‘Airport Wars’ Need Regional Peacemaker

Gov. Gray Davis has a unique opportunity to take the lead in ending the Southern California city-and-county “airport wars.”

If anyone doubted the need for gubernatorial leadership, consider the strange case of Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan’s recent visit to Orange County. Riordan’s mission was to help raise money for a group of Newport Beach businessmen who are promoting the plan to build a huge international airport right in the middle of Orange County at the soon-to-be-closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. With his own city about to erupt into civil war over a massive $12-billion LAX expansion plan (which Riordan favors), the mayor’s entry into the Orange County airport war was about as welcome as gasoline at a raging fire.

Now is the time for some serious, thoughtful, high-level political leadership. Here’s what I propose: Using the power and prestige of his office, Davis should convene a Southern California Airport Communities Conference quickly. (The governor wouldn’t need legislation to do this.) The purpose would be to examine whether it’s possible to sort out and reconcile the needs and interests that key communities have in developing a comprehensive Southern California airport policy.

This task may not be as daunting as it sounds. First of all, there is no immediate airport capacity crisis in Southern California. We have the luxury of thinking long-range--10 years out, 25 years out, even 50 years out. Second, in Southern California we may have a balance of regional airport interests that, together, add up to a long-range consensus plan. Consider the possibilities:

Los Angeles is divided over whether to expand LAX and by how much. There is growing resident opposition to the LAX expansion. For the same reason, there are no plans for expansion at Burbank and Long Beach. But the Palmdale community has waited decades for the Los Angeles Department of Airports to encourage greater use of the already-operational Palmdale Airport. And Ontario International Airport, which is also owned and operated by the department, is in the midst of a major expansion that apparently enjoys community support.

Orange County is mired in its own airport war. Today, county residents are served by airport facilities at LAX, Ontario, Long Beach--and of course by John Wayne Airport. Although John Wayne Airport has ample physical capacity to meet demand for the next 20 years, Newport Beach residents oppose any expanded use of it.

The result of all this is a deeply divided county. A solution largely ignored: pull the plug on the unpopular and divisive El Toro International Airport; retain reasonable limits on John Wayne Airport; and look to the Inland Empire--Ontario International Airport and the emerging Inland Cargoport at March Air Force Base in Riverside--for additional cargo and passenger capacity that may be needed by 2020.

Also ignored have been other Inland Empire airport facilities--Southern California International Airport (at Norton Air Force Base in Apple Valley) and San Bernardino International Airport, which is open for business and waiting for airlines and passengers. So far, no takers.

Meanwhile, despite resident objections, facilities at San Diego’s Lindbergh Field are being expanded. And, in the northernmost reaches of our region, Ventura County airport boosters are touting Point Mugu as a new commercial airport site for the 21st century.

How smart do you have to be to see that some communities want airport construction and airport expansion while others are opposed? This presents the perfect opportunity for Davis to convene a conference that would explore creating a plan to give everybody pretty much what they want. To minimize political risks, here are a few suggestions for the governor:

* Be sure the conference includes representatives from cities where people are affected most immediately by airport policy. It’s important that every community with a significant interest --whether pro-airport or anti-airport--be included in the conference.

* Don’t allow the conference to degenerate into political posturing and potential negotiation. Remember, the conference’s purpose is to generate an inventory of interests to see if it’s possible to work toward a long-range plan that actually might be acceptable to everyone.

* Make sure that Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein participate. It’s time they get engaged.

My hunch is that a two-day airport communities conference would produce the outlines of a long-range Southern California airport plan--a plan promising enough to bring about a cease fire. If the conference proves productive, the governor can recommend legislation to establish an Airport Communities Commission, staffed and charged with responsibility to refine a consensus plan.

If at any point the effort breaks down, the governor can say he did his best--and we simply can return to our respective communities, ready to fight the airport wars for the next 50 years.