Golf Course, Day Care at El Toro May Be Closed

Orange County expects that the Navy might lock the gates of El Toro Marine base on July 2, dislodging thousands of users of the base golf course, horse stables, three child-care centers and a recreational vehicle storage lot, according to a report prepared by County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier.

The Navy’s concern is money, according to the report: The base cost the federal government $4.5 million to maintain through June 30. That includes a $2-million subsidy for utilities, plus police and fire protection for half a dozen services approved in May 1999 at the urging of Orange County officials.

The contract keeping those services going expires July 2 and “there are no provisions for extensions beyond that date,” the report said. “The Navy has indicated that, due to the high cost of maintaining the base, it is their intent to close the base to all activities on July 2, 2000, if a master lease is not in place.”

Navy officials said Wednesday that they hope to have a master lease--allowing the county to take over the base until the property is conveyed--by July 2 but haven’t made a commitment either way about what to do with the base.

“We haven’t made that decision yet,” Navy spokeswoman Jeanne Light said.

Maintaining the services on the base, meanwhile, is expected to push the county $623,000 in the red by June 30, the end of the fiscal year. County officials, who expected to earn $500,000 from base programs, now face the prospect of propping up the losses out of the county’s ever-stretched general fund.

Frustrated county supervisors said Wednesday that they want the base to stay open but acknowledged that the Navy may pull the plug.

County staff has been negotiating with the Navy for a base master lease for nearly two years. The process has been snagged by opposition from South County cities to the proposed airport or any other type of aviation use at the base.

Two supervisors accused county staff Wednesday of essentially sabotaging the services at the base by inflating its deficit and for refusing to allow some uses that would have brought in more money, such as leasing housing and office space.

Chairman Chuck Smith, an airport supporter, said he and Supervisor Tom Wilson, an airport opponent, joined a year ago to fight to keep the services open at the base.

“The real strong airport proponents on staff--I won’t name any names--wanted to just shut [the base] down a year ago” if aviation wasn’t allowed, Smith said. “Wilson and I won out. Staff didn’t agree with us on that and they still don’t agree with us.”

John Wayne Airport Manager Alan Murphy acknowledged Wednesday that the losses would be “worst case” and that “no deficit has been realized yet” from the services at the base. Murphy took over management of base leases in January, after Mittermeier fired El Toro real-estate manager Gary Simon.

Supervisor Todd Spitzer said county staff inflated the losses from the community uses to justify their desire to close the base. He said staff repeatedly ignored the advice of Simon and others to help make the base more profitable.

“They’ve wanted to make non-aviation fail so they could argue that it could only be an airport” to make money, Spitzer said.

Supervisor Cynthia P. Coad said any community services at the base must be self-supporting. Supervisor Jim Silva couldn’t be reached for comment.

“I would hate to see it just closed down,” Coad said.

Among the facilities at the base are three child-care centers, where 125 children are enrolled, with space for 500. The centers are available to special-needs children and low-income families on a sliding fee scale.

“The community stands to benefit,” said a worker at one of the centers. “It’s not just the golfers and people with ponies that need boarding. There’s a dire need for high-quality child care, particularly in South County.”

Supervisors are expected to discuss the fate of services on the base during a May 3 workshop on El Toro. The workshop was scheduled to wrestle with planning for the base’s reuse in light of the March 7 passage of a county initiative that mandates a public vote before an airport can be built and bars the county from lobbying for or advocating an airport.

The May 3 meeting will be for staff presentations only. The public is invited to comment beginning at 4 p.m. May 16 at the county Hall of Administration.

Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this report.