The Road Ahead

The new year finds Orange County at a crossroads. What kind of place will this be in the next century, which fast approaches?

The county’s rapid recovery from bankruptcy and recession have raised hopes and expectations. At the same time, 1998 finds the county reckoning with different and sometimes competing visions: one as a urbanized area rivaling Los Angeles and the other as a distinctive new kind of suburb, where quality of life is paramount.

The county needs to celebrate its uniqueness at the same time it demonstrates the maturity to think beyond its own borders. It faces a set of challenges to its unity, beginning with the airport and extending to other issues.

Some of this is old-fashioned self-interest politics, but there are deeper forces at work. The county now has economic, social and cultural differences between its older northern communities and the developing suburbs to the south. In education, some are faring better than others.

In the year ahead, all these areas will require imaginative leadership from the county’s political and business elites. Ordinary citizens also have a crucial role to play. It is they who will define this place.

El Toro Reuse: We hope that 1998 will be the year people look beyond narrow interests. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the master plan in the spring, and later, the final environmental impact assessment will begin. With strong airport opposition in South County, Irvine seeks to annex the base, while the pro-airport Orange County Regional Airport Authority has added new northern cities.

The county cannot afford a further hardening of positions four years into the process. Compromise must arise from two conditions:

First, new international airport capacity will have to be resolved across the region, not just in Orange County. The surrounding communities of El Toro have made it clear that they will not accept a big airport willingly, and they perceive this issue as a threat to their lifestyles. Having a facility of such size likely would split the county, perhaps irrevocably. Other sites in Southern California may be more acceptable for that kind of proposal and should be evaluated on a regional basis.

Second, the future of John Wayne Airport as sole provider for the county’s immediate aviation needs is sufficiently uncertain that planning for supplementary local alternatives must be made. South County residents who moved to their communities--and brought with them airport demand--did so knowing that an airfield existed at El Toro. They have heard the thunder of military planes and ought to be able to accept a carefully regulated airport of modest scale, if needed.

Governance: The bankruptcy called attention to deficiencies in a system designed when the county was rural. To bring its government in step with modern times, it needs further work in three crucial areas: accountability, open and participatory government, and quality of leadership.

County Unity: As older northern cities cope with aging infrastructure, immigration and modest economic opportunity, the south has developed its own strong economy and status. Orange County is a powerful economic and residential center on its own terms, but it is also part of a larger region. It is up to leaders in every sector to pull together.

Education: The county has rated well but has critical needs in cities such as Anaheim, Santa Ana and Garden Grove, which have high immigrant populations. All need to be concerned with preparing youngsters to participate in the county’s future. Cooperative efforts to make neighborhoods in these cities safer in recent years have paid off. With that essential groundwork set, residents understandably want to concentrate on learning and job training. The county as a whole needs to help, and in so doing, recognize that its success is tied to education.