Newport Hires Ex-Supervisor to Help Foil El Toro Annexation

Former County Supervisor Donald J. Saltarelli has been hired to advise Newport Beach officials on ways to block Irvine from annexing El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

Saltarelli, who served on the board from 1995 to last January and voted to build a commercial airport at El Toro, was hired as a consultant in November for $15,000, according to city documents.

Hiring Saltarelli underscores the importance of the El Toro issue to the city of Newport Beach, which strongly supports a commercial airport at the 4,700-acre base. It also brings Saltarelli--a key player and a county government insider--back into the El Toro fray.

The Irvine City Council recently voted to try to annex the military base as part of a strategy to derail the proposed airport after the Marines pull out in 1999.

City officials figure that putting the surplus base within city limits would give them, and not the county, power over land-use options at the base.

Irvine, and other communities in South County, fear that a large civilian airport will pose safety problems, lower property values, and create more noise and traffic congestion.

Newport Beach sees the airport at El Toro as a means of avoiding the expansion of near-capacity John Wayne Airport.

“They have the duty to protect their constituents,” Saltarelli said. “It would certainly be a disaster for Newport Beach to see John Wayne expand. I think the city is being very wise in being very vigilant.”

News of Saltarelli’s consulting role angered Irvine Mayor Christina L. Shea, who said she’s never heard of one city trying to block another city’s annexation bid.

“It’s surprising and it borders on the ridiculous,” Shea said. “It sounds like they are quite desperate.”

Newport Beach City Atty. Robert Burnham said Saltarelli was an obvious choice as a consultant.

“I’m trying to get information on what the [annexation] process is from an individual who has been through the process with the military,” Burnham said. “We are going to try to determine what steps are necessary for the annexation. We cannot annex the base, but we may take a position on the city of Irvine annexation.”

Saltarelli was a member of the Tustin City Council when the city annexed Tustin Marine Corps Helicopter Air Station in the early 1980s.

Saltarelli, now a real estate broker in Tustin, served on the Local Agency Formation Commission, a state governing board that has authority over annexation requests.

Until they have been out of office for one year, county ordinance prohibits former supervisors from lobbying current county officials.

Saltarelli said he has not lobbied county officials, serving in a strict consulting capacity. Besides the Irvine annexation, Saltarelli said he is advising Newport Beach on annexation plans for the Newport Coast area.

The Board of Supervisors voted last December to build an airport at El Toro despite staunch opposition from neighboring South County communities, such as Irvine and Lake Forest. In 1994, a majority of county voters approved Measure A, an initiative that cleared the path for an international airport to be built.

The Marine base is in the county but also falls within Irvine’s “sphere of influence” for planning.

Federal officials have named the county as the lead agency for the base reuse process, meaning that the county is in charge of the base conversion once the Marines depart.

Although Irvine faces many obstacles in annexing the site, Saltarelli said anything is possible.

“In politics you never know what can or cannot be accomplished,” he said. “I would think that anybody who has interest in El Toro would be wise to look at every aspect of the situation. Their concern of course is the long-term future of Newport Beach and how they would be affected” if Irvine annexed the base.