Poll Shows Slim Edge for Foes of El Toro Airport

By a small margin, Orange County residents oppose turning El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into a commercial airport, according to a UC Irvine poll released Monday.

But a plurality of residents believes an airport is the best use for the base when compared to a list of other options, the poll found.

The 1997 Orange County Annual Survey also found that South County residents oppose a commercial airport at El Toro by a ratio of better than 2 to 1, while North County residents support it by a narrow 46% to 41%.

After years of public debate and two countywide ballot measures, county residents are far from united about what to do with the base, and are unhappy with the way county government is managing the planning process, said Mark Baldassare, a UCI political science professor who conducted the poll in early September.

“There is clearly a lot of dissatisfaction with the way the airport issue has been handled,” Baldassare said. “I don’t think the county has presented a vision for the El Toro Marine base that has gotten people excited about how this land will fit into the Orange County of the 21st century.”

The telephone survey of 1,002 randomly selected adults found that residents of both North and South County “disapprove” of the way county government has handled the base conversion issue. In the south, those disapproving of the county’s efforts outnumber those who approve by 3 to 1, according to the poll.

This latest poll was conducted as the county moves forward with detailed plans for an international airport at the 4,700-acre base, which is scheduled to close by 1999. Neighboring South County cities, whose citizens fear a commercial airport will bring noise, traffic and pollution problems, are challenging the plan in court.

The UC Irvine poll found support for converting El Toro into something other than a commercial airport. About 24% of the poll’s respondents countywide said they support a commercial airport, while 23% backed its use as an education center, 15% backed a public park and 12% a sports or entertainment complex.

When asked specifically about the airport plan, 41% said they favor it and 48% said they were opposed. Eleven percent were undecided.

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Airport foes said they were encouraged by the poll’s results, suggesting that residents had become more informed on the issue since 1994, when 51% of voters approved a ballot measure clearing the way for the airport.

“There has never been good public debate about an alternative. That is what is so wrong about this whole entire process,” Irvine Mayor Christina L. Shea said. “We are trying to get more vocal . . . [and] we are starting to see a change.”

Supervisor Todd Spitzer, another El Toro airport foe, said the poll shows that the county must take action to improve its image with the public, such as allowing South County cities to prepare a non-aviation alternative plan for the base.

“We must restore the public’s confidence in the county,” Spitzer said.

El Toro planners, however, said the poll results are consistent with a county poll, conducted earlier this year, which also found a credibility gap with the public. Based on the results of that poll, the county hired a public relations firm that will help disseminate information about the base conversion.

“I don’t know that this reflects a turn” in public perception, said Courtney Wiercioch, who heads the county’s El Toro Master Development Program.

Wiercioch said the county has examined the vast majority of reuse ideas cited in the UC Irvine survey, including an education center and residential and commercial developments.

Still, Wiercioch acknowledged that many Orange County residents remain distrustful of county government--something she attributes in part to the county’s historic 1994 bankruptcy.

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To improve its image with the public, the county soon will begin disseminating El Toro information on the Internet. It also will hold community meetings, publish newsletters and conduct other forums to increase the public’s knowledge, Wiercioch said.

“Clearly, we have our work cut out for us,” Wiercioch said. “Once this team starts . . . getting the information out publicly, you will start to see an increase in [the public’s] confidence in the planning process and the county itself.”

The UCI poll found that nearly half the county’s residents would prefer to rely on John Wayne Airport alone for Orange County’s air travel needs. By contrast, 34% said they wanted to rely on both John Wayne and El Toro.

But John Wayne Airport can serve only a limited number of passengers under the terms of an agreement struck several years ago with nearby residents of Newport Beach.

The survey results show little change from those of an October 1996 Times Orange County poll, which found 43% of respondents favoring an airport and 44% opposing it.

Baldassare said that younger and less affluent residents appear less enthusiastic about the airport plan than older, more wealthy people.

This, the pollster added, might explain why both countywide ballot measures went against airport foes, because older, higher-income people tend to vote more often than other groups.

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* BOARD STANCE CHANGES

Majority of supervisors now favors letting airport opponents write a non-aviation plan. B1

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County’s Methods Rankle

A recent UC Irvine survey indicates that most Orange County residents disapprove of the way county government has handled the El Toro base conversion issue. As previous polls have found, most of those who have made up their minds are opposed to converting the Marine base to a commercial airport.

Do you favor or oppose the proposal to transform the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into a commercial airport? *--*

O.C. North South FAVOR 41 46 25 OPPOSE 48 41 68 DON’T KNOW 11 13 7

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Do you approve or disapprove of the way that the county government is handling the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station conversion issue?

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O.C. North South APPROVE 23 24 20 DISAPPROVE 43 38 59 DON’T KNOW 34 38 21

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Source: UC Irvine’s 1997 Orange County Annual Survey