THE EL TORO AIRPORT INITIATIVE : Economic Security Is at Stake Now : International trade, high-tech manufacturing and tourism all will flourish.
A “yes” vote on Measure A is a yes vote for Orange County’s economic future. The end of the Cold War has proved traumatic for Southern California. Federal defense cuts and the recession has resulted in a loss of more than 135,000 high-paying jobs and hurt families throughout Orange County. With the recently announced closing of the Hughes plant in Fullerton, we need new jobs more than ever.
Measure A will convert the El Toro base from a military airport to a commercial airport to allow the successful sectors of our local economy to flourish and replace lost jobs. Our economy must be rebuilt on the growth industries of international trade, high-tech manufacturing and tourism. All three depend on reliable air transport of goods and people. John Wayne Airport is physically incapable of meeting Orange County’s future airport demands.
Officially known as the Orange County/El Toro Economic Stimulus Initiative, Measure A will utilize the 2,000-acre airport portion of El Toro to serve the growth industries in the region. The remaining 2,700 acres will be master-planned for airport-compatible uses. El Toro is also surrounded by a 16,000-acre noise and safety buffer zone where no homes exist, minimizing environmental impacts of an airport.
It makes no sense to destroy the four massive runways at El Toro--twice the length of John Wayne Airport’s--that can serve our air travel and air cargo needs for the foreseeable future. The airport will be paid for the way all airports are financed--by revenue from the airlines that use them, not by taxpayers. Without El Toro, we would either be forced to re-create this infrastructure at huge expense, or continue to lose income and the estimated 21,000 new jobs to other regions.
El Toro is owned by all taxpayers. It must benefit all taxpayers by becoming the second airport that the Orange County economy desperately needs. El Toro Marine Corps Air Station has provided for our military security for a generation.
Passage of Measure A will ensure economic security and help restore Orange County’s quality of life for ourselves and future generations.
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