Saying ‘No Way’ in a Big Way : El Toro Petitions Are In; Airport Backers Assail Initiative

Capping a six-month drive, opponents of the proposed El Toro airport on Tuesday turned in more than twice the number of signatures needed to qualify their Safe and Healthy Communities initiative for the March ballot.

Leaders of the drive said they filed 192,298 signatures with the Orange County registrar of voters--delivered in stacks of cardboard boxes. The petition needs to be signed by only 71,206 registered voters to qualify for the ballot.

The initiative calls for a two-thirds vote of the public before the county can build or expand airports, large jails within a half-mile of homes and hazardous-waste landfills.

If passed, South County airport foes would use the measure to force a third vote on the county’s plans to convert the former El Toro Marine air base into an international airport. The base was earmarked for an airport by a narrow vote in 1994; an attempt in 1996 to get voters to rescind that approval failed.

“The people of this county are sick and tired of being ignored and having our voices fall on deaf ears at the Hall of Administration,” Supervisor Todd Spitzer said at an initiative rally at the registrar’s office. Spitzer and Supervisor Tom Wilson form the board’s anti-airport minority.

Petition organizer Jeffrey Metzger said about 5,000 volunteers collected signatures throughout the county. Some signatures were gathered by paid circulators in the final weeks.

The signatures should be verified by mid-October, Registrar Rosalyn Lever said. Of the total signatures, pro-airport forces challenged about 80,000 through a lawsuit, charging that they were collected on faulty petitions. No hearing date has been set for the suit.

Among those signing the petitions were U.S. Reps. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) and Ron Packard (R-Oceanside). Both Cox, the fifth-ranking Republican in the House, and Packard have objected to what they characterized as the county’s heavy-handed approach in pushing through airport plans. The county essentially has ignored those most affected by the proposed airport, the lawmakers said.

At Tuesday’s rally, about 125 people cheered the possibility of stopping El Toro, as well as the county’s plans to expand the James A. Musick Branch Jail in Irvine. The speakers included a South County pastor, who said building an airport or a jail without residents’ approval is immoral, akin to the immorality that leads to teen pregnancies and drug abuse.

“It’s even more immoral for those government officials not affected [geographically] to make the decision,” said the Rev. John Steward of the Mount of Olives Lutheran Church in Mission Viejo.

At a news conference Tuesday, the Orange County Airport Alliance met at Orange City Hall to brand anti-airport mailers as misleading. Several speakers, including city officials from Orange, Seal Beach and Garden Grove, said the proposed initiative is bad public policy and would paralyze planning for countywide facilities.

Orange Mayor Joanne Coontz, who appeared with two council colleagues, said passage of the measure might force a jail into the outskirts of Orange. South County officials have been studying three sites near Orange among several potential locations for an alternative to the Musick expansion, which would require a countywide vote if the initiative passes. The sites in Orange are more than a half-mile from homes.

Orange Councilman Michael Alvarez, meanwhile, broke ranks with his colleagues and appeared at the rally. He favors the initiative because he thinks decisions about airports, jails and landfills should be made by residents most affected.

Airport foes also questioned the propriety of the alliance paying for the cost of its press conference. The group is funded by the city of Newport Beach and the Anaheim Convention and Visitors Bureau, which is supported by hotel bed taxes.

While government officials can comment about any ballot measure, state law forbids them from using public resources to advocate positions on an initiative once the measure has an official ballot title and summary. The so-called Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative obtained its title and summary March 8.