3 More Options on the Table for El Toro Decision : Conversion: Stanton and Steiner suggest 1) a nine-member governing board including all five supervisors, 2) expanding panel to 11, or, if all else fails, 3) letting voters decide.

In hopes of breaking the impasse over planning for the conversion of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, two Orange County supervisors on Thursday offered three new formulas for overseeing the process, including a last-ditch option that would put the matter to a countywide public vote.

Supervisors Roger R. Stanton and William G. Steiner said, however, they would prefer that local officials agree to a nine-member governing board that would include all five members of the Board of Supervisors.

Of the remaining seats, two would go to the city of Irvine, one to Lake Forest and one an at-large member selected by the eight others.

The “preferred alternative” in the four-page position paper presented by Stanton and Steiner reflects the influence of a coalition of North County cities, whose leaders complain that their counterparts in South County are trying to forestall any possible use of the base as a commercial airport by effectively demanding veto power over any plan that emerges.

The Stanton-Steiner plan would also give the Board of Supervisors significantly more authority than it would have under a plan previously introduced by Supervisors Gaddi H. Vasquez and Thomas F. Riley.

The Vasquez-Riley plan gave the county only four votes on the 17-member top decision-making panel, and effectively gave veto power over base redevelopment options to South County cities.

The leadership solution favored by Stanton and Steiner also bows to the interests of the two cities closest to the base, yet stops short of giving them the virtual veto they would have under the Vasquez-Riley plan.

“The proposal to share land-use authority (with Irvine and Lake Forest) . . . is a major public policy decision,” Stanton and Steiner stated Thursday. “It reflects the Board of Supervisors’ recognition that the vital interests of Lake Forest and Irvine should be fairly represented.”

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Stanton and Steiner have given the cities until Dec. 31 to decide whether they would agree to the new leadership arrangement. If they do not, both supervisors recommended a second option that would call on the Orange County League of Cities to choose which cities would be members of the governing board.

Under that option, Stanton and Steiner said, they would support an enlargement of the panel to 11 members, composed of the five supervisors, five city council members--one from each supervisorial district--and one member to be selected at-large.

If that, too, were to fail, both supervisors said they would recommend that the issue be placed before the voters on June 7, 1994.

“While it is our sincere hope that either of the first two options can be achieved, we are willing to support a . . . ballot initiative as a final attempt to reach countywide consensus,” the supervisors said.

Although the county document was released for the first time late Thursday, some city officials were quick to react.

Irvine City Councilwoman Christina L. Shea called the first option for a nine-member panel “interesting” and “something I would consider.” But she said she was inclined to oppose both the second option and a countywide vote on the issue.

Her main concern with the proposed nine-member board was the selection of the at-large member.

“I think the vote should go to Irvine,” she said, adding, “I understand where (the supervisors) are coming from. They are trying to bring this back to a reasonable management level.”

Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly, who strongly favors the inclusion of all five supervisors on the governing board, said the second option closely resembled what he has proposed.

“I like the idea of a timetable . . . for decision-making,” Daly added. “I think that alone is a valuable contribution to the discussion. . . .”

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Perhaps anticipating that some will criticize the six-week period before Irvine and Lake Forest must make their decision, and that the whole matter might not be decided until a countywide vote next summer, Daly said, “I disagree with those who say that too much time has passed since the announcement of the base closure. The Marines are not going to leave the base for years.”

Garden Grove Councilman Mark Leyes said he favored the second option--an 11-member governing board--because it more closely resembles what the North County cities have supported.

“I am glad that the supervisors have done more than just talk about getting involved,” he said.

Stanton and Steiner said the proposals were not offered to compete with the Vasquez-Riley plan, but merely to aid in reaching some sort of compromise in a process that has deteriorated into a 4 1/2-month political tug of war.

“In spite of the best efforts of Supervisors Vasquez and Riley, the process seems to be at an impasse,” they said.

In interviews Thursday, Stanton and Steiner described their offering as “very fair” and hopefully a way to “get this process moving.”

Vasquez said his colleagues’ recommendations would be “welcomed as constructive input.”

“This is not a battle of plans or proposals,” Vasquez said, careful not to characterize the new recommendations as a symbol of internal political conflict on the board. “This is more input on a matter that continues to be fluid.”