New Grist for El Toro Debate Mill

It is incredible to see the April 18 quote from Supervisor Cynthia Coad: “What I see from Measure F, whether a court throws it out or revises it, is that a significant number of people would like to vote again on the one issue.”

What she failed to “see” was the 67% of Orange County voters supporting Measure F.

The only two communities that did not vote for F were Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. How often have we ever seen a 67% vote for anything in Orange County?

Perhaps the only thing missing from Measure F was the removal of the supervisors supporting the airport.

At least Jan Mittermeier has demonstrated some integrity in rebuffing the board, and [carrying out] the Measure F process. As a committed county executive officer, she may avert future opportunities for bankruptcy for Orange County.

JOHN BETHE

San Clemente

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What county is Coad living in?

Sixty-seven percent of us voted yes. How clearer than that can you get?

Sure, the board majority, Newport Beach and Costa Mesa would love to keep voting until voter apathy and low turnouts might reverse the 67%.

WARD HEMINGWAY

Dana Point

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The county supervisors just don’t get the fact that people do not want an airport at El Toro.

Someone should find out what drives the mighty three, who think they alone know what is best for Orange County.

SY WEINER

San Juan Capistrano

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Re “Top-Tier Accountability,” April 16:

Your prejudice against the El Toro airport shines out in your editorial on Mittermeier with your talk about safety issues and pilot options.

The anti-airport crowd found “experts” and pilots to enforce the opposing views, but until the entire matter has been completely analyzed, your statements are propaganda not facts.

For example, Irvine is paranoid about flyovers despite a guarantee that no takeoffs would be westerly. While it is true that pilots can fly where they will, it should be noted that Irvine skies are hardly crowded now, despite their proximity to John Wayne Airport.

If John Wayne’s capacity is doubled--the wish of Irvine’s mayor--we can be sure that Irvine will get some flyovers because of volume.

As a matter of safety, you will find pilots who hate John Wayne and San Diego and rate El Toro as good as these two.

R.M. WOLFF

Newport Beach

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Re “Wilson Taking Flak From Both Sides After Sparing Mittermeier,” April 16:

Supervisor Tom Wilson’s decision to retain Mittermeier showed great courage and a level of leadership that has been sadly lacking on the Board of Supervisors for some time.

Anyone who knows Wilson’s style shouldn’t be surprised by his actions. He simply seized the opportunity to continue creating an environment that will make rational discussions by both sides of the El Toro question possible.

It should also go without saying that El Toro is only one of literally dozens of issues the board deals with on a daily basis.

Mittermeier stated in an interview that the Board of Supervisors needs to determine if enough public support still exists for an El Toro airport.

Perhaps even more profound was Supervisor Charles V. Smith’s revelation that El Toro may fail even if Measure F is overturned in court.

We also cannot ignore Irvine’s recent overtures for a summit meeting on El Toro, which would no doubt be complicated by the presence of a new El Toro czar.

A few years [ago] the airport advocates were in the driver’s seat. Between the infighting and the fragmentation of new support groups with their own agendas, the pro-airport power base became diluted and the results we achieved on Measure F became possible.

We need to remain mindful of past lessons and not fall into the same trap. There is no doubt that as a team, those of us who oppose an airport at El Toro can be invincible if we stick together.

L. DAVID MARKLEY

Orange County Airport Commission,

5th District, Irvine

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Supervisor Wilson’s critics on this issue have not accepted the depth of Wilson’s political savvy.

Supervisor Charles V. Smith’s plan was to sacrifice Mittermeier to appease both pro- and anti-airport camps and do so with the Board of Supervisors’ anti-airport minority of Wilson and Supervisor Todd Spitzer.

With that bit of housecleaning done, Smith would then rely upon his ongoing majority, Supervisors Cynthia Coad and Jim Silva, to proceed with appointing a new county executive officer as well as refocus the El Toro issue.

What Wilson needs now is the support of his constituency so that he is not distracted during this opportunity to build board coalitions that would result in Wilson assuming leadership of the Board of Supervisors.

JOHN STEWARD

Aliso Viejo