Might Supervisor Ground El Toro Before He Takes Off?

Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Steiner won’t just be leaving office when his term ends at the end of next year. And he won’t just be leaving Orange County.

He’s leaving the state, heading off to Arizona to work for a child-advocacy group. As a driving force behind the Orangewood Children’s Home and its former director, Steiner gets his kicks from kids. To use the vernacular, he’s more into people and less into infrastructure. To beat the point to death, if you offered Steiner a choice of putting his name on an out-of-the-way shelter for abused children or a spectacular 21st century airport, he’d probably choose the former.

Put it all together and what have you got: a supervisor who is the critical third vote in favor of building a proposed international airport at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. A supervisor who, if he changed his vote, could scuttle the project. And, because he’d be driving east on Interstate 10, a supervisor who wouldn’t have to stick around Orange County to catch flak for doing so.

Sure, airport supporters could track him down in Arizona and stake him to an anthill, but they probably wouldn’t.

So, the question for this Sunday morning: Would Bill Steiner flop?

I’m not trying to be too cagey. The answer, probably, is no.

But, as long as this is just breakfast table conversation . . .

A week and a half ago, for the first time, Steiner cast a solid vote with anti-airport forces. Instead of losing everything 4 to 1 or 3 to 2, the vehement airport opponents from South County finally won one. And all because of Steiner. With Supervisors Jim Silva and Chuck Smith still giving airport opponents no quarter, Steiner threw them a bone and agreed to let them draw up a non-aviation plan for El Toro.

All by itself, Steiner’s vote is not an official flop. But couple it with a belief widely held by people on both sides that Steiner’s airport support isn’t born of passion, and you can see why idle minds might wonder. Add to that his lame-duck status, meaning he’s no longer beholden to any special interests, and . . . .

Perhaps we muse too much.

Barry Hammond, an Irvine councilman and airport opponent, says, “I always thought of Bill as kind of on the bubble on this all the way along.” He thinks Steiner’s support derives as much from the two countywide ballot measures that passed as it does from a personal conviction. In other words, the people spoke at the polls and now Steiner is voting through them.

For that reason, Hammond doesn’t think Steiner’s olive branch to South County automatically signals a change of heart. “Bill’s a guy who likes peace. His instinct is to try and bring people together, where possible. It was a typical Bill vote.”

Former Newport Beach mayor Clarence Turner is a staunch El Toro airport supporter. I asked if Steiner’s vote made him the least bit nervous. “When you have a five-member body and you have a 3-2 vote [supporting your side], you’re always nervous,” he says. “What I read into his vote is that he’s trying very hard to bring the sides together. I think that’s his nature. He’s not the type of guy who pounds the table and says, ‘My way or no way.’ ”

That said, Turner doesn’t expect any significant Steiner switches before he leaves office. Although others dispute this claim, Turner says Steiner will “be off the dais” before the county accepts the master plan anyway. Turner thinks Steiner favors an airport at El Toro and will be more supportive, rather than less, once he’s convinced the impact will be less severe than airport opponents contend.

I ran my what-if scenario past Laguna Niguel Mayor Patricia Bates, also an airport opponent. She doesn’t read major overtones into Steiner’s vote, but says, “What I read into it was someone who wanted to do the right thing all along . . . and he felt free to do that. He’s finally decided he’s on his way to a new life, and after looking at all the information and all the work that’s been done, it was the right thing to do. He came to that conclusion released from the purgatory of the many interests [that come with] sitting on the Board of Supervisors. I think he was saying, ‘What is going to be my best decision as I walk into the sunset?’ ”

For airport opponents, that’s a start. Everybody likes good ol’ Bill, and neither side wants to rankle him, not with that third vote he’s carrying around.

Both sides see him as pro-airport but not fanatic about it. You almost get the feeling if another countywide vote went against an airport, Steiner would feel justified in switching his vote.

Like I said, just a thought on this Sunday morning.

Please note, though, that many more Sunday mornings beckon before Steiner takes his crucial third vote off to Arizona.

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