Argyros Gives $775,000 to Help Stop Measure S

Local developer George Argyros has committed $750,000 to defeat a measure on the March 26 ballot that would discourage an airport from being built at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, according to new campaign finance statements.

The $750,000 donation, offered as a line of credit to a group called Citizens for Jobs & the Economy, makes a total of $775,000 that the Costa Mesa-based developer has provided to keep Measure S from passing.

Campaign disclosure forms filed with the county registrar of voters show that $140,000 of the line of credit has been used by pro-airport forces.

The latest donation from Argyros has sparked charges from Measure S supporters that he is trying to “buy” the election.

“I think it’s pretty obvious that the effort for a new Orange County airport is basically a one-man show,” Norm Grossman, a spokesman for the Aliso Viejo-based Taxpayers for Responsible Planning, said Monday.

“Here you have one man trying to buy the future of Orange County,” Grossman said. “No one else is supporting the airport like this. These numbers speak for themselves.”

Argyros could not be reached for comment.

The next largest major financial supporter of the No on Measure S campaign is the Segerstrom family, owners of South Coast Plaza, who have donated a total of $50,000 so far, according to Dave Ellis, a consultant for the pro-airport campaign.

Ellis said the Argyros donation was necessary to achieve financial parity with the antiairport forces, funded largely by homeowner groups in Leisure World. Grossman said the four homeowner groups have donated about $500,000 to support Measure S.

“Thank goodness [Argyros] is donating the money,” Ellis said. “Progress ain’t cheap.”

Ellis said that the No on Measure S campaign has raised another $240,000 since the finance reports were filed late last week and, with the vote only a week away, “there is more to come.”

Measure S is the latest initiative to determine the fate of the 4,700-acre base, soon to be abandoned by the military under national base closure policies. The first, called Measure A, proposed developing a commercial airport at the base and was narrowly passed by county voters n November 1994.

Measure S would repeal Measure A and would establish major hurdles to building a commercial airport at the base. Supporters of Measure S claim that much more study must be done before another airport is built in the county.

Opponents of Measure S say the measure would virtually eliminate the possibility a new county airport, which would cause the loss of thousands of potential jobs and other economic benefits.