New Supervisor Vows to Fight El Toro Airport Plan

Laguna Niguel City Councilman Thomas W. Wilson was selected Wednesday to succeed Marian Bergeson as Orange County’s 5th District supervisor, and immediately vowed to fight the conversion of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into a commercial airport, the county’s most divisive issue.

“Many of my constituents want me to vote ‘no,’ ” said the 56-year-old retired Rockwell International aerospace engineer. “I am going to work diligently on their behalf to keep this from happening.”

The appointment by Gov. Pete Wilson caps a month of intense jockeying among south County political leaders vying to replace Bergeson, who resigned in October to become the governor’s secretary of child development and education.

Bergeson had urged the governor to select a woman as her successor, but Wilson’s appointment establishes an all-white, all-male Board of Supervisors that some criticized for failing to reflect the diversity of Orange County.

The appointment comes at a crucial time for south County residents, who are fighting the El Toro airport plans as well as a proposal to dramatically expand the James A. Musick Branch Jail in Irvine.

Some anti-airport activists and community leaders threw their support to Wilson’s council colleague, Patricia C. Bates, who some believe is a stronger airport foe.

But on Wednesday, Wilson’s appointment received a generally favorable reaction in the south County, where officials said his local roots might give residents a stronger voice in county government.

Wilson becomes the first county supervisor since 1971 to represent the 5th District who has not lived in Newport Beach.

Though the 5th District stretches from Newport Beach south to San Clemente, both Bergeson and her predecessor, Thomas F. Riley, live in Newport Beach, where many residents support the El Toro airport conversion.

Wilson, an Air Force veteran, helped incorporate Laguna Niguel seven years ago and holds leadership posts on several countywide government agencies, including the transportation and fire authorities.