IRVINE : Council Members Urged to Join Air Station Panel

Before the invitation is withdrawn, business leaders are urging City Council members to join the group planning the closure of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

The County Board of Supervisors will probably act soon to fill two open panel seats that were reserved for South County officials, said Tom Wall, who represents the chamber on the El Toro Citizens Advisory Commission.

Irvine and Lake Forest have refused to participate in the advisory group, created by county supervisors in response to the passage of Measure A in November. Measure A calls for construction of a commercial airport at the Marine Corps base after it closes in 1999.

Instead, the two cities have continued to fund the 14-month-old El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, the original group formed to plan for the closing of the air base. After the passage of Measure A, supervisors pulled out of the planning group and formed the new advisory commission. The federal government has since recognized the county advisory commission as the only official planning group.

“The elected representatives in the city of Irvine have an obligation to participate in the officially recognized planning body,” said Wall, who is also vice president of business development for the Irvine chamber.

But Irvine and Lake Forest officials insist their participation would give undeserved credibility to a one-sided procedure.

“The county process that has been set up does not in any way protect the interests of the city,” Irvine Councilman Barry J. Hammond said Monday.