Appeal Filed to Halt Vote on El Toro Airport Plan

A March ballot initiative that would block development of a commercial airport at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station faces another legal challenge from airport supporters, an attorney said Thursday.

Proponents of the commercial airport have filed an appeal to reverse a Superior Court’s decision keeping Measure S on the March ballot.

“We’re asking the Court of Appeal to hear what we have to say,” said attorney Darryl R. Wold, who is representing airport backers.

Measure S advocates criticized the appeal as trying to keep voters from having a say on the controversial issue.

“This is really insidious,” said Bill Kogerman, co-chairman of Taxpayers for Responsible Planning, which is spearheading the effort to block the commercial airport.

Orange County voters in November 1994 narrowly approved Measure A, which calls for a commercial airport at El Toro after the military leaves the base. Measure S would repeal that vote.

Airport backers say Measure S is invalid because the people who circulated signature petitions to place the measure on the ballot were not registered to vote in Orange County, as required by law. Last month, an Orange County Superior Court rejected that argument.

Wold said he is asking the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana to speed up the normal appeal process, which can sometimes take years, because voters go to the polls in March.