Countywide : El Toro, Charter on Ballot

Ballot statements by supporters and opponents of three March 26 measures paint starkly different pictures of how the proposals concerning El Toro marine base and government reform would affect the county.

Measures T and U deal with establishing a charter, or specific set of laws, to govern the county in the wake of its bankruptcy.

The arguments for the charter maintain that it would mean a greater ability to contract with the private sector for services, impose term limits for the Board of Supervisors and have a “businesslike” chief executive officer running day-to-day affairs.

The arguments against the proposal call it “the Bureaucrats and Developers’ (BAD) Charter” and state that it would give too much power to the CEO, take away the voters’ right to elect top officials like the treasurer and auditor and result in “runaway government.”

Orange County residents also will vote again on the fate of El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, set to close in 1999.

Voters in November 1994 narrowly approved Measure A, which called for a commercial airport at El Toro. But opponents have collected signatures to place an opposing initiative, Measure S, on the March ballot.

Measure S would force the county to restructure its planning process for the base with an emphasis on developments bringing in “high-paying and high-technology jobs,” backers say.

But opponents say its goal is to block an airport. The county already is considering non-aviation uses for the base, they say, so Measure S would force the county to waste taxpayers’ money by starting over.