First Formal Debate on Airport Measure Turns Into a Dogfight

The first formal debate since Measure S was placed on the March 26 ballot was supposed to help Orange County residents understand the issues before voting on the initiative that would repeal a proposed commercial airport at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

But if Tuesday’s televised forum is an indication, voters may find themselves more confused than ever.

During a 30-minute debate that will air Feb. 14 at 6:30 p.m. and March 20 at 11 p.m. on KOCE-TV, opponents and proponents of Measure S disputed nearly every point the other side brought up and then waved documents they contended proved their case.

While the cameras rolled, the debate turned testy. Thomas Cooley of the Orange County Business Council, which supports an airport at El Toro, said opponents were guilty of a “campaign of misinformation.”

Meanwhile Laguna Niguel Mayor Patricia C. Bates, a measure opponent, said that voters were being misled by “hocus pocus.”

The two sides couldn’t even agree on whether Measure S would prohibit a commercial airport at the base.

Reed Royalty, executive vice president of the Orange County Taxpayers Assn., who supports an airport, said his analysis of the measure “specifically precludes” an airport by putting insurmountable obstacles in its way.

But Bill Kogerman, co-chairman of Taxpayers for Responsible Planning, the group that qualified Measure S for the ballot, said the initiative paves the way for a study of all base reuse options--even an airport.

“They want to paint us into an anti-airport group and that’s not what we are,” Kogerman said.

At the end of the taping, about the only issue both sides could reach a consensus on was that the burden will be on Orange County voters to sift through campaign rhetoric to decide the issue for themselves.

“I think this was informative and hopefully it will encourage voters to get out their voter pamphlets, read the ballot initiatives and find out what truth is,” said Jim Cooper, moderator for the public television program.

Observers say the March 26 primary will likely draw a low turnout, challenging both sides of the Measure S debate to find ways to get voters to the polls.

And that makes the pro-Measure S side confident and leaves opponents worried, campaign officials from both sides say.

County voters in November 1994 narrowly approved Measure A, which calls for an airport on 2,000 acres of the 4,700-acre El Toro air station when the military closes the base by 1999. Measure S would repeal Measure A.

The fate of El Toro is one of the most critical--and controversial--planning issues facing the county.

Airport opponents, many of whom live in South County near the base, say the current planning process is biased toward an airport. Many also fear the noise and traffic an airport would bring and its impact on property values, giving them an incentive to make it to the polls next month.

Supporters say a commercial airport is just one of several options for the Marine Corps base and point to the county’s recent study of six nonaviation alternatives in case an airport is deemed unworkable. Supporters say an airport would bring thousands of jobs and re-energize the economy.

Cooley said the challenge for airport supporters will be convincing North Orange County voters of their stake in the election outcome.

After the debate wrapped up, Royalty said he is concerned about the voting.

“I think you have facts on one side and emotions on the other, and facts rarely win over emotions,” he said.

But Bates said Measure S will create a fair-minded planning process for all county residents.

“This is the only honest way,” she said.