An Idea That Didn’t Get Off the Ground--and Shouldn’t

For five years, Orange County has has experienced a near civil war over whether the El Toro Marine base should be converted into a commercial international airport.

The people pushing for the commercial airport include a majority of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, some wealthy residents who are disturbed by all the noise and other problems they experience because they are near John Wayne Airport and want the noisy jet aircraft go elsewhere, some big-money developers and speculators looking to make lots of money, and a lot real estate interests. (Some of the more unscrupulous real estate people have sent little maps to homeowners near the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, pointing out the proximity of their homes to the flight paths and then offering to buy their properties at greatly reduced prices.)

On the other side are residents of southern Orange County who would like very much to maintain the quality of life they have enjoyed and paid for and don’t want a bunch of speculators to destroy.

Why should we in the Conejo Valley and the rest of Ventura County be interested in this Orange County situation?

Because it almost happened here, and it would have been much worse for us because the same types of money-grabbers greatly endangered the Point Mugu and Port Hueneme bases in their attempts to convert Point Mugu into a regional commercial airport.

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There are two major differences between the Orange County and Ventura County situations. For one, the El Toro base was already in the process of being closed by the military; this definitely was not the case with Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station. Second, and much more important, the El Toro base was never a major source of revenue in Orange County, but Point Mugu is the third-largest employer in Ventura County. Thanks especially to two wonderful gentlemen, it will continue to grow and prosper and help keep our entire county economically healthy for decades without causing our quality of life to suffer.

These two fine gentlemen are heroes in my book. They are Adm. Archie J. Clemins, the former commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet, and Capt. Stephen Beal, the former base commander of Point Mugu. Both recently retired from the U.S. Navy.

Adm. Clemins changed plans to send four Hawkeye squadrons to Lemoore Naval Air Station in the Central Valley, so that those radar plane squadrons are now stationed at Point Mugu. The admiral made that decision when he was shown that Point Mugu was the far better choice. In addition, Adm. Clemins also combined the command structures of Point Mugu and Port Hueneme Naval Construction Battalion Center so that their continued and growing presence in Ventura County is assured for many years.

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Capt. Beal did a magnificent job of gaining and holding support for Point Mugu from a variety of disparate groups. Although this is only one of his major achievements as base commander, it demonstrates his considerable skills.

Although I have no doubt that their primary intent was to create the best situation possible for the Navy, they have also ensured the economic viability and quality of life in the Conejo Valley and the rest of Ventura County for decades to come. In a sense, they valiantly stood in harm’s way to the great benefit of all the people who live and work in this area.

I believe we owe them a great debt of gratitude and our deepest thanks, especially when there seems to be a paucity of great leadership, particularly at the local level.