Countywide : Mission Viejo Wants El Toro Panel Spot

Mission Viejo officials still hope to receive a seat on the county’s El Toro advisory council, even though the city’s name does not appear on the county’s newest list of panel members that is expected to be approved by the Board of Supervisors today.

Despite the city’s exclusion from the latest list, City Manager Fred Sorsabal said he still expects Mission Viejo to be added.

Sorsabal said an aide to Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez told the city last week that at least five more names will be added to the panel. Vasquez has recommended that a Mission Viejo representative be one of the panel members, Sorsabal said.

In Irvine, where officials have decided for now not to join the advisory council, reaction to the new list was mixed.

Irvine Mayor Michael Ward said that while he was pleased the county has increased the number of South County cities represented on the panel, he is concerned with the county’s insistence on having the final say on what is developed at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, which is slated for closure.

“It’s important how they are going to deal with the recommendations of the advisory committee,” Ward said. “Are (county officials) going to accept (the recommendations) or are they going to take the input and then make up their own minds?”

Ward and other Irvine leaders argue that the cities closest to the base should have a strong voice in charting El Toro’s future.

So last week the City Council voted to look into forming a legally binding joint-powers authority for base redevelopment.

One-third of the authority’s membership would come from the county, a third from Irvine and a third from South County cities.

Irvine and some other South County cities are opposed to converting the base into a commercial airport, an idea supported by Newport Beach.

The county’s proposed advisory committee has increased by two from a previous draft and now totals 19. The list includes the cities of Irvine, Lake Forest, Laguna Hills, Tustin, Anaheim and Newport Beach.

Other members would come from Leisure World in Laguna Hills, the Irvine Co., the Orange County Chamber of Commerce, the Industrial League of Orange County, the Building Industry Assn. and the South Orange County Chamber of Commerce.