Last, Best Chance for El Toro Foes?

For south Orange County residents opposed to an international airport at El Toro, the June 2 election has probably been circled on calendars for months: It is an opportunity to change the balance of power on the Board of Supervisors and possibly thwart the project.

Two supervisors are running for reelection and a third is stepping down, opening the door to a field of candidates who tend to agree on almost every issue facing the county--except the airport.

The controversy has been more divisive than any matter facing residents since the aftermath of Orange County’s historic bankruptcy in 1994. Friends have parted company, and vitriol has spewed out of both camps.

“It’s been the most important issue facing the county after the bankruptcy, and it is going to be the most important issue facing the county in the next 20 years,” said Mark P. Petracca, a UCI political science professor.

“This is the first opportunity that those opposing an airport have had to try to influence in a major way the composition of the supervisors,” he said.

The election also marks the beginning of term limits for supervisors. Board members cannot be elected to more than two four-year terms.

Plans for the El Toro project have been moved along mostly on 3-2 votes by the five-member board, the only body that can approve final plans for the airport.

Electing a foe to a seat held by a pro-airport supervisor would put South County in position to block an airport and, instead, push through the so-called Millennium Plan. The non-aviation plan calls for residential, commercial and industrial use of the 4,700 acres that the Marine Corps will turn over to the county next year.

“This has to do with credibility and accountability,” said Wayne Rayfield, head of an anti-airport coalition. “Is this [airport] really just a foregone conclusion or are the supervisors really concerned about the highest and best use of the base?”

South County residents will likely have their best shot at picking up a sympathetic ear in the race for the 4th District seat, which is being vacated by the retirement of Supervisor William G. Steiner. Steiner has been the swing vote giving pro-airport supporters the majority voice on the board.

The candidates running for the seat, which covers a mostly pro-airport district, are split on the issue. Two--North Orange County Community College board member Cynthia Coad and Anaheim Councilman Lou Lopez--believe an airport is essential. Two others--La Palma Councilman and firefighter Paul F. Walker and Anaheim Realtor Steve White--say they oppose an airport. Accountant Eric Woolery of Orange is undecided.

In the 2nd District, Supervisor Jim Silva, an ardent supporter of an El Toro airport, is facing three candidates who oppose an airport: land planner and former Costa Mesa Mayor Sandy Genis, Huntington Beach Councilman Dave Sullivan and retired criminal investigator Ralph Silva.

In the 5th District, Supervisor Tom Wilson, an airport opponent, faces Newport Beach Councilman John W. Hedges, who favors it. Newport Beach residents like Hedges hope that a big airport at El Toro would prevent John Wayne Airport from expanding when a court-mandated limit on the number of passengers expires in 2005. Most of Wilson’s district covers South County areas where residents oppose an airport.

Of the three districts open, Wilson’s is the one that would be most affected by an El Toro airport. Though his district includes the vocal pro-El Toro city of Newport Beach, it consists mostly of such anti-airport cities as Irvine and Laguna Niguel, the latter of which is under the proposed flight path.

Silva and Steiner’s districts cover Central and North County cities where residents have voted in favor of countywide measures that call for an airport to be built when the Marines move out.

To be sure, there are other issues for the board. Among them: reducing the county’s $800-million debt; proposals to decrease the power of county Chief Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier; enlarging the Theo Lacy Branch Jail, and expanding the James A. Musick Branch Jail in Irvine to convert it to a maximum-security facility.

Candidates Reflect Divide Over El Toro

But the question of El Toro’s future dominates the landscape.

In Steiner’s 4th District, Coad has picked up endorsements from wealthy pro-airport businessmen George Argyros and Carl Karcher as well as from Assemblymen Dick Ackerman (R-Fullerton) and Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove) and the Orange County Deputy Sheriffs Assn. She collected more than $10,000 in campaign contributions by the end of March.

“If you review history and if you look at the towns that were bypassed by Route 66, their economy dried up,” said Coad, a 37-year resident of Orange County. “I think we need the international airport to make sure we are not bypassed.”

Lopez, who won his Anaheim council seat in 1994 in a tireless campaign walking throughout the district, said an airport would help the county’s economy in the coming century. Lopez said he has picked up campaign contributions totaling more than $40,000 so far.

But the other candidates see the airport as an unnecessary burden on South County residents and one that could ruin the county’s quality of life.

“The Anaheim Hills, Orange Hills and Tustin areas will be really, really affected and that is of great concern to me,” Walker said.

Walker’s opposition, though, stems more from his belief that an airport would not produce as many jobs as the Millennium Plan. Walker has collected more than $10,000 for his campaign.

White, who has attracted less than $1,000 in campaign contributions, said he would have to look “very, very carefully” at the environmental impact of an airport.

“I believe San Bernardino County is a much better location for an international airport,” White said.

Woolery said he won’t have a position on the airport until the county releases its economic forecasts on the plan, which is not scheduled to be completed until next year. He said he has raised more than $20,000 in campaign funds.

The candidates mostly agree on the other, non-aviation issues.

“We must accelerate paying off the debt so they can build a courthouse, bed space for prisoners and hire more sheriffs,” said Lopez, referring to the expansion of the Theo Lacy jail in Orange.

Woolery also supports the Lacy expansion, saying, “We do need some extra bed space.”

All would vote to reduce Mittermeier’s power. After the county’s 1994 bankruptcy, the board relinquished most of the power to run day-to-day operations to the chief executive. The new position replaced the job of county administrative officer, which carried far less authority over county departments and agencies.

“I think we need to return a lot of the responsibility to the supervisors.” Coad said. “We do need to make the supervisors more accountable.”

Silva Favors Airport and Bolsa Chica Project

In the 2nd District, Silva supports not only the airport but also the Bolsa Chica project, a proposal to build 1,235 homes on the mesa behind the Bolsa Chica wetlands near Huntington Beach. Such proposals over the years have drawn relentless criticism because the area is the largest unprotected stretch of coastal marshland south of San Francisco.

Silva, a former Huntington Beach councilman, also looks unbeatable after amassing more than $100,000 in campaign funds.

He said obstacles to the airport will be dealt with as they arise. “I am also committed to making sure no one’s quality of life is harmed in South County,” he said. “That is why we want to make sure every detail about impact is covered.”

But all three of Silva’s opponents say they are against a commercial airport because it will ruin the environment and does not have support among South County residents. A majority of South County folks have opposed the airport because they fear it will increase pollution and traffic and decrease their property values.

“If the people down there wanted it, then it would be worth considering,” challenger Genis said. “But you have to have a consensus.”

Candidate Sullivan asserts that voters lacked sufficient information on the impact of an airport when they approved Measure A, which paved the way for an airport in 1994, and rejected Measure S, which would have overturned Measure A in 1996.

He believes residents need to see both the airport plan and the non-aviation Millennium Plan side by side because “people’s minds are not made up.”

Challenger Ralph Silva said the traffic and the cost of an airport “is going to be horrendous.”

On Bolsa Chica, all three opposing Jim Silva disagree with the incumbent.

“In my opinion well over 75% of the community is opposed to that project, and Silva is on the wrong side of that issue,” said Sullivan, who has collected about $26,000 in contributions.

Genis, who has raised about $12,000, is a member of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust Board, the group spearheading opposition to the development.

“The developers seem to feel that they could go ahead pretty quickly, but they still have a lot of hurdles,” she said. “I would like to see the land purchased by an environmental group.”

Ralph Silva, who said he has picked up about $350 in campaign funds, said the wetlands should be protected because so few exist.

5th District Has the Highest Stakes

In the 5th District race, the stakes for an El Toro airport are high.

For Newport Beach residents like Hedges, securing an airport at El Toro would likely ensure that John Wayne Airport will not expand--something that could occur once the federally mandated cap on passengers expires in 2005.

But for Laguna Niguel and other South County residents, creation of an airport at El Toro would mean jets zooming overhead.

Wilson, who has raised more than $80,000, has opposed the airport and, instead, has embraced the Millennium Plan.

“There are a myriad of reasons why I oppose it,” said Wilson, listing as one of the main reasons the serious impact an airport would have on the quality of life.

Hedges, a former Air Force pilot who now flies commercial jets, said that if an airport is going to be created, it must be planned well. Hedges said he has raised more than $12,000 in campaign contributions.

“All I’ve heard from my opponent is, ‘Just say no,’ ” he said. “The legal and political reality is that there is going to be an airport, and that is where I want to step in and protect the residents of South County.”

Both candidates oppose expansion of the Musick jail, saying that the county doesn’t have enough money to pay for it and that having a maximum-security jail in the middle of a densely populated area would be a mistake.

Both candidates also advocate paying down the county’s debt as quickly as possible.