Show Leadership on El Toro’s Conversion : HEAD* Supervisors Should Stick With Planning Panel; Ballot Initiative Is the Easy Way Out

There is clearly nothing wrong with elected officials listening to the people they represent; that is what they should do. But after soliciting opinions, it is still the officeholders who must make the final decision. Passing the buck, or holding a moist finger aloft to see which way the political winds blow before taking a stand on issues, is an abdication of leadership and government’s role.

The question of what to do with the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station when the military leaves by 1999 has polarized county residents and politicians for nearly a year. But after several fits and starts, an agreement was finally reached to create a committee to suggest to the Defense Department how the base will be used after it comes under civilian control. That committee of elected officials, the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, must be allowed to do its work of gathering information and listening to opinions. It should not be short-circuited by a ballot initiative.

Last August, UC Irvine Prof. Mark P. Petracca urged the Board of Supervisors to put an initiative on the ballot so voters could rank their preferences for the future of El Toro. Petracca is a prominent county Democrat, and his suggestion to the five Republican supervisors sank like a stone. Now comes the Lincoln Club, an organization of conservative Republicans with enormous clout in the county, also urging a ballot initiative on El Toro. And when the Lincoln Club speaks, supervisors listen.

The supervisors had long opposed a ballot initiative on the grounds that one of their key jobs is land-use planning, which is correct. But when three leaders of the Lincoln Club, two of whom are developers, spoke with supervisors about the initiative, attitudes changed. Now the supervisors are considering putting the issue on the ballot; Lincoln Club leaders have warned that they may sponsor a November initiative themselves if the supervisors do not.

It is not at all clear what the initiative would say, and given the slow pace so far, it seems unlikely there will be enough time by November to explore and present the wide range of possible uses for El Toro. An advisory initiative at some point might be helpful, but it is premature now. It could wind up as a thumbs up or down on a commercial airport. The public already has a voice through advisory committees in each city that will relay opinions to the reuse authority. Let that authority do its job before sponsoring any ballot initiative. Governing is not a popularity contest. Sometimes tough choices have to be made.