Lincoln Club Seeks El Toro Airport Ballot Initiative : Base closures: Facing a March 11 deadline for filing, the influential GOP group is turning up the heat in its campaign.

Turning up the heat in their campaign for a commercial airport at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, leaders of the politically powerful Lincoln Club have prepared a ballot initiative on the issue and have urged the Board of Supervisors to place it on the November ballot.

However, anticipating that the supervisors will not act quickly enough, leaders of the group of conservative Republicans plan to file the proposed “Orange County Economic Stimulus Initiative” with the county registrar of voters within the next couple of days.

The commercial airport proponents must file the ballot initiative before March 11 to preserve their right to gather petitions for a countywide vote on El Toro, if the supervisors refuse to place the measure on the Nov. 8 ballot. They would need 66,703 signatures by June 1 to get it on the ballot.

Those involved in the campaign would not release a draft of the initiative, preferring that it be disclosed when it is filed with the registrar of voters. But those familiar with the proposal said Monday that it calls for an amendment to the county’s General Plan that would designate about 2,000 acres of the 4,700-acre Marine base for commercial aviation use.

The initiative also asks voters to allow commercial air cargo carriers to use El Toro on an interim basis while the Marine operations are phased out, sources said. The military use is scheduled to end by 1999.

Three Lincoln Club members--President Doy Henley and developers George Argyros and Buck Johns--met last week with Supervisors Roger R. Stanton and William G. Steiner and stated their preference that the supervisors place the initiative on the ballot.

But they also warned that they would meet the March 11 deadline to notify the registrar of voters of their intent to circulate petitions, according to some involved in the meeting.

“We are of the opinion that the highest power in the whole political process is the voters,” Johns said Monday. “We would like to take the question of whether or not El Toro should be a commercial airport to the voters.”

South County residents near the base strongly oppose an airport because they fear it will upset their quality of life, but Johns argued that an airport would “provide the jobs base as we go into the next century.” The Lincoln Club includes some of the county’s most influential business and political leaders.

Steiner said that he wants the county counsel to review the legality of the proposed ballot initiative and give an opinion on the effect it would have on the work just begun by the county-sponsored El Toro Reuse Planning Authority.

“I would be supportive of a parallel process of putting this (initiative) on the ballot as long as we do not abandon the work” of the planning agency, Steiner said. “I made it clear (to the Lincoln Club members) that’s the only way I could support it.”

Stanton and Steiner successfully negotiated the formation of the El Toro planning agency after months of failed attempts by Board Chairman Thomas F. Riley and Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez to reach consensus with the South County cities closest to the base.

The nine-member El Toro board is comprised of the five supervisors, three Irvine City Council members and one Lake Forest council member. Irvine and Lake Forest officials have promised to objectively consider an airport even though their cities are generally considered to be opposed to that option.

Johns said a recent Lincoln Club-commissioned poll of 400 Orange County residents showed that “the voters have made a decision that the planning process is flawed.” Johns argued that unless voters state their preference on the airport issue, the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority will be swayed by “parochial interests.”

Steiner said his choice would be for the county to be given enough time to study all development options--including a commercial airport--before letting the voters decide.

During the early stages of the El Toro debate, the supervisors strongly opposed a ballot initiative because it would appear to be an abdication of their power as the county’s land-use authority.

But in recent weeks, since disclosure of the Lincoln Club’s proposal, most of the supervisors have indicated their willingness to hear out the arguments for a ballot initiative.

With the ballot measure now becoming more of a reality, Steiner predicted that the Board of Supervisors would proceed “cautiously, because (the initiative) is well-intended and it’s motivated out of the economic development interests of the county. But we have found that it’s been difficult to develop a consensus on El Toro, so don’t expect (the ballot measure) to be an immediate quick fix.”

Riley, who was recuperating from back surgery, was unavailable for comment Monday.

Stanton did not respond to a request for an interview, although he said recently that the Lincoln Club’s proposal “has some merit” but he wanted to review it before committing to it.

Vasquez responded on Monday: “Not having seen it or not having had any discussions with anyone, I am not in a position to react.”

Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder, who was scheduled to meet today with the Lincoln Club members, said she had seen a draft of the initiative and had many questions, but shares the business community’s point of view.

“It’s the responsibility of more than just the government. I think the people should have a say in this, I really do,” Wieder said.

A Defense Department official said an election on the future use of El Toro would be only the second time in the recent history of base closures that voters decided the base conversion plan.

Dave McKinnon, a senior project manager with the Defense Department’s Office of Economic Adjustment, said the first was last year in Austin, Tex., when voters decided to develop a commercial airport at Bergstrom Air Force Base.

However, McKinnon cautioned that it would be best if all base conversion options were studied before an election is held. Otherwise, he said, voters might base their decisions “on hype and fear and emotional things rather than solid analysis.”

County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider said that while the entire planning process cannot be completed before November, the county would have preliminary information on the economic and technical viability of a commercial airport at El Toro. That study is being funded through a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration.