Riordan’s Planned Talk Irks El Toro Foes

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan has set off a flurry of criticism over his plans to appear in Orange County to push for an international airport at El Toro.

Riordan is scheduled to speak Monday at a fund-raiser organized by Newport Beach businessman George Argyros and other local supporters of the plan to convert El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into a commercial airport.

Riordan spokeswoman Ashleigh Adams said the mayor will discuss the need for an airport and the region’s air transportation demands in the 21st century. Already on record in favor of an airport at El Toro, Riordan will be making his first Orange County appearance to lobby for the cause.

“He has said he supports an airport at El Toro. If we talk about the regional needs for airports, El Toro will definitely play a role,” Adams said.

But El Toro airport opponents were rankled by Riordan’s planned visit, painting it as an arrogant attempt by a big-city mayor to impose his will on others.

“People resent the mayor of the biggest city in the region coming down here and in effect lecturing us and trying to impose his will on us by dumping his political problems on our doorstep,” said Larry Agran, who was elected to the Irvine City Council in November.

“Riordan should be devoting his time to sorting out the airport demand problems as they affect the residents of Los Angeles instead of coming down here and imposing a totally unacceptable alternative on us,” Agran said.

Some critics suggested Riordan’s support of an El Toro airport--the most divisive political issue in Orange County history--is motivated by problems he is having with an airport of his own.

Riordan has been the most influential supporter of a plan to double Los Angeles International Airport’s passenger capacity to more than 100 million at an estimated cost of $8 billion to $12 billion.

But the proposal has come under fire from communities that border LAX. Worried the expansion would create more traffic and noise, opponents have promised a legal fight to stop the expansion.

“Riordan and his business buddies like Argyros want to build El Toro to solve his political problems in Los Angeles as well,” Agran said.

“It’s a good political move on his part. I understand that, but I don’t appreciate it,” said another El Toro critic, Lake Forest Councilman Richard T. Dixon. “His lobbying for El Toro is inappropriate, just like it would be inappropriate for us to go to Los Angeles and tell them what to do with LAX.”

But Adams said that Riordan’s support for an El Toro airport has nothing to do with political opposition in Los Angeles to plans to expand LAX.

“The mayor has said all along that expansion will not solve the region’s air transportation problems. . . . LAX is one step toward the solution. It’s not the whole solution. The solution will be all airports growing in tandem,” Adams said.

She said the number of airline passengers will double from 80 million in 1997 to 160 million by 2020, and air cargo will increase from 3 million tons to 9 million tons in the same period. This projected growth justifies expansion at LAX and an airport at El Toro, Adams said.

Bruce Nestande, president of the pro-airport Citizens for Jobs & the Economy, also denied that Riordan’s support for an El Toro airport is motivated by politics. The group is sponsoring Monday’s fund-raiser.

“LAX is a totally isolated issue. [Riordan] will link the importance of aviation to the global economy. His position is that all airports out there are prospects for economic growth for the region. In order to grow, you’re going to need all these facilities, including El Toro,” Nestande said.

Nestande said that present airports will have to be expanded and new ones built in places such as El Toro and March Air Force Base in Moreno Valley to meet future population and job market demands.

On Friday, the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, formed by seven South County cities to draw up a reuse plan for El Toro, sent a letter to Riordan urging him to take a neutral stance on the airport proposal.

“Your involvement in our local issue and support for an international airport at El Toro will only fuel the existing divisiveness,” the letter said.