ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : El Zero for El Toro

There has been little in recent weeks to dispel the notion that the county’s political leadership has been losing its grip on the future of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. Last week, the Defense Department laid it on the line: Get your act together or no money for planning.

That, of course, is what the county must do. But it still is a long way from that point.

Meanwhile, in the absence of an agreement between the wavering county and the rebellious South County cities, which now are making headway on their own plans, the process is on hold. Washington won’t serve up its $500,000 in federal aid for planning, which is necessary to move forward.

The county has got to get beyond its refusal to share authority. The cities must realize that, without the county, it’s not likely that their maverick plans will get far.

There is plenty of blame to go around. The City of Newport Beach did the county no service when it lit a firecracker under the base even before a decision to close it was made. Its lobbying effort for closure and to impose a commercial airfield so infuriated South County cities that the entire county approached the planning process off balance.

Nor did county government send sufficiently strong signals that its mind wasn’t made up. It was no surprise that the southern cities just dug in their heels. When Supervisor Thomas F. Riley tried to buy time, the cities planned anyway for their own intergovernmental agency. That put them on a collision course with the county. And the South County cities could stand to be a bit more flexible.

The bureaucrats in Washington weren’t alone in finding little to approve of. Public perceptions of government’s ability to deal successfully with the issue were shown to be suffering in UC Irvine’s recent Orange County Annual Survey. The polling suggested that a solid majority of Orange County residents had little if any confidence that a successful plan for jobs and economic growth lay ahead.

Who could blame them? So here we are, months after the decision to close the base was announced, and there still is no serious movement toward a consensus.

The county has not been able even to agree on a structure to begin the planning. In an effort to find compromise, the best Riley could do as chairman of the county’s planning task force was postpone this month’s meetings.

This week, more South County city councils joined the bandwagon for putting their alliance in charge. This coalition is now poised to compete with the county for planning control. The stalemate continues, and the county is getting nowhere.

However, there are indications that, under pressure, the county is privately reassessing plans, a wise idea. A meaningful plan to share authority in planning for El Toro’s future is overdue.