Airport Debate Accelerates, but He’s Happy in Neutral

The woman from Irvine chided me for backing an international airport at the El Toro Marine Corps base.

Ah, but I don’t support it, I told her.

Nor do I oppose it.

She referred me to a past column, but I insisted that all I wrote then was that it isn’t surprising that Orange County is contemplating a large airport, given the county’s inexorable march toward urbanization.

If truth be told, I’m neutral on the airport. In this age of righteous certainty, I realize that neutrality is a character flaw, but so be it.

In an effort to de-neutralize myself, I went to an El Toro debate the other night, featuring sluggers from both the pro- and anti-airport side of the plate. I looked at the evening as representing one small step on the long road to forming an opinion.

The debate team captains were Bruce Nestande, former county supervisor and current sharp-dressed man, speaking in support of an airport. His opposite number was Larry Agran, former Irvine mayor, presidential candidate and a man who apparently has lost none of his zest for intellectual or verbal jousting.

Each had two teammates, but in their own way and in their own styles, Nestande and Agran provided the most entertainment and thoroughly justified their captaincies.

Nestande, as natty as an international diamond broker, seemed alternately mystified and dismissive that anyone would doubt the obviousness of putting an airport at El Toro. He literally sputtered once or twice when challenged about the wisdom of building a new airport. It was as if someone had asked him about the wisdom of closing the window when it rains.

Agran, on the other hand, had the advantage of having the crowd on his side and worked it well. His one-liners were sharp, and as an Irvine resident potentially affected by proposed El Toro flight plans, he played the passionate objector to Nestande’s detached lecturer.

The captains did a good job of framing the argument.

Does Orange County, in effect, owe it to itself to build a world-class airport, as Nestande implied?

Or, as Agran countered, is it fair that planned communities such as Irvine, Lake Forest and Mission Viejo be subjected to someone else’s imposition of an airport in their backyard?

Nestande countered that Orange County voters twice have supported converting the Marine base to an airport, first in 1994 and again in 1996. That’s true, but Agran’s argument is reflected in the vastly disparate votes between South County and North County voters.

Measure A passed in 1994 with 51% of the countywide vote. Voters in Irvine, Lake Forest, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel and Mission Viejo, however, rejected it by ratios ranging from nearly 3 to 1 to more than 5 to 1.

In 1996, passage of Measure S would have blocked a commercial airport at El Toro, but it received only 40% support countywide. In those same five South County cities, however, its lowest level of support was right at 70%.

Those elections demonstrate a huge voter disparity for two such distinct areas within the boundaries of a single county. The votes suggest two counties instead of one. That’s why talk of “civil war” is not at all far-fetched.

No one was beating the war drums of secession at the debate, but Agran must have read some American Civil War history because, even allowing for a new and obviously different context, he sounded like a Southerner in 1860 lamenting the imposition of a new way of life.

“Don’t be afraid to defend your interests,” he exhorted the audience, clearly packed with anti-airport advocates. Noting that cities like Irvine, Lake Forest and Mission Viejo had arisen from master plans and self-destinies, he decried the intrusion of an unwanted international airport in their midst. “Now, the rug is being pulled out from under us,” he said.

I didn’t hear the other side address that, other than for Nestande’s not-so-subtle digs at Irvine for creating density (if not destiny) while opposing the logical upshot of that--infrastructure items that result, such as airports.

That struck me as a bit of a stretch, so I’m still waiting for someone to tackle the fairness of building a mammoth international airport into a largely settled area.

Agran raised the specter of protracted lawsuits, and I’m reminded of the fights that Denver had in the 1970s in trying to incrementally expand its airport. It had a smallish airport, like Orange County’s John Wayne Airport, and wanted to edge it out toward the suburbs.

Well, those suburbs threatened years of lawsuits, and eventually Denver built its new airport on virgin territory, miles away from residential neighborhoods.

If it wants to spend the money, South County interests probably could delay an airport in the Saddleback Valley for years. Agran said as much, noting that federal or state judges ultimately would decide the issue: “It may take 10, 20 years, but in the end I believe we will prevail,” he said.

All of which left Nestande shaking his head and wondering why some people just don’t understand.

As for me, I remain as neutral as Switzerland. But unlike the Swiss, I secretly like a good fight and would love to see Agran-Nestande II.

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.