Voters Unaware of El Toro Ballot Initiative, Poll Finds

Most Orange County voters are clueless about a March ballot initiative to block planning for an airport at the closed El Toro Marine base, according to a new poll that for the second time this month signals problems for the measure.

With the election four months away, 84% of voters said they weren’t familiar with the Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative, the poll by researchers at Cal State Fullerton found. County supervisors are expected today to place the measure on the March ballot.

When poll participants were read a summary of the initiative, 54% said they would vote yes, 26% said no and 21% were undecided. But when asked to explain their positions, about a third gave answers inconsistent with their position on whether the proposed El Toro airport should be built.

The survey of 603 registered voters was funded by the Orange County Business Council, which supports an airport at El Toro. It was conducted from Nov. 10-18 through the university’s Center for Public Policy.

“What we found is that hardly anyone knows what it is,” said Phil Gianos, a Cal State Fullerton professor of political science. “I’m not sure people even know enough about it to be confused [by it].”

The results mirrored similar voter confusion apparent in the Orange County Annual Survey, released Nov. 15 by UC Irvine. That poll showed that significant numbers of voters on both sides changed their votes on the measure once told that it would stop plans for the new airport.

The March initiative was written by a coalition of South County cities as a way to force a third public vote on the fate of the 4,700-acre base, which closed in July. The measure would require approval by two-thirds of voters before county officials could build or expand airports, large jails near homes and hazardous-waste landfills.