ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : El Toro: Still an Open Question

If there was any thought that Measure A, last year’s airport initiative, would clarify the future of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, recent events suggest otherwise.

Last month the county found itself fielding a political hot potato--the release of a draft consulting report that said there was little demand for an international airport at the base. When the news got out, John Wayne Airport Manager Jan Mittermeier cautioned that the report was incomplete and should not be analyzed until it was finished. That assessment was backed by county Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy, who said he agreed that the report should be completed before there was any discussion. Fair enough. But there also was some question about whether there ever would be a final version.

The report, by Leigh Fisher Associates, was commissioned by the Board of Supervisors, and one who found value in the draft was Supervisor Marian Bergeson, many of whose constituents are unhappy about the rush to designate the base as an airport site. Bergeson said she believed that the preliminary information was useful in that it contradicted a 1993 study by the Southern California Assn. of Governments that found that El Toro could be a viable commercial airport.

Then there was the announcement by a grass-roots group wanting to revisit the Measure A issue in a new initiative. It cited the draft study and said that the political climate had changed because of the county’s bankruptcy. Already, several cities have said they intend to file a lawsuit challenging Measure A.

Some may have thought the fate of El Toro was decided. In fact, it still is very much an unresolved point of contention. Given the lack of consensus, it would have been better if the county had done its planning first. What we have is a situation in which the decision was made up front, leaving the wrangling to follow.

It is too bad that we have this confusion, but the passage of Measure A has made it inevitable.