Legislators Lobby Panetta About Copters

In an eleventh-hour attempt to convince the Marine Corps not to transfer its helicopters to San Diego, politicians from San Diego and Riverside counties met Tuesday with President Clinton’s chief of staff to argue that it would be cheaper to send the super-noisy craft to a base in Riverside.

After hearing their presentation, chief of staff Leon Panetta arranged for the contingent to meet today with Pentagon officials who are assigned to find a new site for the helicopters located at bases in Orange County that are slated to be closed.

“I would say our chances are 50-50 at getting the helicopters” to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

Fearing air pollution and lowered property values, many San Diegans oppose transfer of the helicopters to Miramar Naval Air Station. Riverside County residents, still stung by military cutbacks in the Inland Empire, would love to have the aircraft move to March.

To back up its contention that March is a better location than Miramar, the bipartisan group unveiled a study done by a former senior financial analyst for the Base Realignment and Closure Commission.

The report, prepared by S. Alexander Yellin, now a Washington-based consultant, said the Pentagon had underestimated the cost of moving to Miramar and overestimated the cost of moving to March, which had undergone major expansion before being closed as an active base.

A Pentagon report had concluded that Miramar would require $126 million for construction of hangars, housing and other facilities to accommodate the helicopter squadrons, compared to $376 million at March. But Yellin put the cost at $258 million at Miramar and $237 million at March.

The Pentagon meeting will allow San Diego and Riverside congressional representatives, as well as Sens. Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, to present Yellin’s report and attempt to convince defense officials that their cost estimates were wrong.

Still, Panetta warned the group that the military’s final decision will be based on what is best for national security. The Pentagon has insisted that putting the helicopters at Miramar is preferable because it means they will be closer to the San Diego-based fleet and other Navy and Marine Corps personnel and fixed-wing aircraft.

“In the end, if the military makes the national security argument, there is not much we can do about it,” Boxer said.

But she and other politicians, including Rep. Bob Filner (D-San Diego) and San Diego Mayor Susan Golding, still hope that the Pentagon can be convinced that there is not a significant difference in terms of national security between Miramar and March.

“I don’t want to negatively impact national security,” Golding said, “but there are often two ways to fulfill a national security objective.”

Before the meeting with Panetta, it was thought that a final decision by Secretary of Defense William Perry on sending the helicopters to Miramar might be announced this week or early next. The Pentagon faces a Dec. 3 deadline to finalize construction contracts that have been tentatively awarded.

But Panetta indicated to the group that it may need to brief his successor after he leaves his post Jan. 20, an indication that the controversy will not be over soon.

The military would like to transfer 48 Sea Knights and 64 Super Stallions to Miramar starting in 1998. The helicopters have been based at the Tustin and El Toro air stations, which are slated for closure.

Yellin’s study was done for a San Diego homeowners group called MARCH (Movement Against Relocating Choppers Here), which is financed by Pardee Construction, one of the region’s major home construction firms. Pardee fears that relocating the helicopters to Miramar could trigger noise complaints and lawsuits.

The helicopter controversy has split San Diego, with most elected officials backing MARCH but the Chamber of Commerce, concerned about losing a sizable military payroll, supporting the Marine Corps’ desire to move the helicopters to Miramar. MARCH has threatened a lawsuit if the Pentagon picks Miramar.