El Toro Dogfight: Supervisors’ Chair Apparent Is Shot Down

In a divisive start to the year, the new majority on the Board of Supervisors flexed its political muscle Tuesday by selecting as chairman a die-hard supporter of plans to build a commercial airport at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

The largely ceremonial job of chairman is traditionally handed to the vice chairman, who in the past year was Tom Wilson. But Wilson’s vocal opposition to the airport prompted the three-member pro-airport majority to pass him over and select one of their own, Charles V. Smith.

The move comes at the start of what is expected to be a year of deep divisions on the El Toro issue. After years of debate and planning, the board is scheduled to vote this fall on a final environmental impact report for the project.

Wilson expressed disappointment at the snub and said it’s a bad omen.

“It is a sad day for all of Orange County,” Wilson said. “The El Toro virus has infected internal board politics.”

Smith said he harbored no ill will toward Wilson but was adamant that the new chairman “should be representative of the board” and not a dissenter or critic. The only supervisor voting for Wilson was Todd Spitzer, the other airport foe on the board.

“Symbolically, it was a pretty significant statement today,” Spitzer said.

The chairman has the same voting power as the other four board members but does have authority over organizing the weekly agendas.

Wilson had campaigned for the chairmanship, saying that his south Orange County district was the largest and most populous. In addition, he said he had seniority.

“It’s a shame that leadership of the board comes down to the airport issue,” Wilson said.

Smith won by a 3-2 majority that included himself, outgoing Chairman Jim Silva and newly elected Supervisor Cynthia Coad, who was sworn in before the board meeting.

Once Smith took the gavel, he nominated Wilson for vice chairman. Wilson won unanimously.

After the meeting, Smith said his vote was nothing personal against Wilson, whom he says he respects.

“I don’t disagree with Tom’s comments at all,” Smith said. “But as a member of the board’s minority, he would be under a tremendous amount of pressure by antiairport people.”

Gary Proctor, chairman of a pro-airport citizen’s advisory commission, agreed with Smith’s assessment. “It’s probably difficult to have a leader of the minority position or the opposition to the airport as chairman of the board.”

But Proctor is worried that the airport issue has become polarizing.

“The next step is to become less divisive,” Proctor said. “I still believe there could be an airport that’s a good neighbor. One of the ways is for a flight demonstration to give South County [residents] a full understanding of what an airport will be and not make decisions that are driven by fear.”

Wayne Rayfield, chairman of the El Toro Task Force, an antiairport group, criticized the board majority for taking “punitive steps” against Wilson for voicing the views of his constituents.

“I think Tom has really earned the opportunity to be chairman of the Board of Supervisors,” Rayfield said. “It’s a shame a single issue like this has stood in his way.”

Coad, only the third woman elected or appointed to the board, takes William G. Steiner’s District 4 seat.