IRVINE : City Plans to Reduce Its Air Show Costs

Irvine officials plan to reduce the amount of money the city spends on traffic control during the annual El Toro Air Show, which is scheduled for April 29, April 30 and May 1.

The Police Department has traditionally provided traffic management services for the event--at a cost to the city of about $15,000.

The air show is one of the county’s most popular events and attracts more than 1 million people from around Southern California to the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

But this year, the city hopes to spend just a few thousand dollars on the event through a series of personnel shifts and other cost-cutting measures, Police Chief Charles S. Brobeck said.

To cut the size of the bill, Brobeck plans to use reserve officers and police explorers to do a greater amount of traffic control work than they have in the past.

Brobeck also hopes to greatly reduce overtime costs by having officers work the weekend event as part of their regular shifts.

The officers would then take time off during the week.

These changes will mean fewer officers will be available to handle traffic-related calls three days before and three days after the air show, Brobeck said.

The city explored whether the El Toro base could defray some of the costs of traffic controls.

But officials discovered that federal laws prevent the military from sharing the costs for such services, Brobeck said.