.”

He said he objected to the Victor Valley development authority’s proposal because it called for the Air Force to donate about 60% of the George property, while Adelanto plans to acquire the land in a direct sale.

Armey called the Victor Valley plan a “giveaway” of federal property.

The upshot is that the Pentagon turned down Armey’s request. It also ruled that some of the base property would be donated, not sold. But it did not designate either Adelanto or the Victor Valley development authority as operator of the base.

Instead, the Pentagon ordered the two competing parties to submit new bids for acquiring the land. And it suggested that state and local governments should work out the remaining problems. Gov. Pete Wilson’s office is currently urging the parties to work out a joint operating agreement.

Victor Valley officials believe that such delays might not have occurred were it not for Rohrabacher and Armey.

Rohrabacher’s action on the George base raised eyebrows among political insiders partly because it violated congressional protocol about handling issues in another House member’s district.

One Lewis aide said he thinks Rohrabacher is motivated by a desire to satisfy Buck Johns and other developers.

Some were surprised that Rohrabacher would take up the George base issue, since there are other Orange County congressmen who would be expected to have a greater interest than Rohrabacher in the high-speed train and John Wayne Airport, neither of which involve Rohrabacher’s district.

The district of Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) includes John Wayne Airport and surrounding communities. But because of “congressional courtesy,” Cox said, he would not have intervened in plans for the George base without consulting Lewis and others.

Because of the sensitivity of the George base issue, Cox went so far as to write letters to city officials in Adelanto and Victorville emphasizing that he was not involved in the issue but asking to be kept informed.

Cox declined, however, to criticize Rohrabacher’s action.

In the last few years, Orange County officials have explored the possibility that a commercial airport at George Air Force Base might help alleviate problems at John Wayne Airport, where noise rules and a court settlement limit future expansion. The idea was that the high-speed train could shuttle passengers from the county to the desert site.

But officials say that financial problems have stalled hopes for building the train, estimated to cost at least $4 billion. And county officials say they have abandoned the idea of using the George base as an alternative to John Wayne Airport. Since the El Toro Marine base was targeted for closure by the Pentagon, there has been discussion about turning it into a commercial airport.

Rohrabacher acknowledged “that since El Toro has been placed on the base closure list, it might make George moot” as a regional airport for Orange County. “But those of us who are interested in airport capacity in Southern California want to keep all options open,” he said.

Rohrabacher also insisted that a high-speed rail link is still possible.

It was the train and the interest in a desert airport that led Johns to purchase property in the area, the developer has said.

Johns is a partner in a plan to develop 85 acres near Hesperia, about 25 miles from the proposed airport and a few miles from the high-speed rail route. The partnership also holds millions of dollars in other property near March Air Force Base in Riverside County and could benefit indirectly from a full or partial base closure there, as well as at George.

Today, Johns says of his land deals in the desert: “I haven’t exactly been successful in my endeavors.”

Rohrabacher said he used Johns’ name when he asked Armey to support his interests in the George base. Johns hosted a reception for the Texas Republican in his Newport Beach office suite in November, 1990. During Armey’s visit, Johns also accompanied Armey, Cox and Rohrabacher on a tour of the George base.

Johns said his interest in the Adelanto proposal for developing the desert base is to help the economy while “trying to make a living like everybody else.”

“In a word, in terms of an international airport, (George Air Force Base) isn’t viable right now,” Johns added. “But I think it will be in later years. And now it’s quite suitable as an industrial base, and it can process air cargo. When you look at the population projections for the Inland Empire, they’re expecting over 5 million people.”

Times staff writers Paul Houston and Robert W. Stewart contributed to this story from Washington.