IRVINE

City officials have vowed to go to court to save a ballot measure that could potentially halt an international airport at the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. The proposed Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative would require two-thirds approval by county voters for any construction or expansion of airports, toxic landfills or large jails near neighborhoods. Proponents want the initiative to go on the March 2000 ballot.

Citizens for Jobs and the Economy, a group that favors an international airport at El Toro, filed a lawsuit June 4 against Jeff Metzger, the Coto de Caza resident who launched the initiative’s campaign several months ago. The suit challenges the initiative’s constitutionality because it requires a super-majority vote. City Council members last week voted unanimously in closed session to join the lawsuit on Metzger’s behalf. “We’re intervening because it’s very, very important to the public’s interest and the thousands of people . . . in Irvine who have signed the initiative,” said Councilman Larry Agran. “The public should have the opportunity to put this measure on the ballot.”