El Toro Airport Debate Needs Facts

* Kudos to Pete Fielding for his factual and objective article regarding the attempt to make the El Toro site into a commercial airport (“O.C. Can Benefit From El Toro Site--but Not With an Airport,” Orange County Voices, Nov. 19).

This professor of transportation science at UC Irvine brings a breath of fresh air to an otherwise emotional subject promoted by pro-airport people who twist facts and have personal-gain agendas to advance.

The Newport Beach residents and construction contractors who are promoting the commercial airport see an opportunity to rid themselves of some noise and to reap profits. All neutral scientists and transportation specialists point out the foolishness of the proposed airport.

Fielding is the latest to join this objective group. He points out very clearly the drawbacks of the airport and he points out very clearly the attributes of other uses for the site, such as a transportation center and/or a manufacturing location for small firms. Aside from the safety factors, all of these non-airport options offer more employment and more permanent employment for the whole Orange County region than does an airport.

Let us not allow those with personal agendas to deter us from the best general use for this El Toro site. We were duped at the last election by the tremendous influx of money and propaganda inflicted upon us by those special interests. Let us soundly defeat this measure at the next coming election.

IRVING E. FRIEDMAN

Laguna Niguel

* Mr. Fielding’s article regarding Measure A appears to be yet another South County “expert” hoping to convince voters that El Toro would be put to better use as “Detroit West” or “Hollywood South” than as an airport. In fact, there is room at El Toro for both those uses and a commercial airport. Pie-in-the-sky ideas from either side of the airport issue don’t deserve such coverage. So far, we have had millions of dollars spent, and hundreds of pages of “expert” opinions on the two initiatives concerning what could be or should be done with El Toro. After years of waiting, nobody is even really sure an airport that won’t affect the surrounding residents is feasible there.

When will somebody at the county show some leadership and do the testing necessary to find out? Maybe when all the supervisors are gone, and Courtney [Wiercioch, a John Wayne Airport official] is in charge, we can start moving ahead in Orange County. No one in Orange County understands both sides of the airport issue better than she.

MICHAEL STEINER

Newport Beach