Capt. Smith Is Facing Strong Head Winds
Chuck Smith has that unflappable look to him. For someone rapidly becoming the point man for the proposed El Toro airport, that’s a good look to have. He should paint it on, because if there’s one thing he can count on, it’s that the airport flap isn’t ending any time soon.
Over a late lunch Friday, Smith, newly elected to a rare second consecutive term as chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, concedes my thesis--that the last several months have represented a momentum shift against the airport.
Yes, he’s concerned.
Yes, the momentum needs to be reversed.
Yes, he’s up for the fight.
“If we keep going the way we’re going, we’re liable to lose this battle,” he says. “And this is something Orange County needs awful bad.”
But in between bites of his chicken Caesar salad, he says the anti-airport forces won’t succeed in the long run in keeping an airport off the former Marine base.
He says it’s 50-50 now on passage of Measure F on the March ballot--an initiative that, if passed, likely would derail the airport unless the courts overturned it. Smith says he’s confident the public will vote it down, “once people understand what it’s all about.”
At 67, Smith is not going to metamorphose into an electric politician. The former Westminster mayor will not light up a room, but it’s a mistake to underestimate his tenacity in support of the airport.
“I’m becoming the point man because I’m the person who is kind of passionate to get this thing built,” he says. “My reason is practical: If Orange County were a country, we’d be the equivalent of Greece or Portugal or Hong Kong from an economic standpoint. Our GNP [gross national product] would be 33rd in the world. Can you imagine Hong Kong maintaining its economic status without an international airport? Or Portugal or Greece? It’s impossible.”
The Roadblocks Ahead
He has two big problems, however.
Much of South County opposes the airport. And much of North County, where ballot-box support exists, is hardly fervent in its backing.
Conceding both points, he says, “I thought from a public relations standpoint in educating the public that we would have done a better job on the pro side than we have. The reason we didn’t is because we didn’t spend the money the anti folks spent.”
I ask if he wants his political legacy to be one in which he alienates half the county. He answers by saying, “I also do not want to leave a legacy that something this important to the economic growth of Orange County was stopped from happening because of a large outcry from people who didn’t want it when it was for the good of the county.”
Orange County needs an international airport, he says, in the same way that 19th century communities needed the railroad or that American cities in the 1950s needed the interstate highway. “Those cities that were bypassed by the interstate, they died. They just died from an economic standpoint.”
If it’s hard to picture a dead Orange County, Smith says the future is not guaranteed. Almost all of the air cargo generated here is flown out of Los Angeles, as is 40% of passenger travel. Both categories will increase dramatically by 2020, he says.
Why then, can’t he build consensus?
“A very, very strong, well-funded minority are the ones keeping people in South County stirred up and telling them what a terrible thing this is going to be,” he says.
“The pro side is not getting out the information to contradict this stuff, so a lot of information is going out to brainwash people, telling them the impact is going to ruin their lives, noise is going to be horrible, and it’s just not true.”
That’s the Chuck Smith view as 2000 unfolds. Out there on the horizon are environmental impact statements, the FAA’s position and, perhaps, increasing involvement from groups like the airline pilots.
And, of course, the specter of protracted lawsuits.
None of which seems to rattle The Unflappable Mr. Smith.
“I’m certain the airport is going to be built there,” Smith says of the El Toro site. “The question is when and at what cost. The demand is going to put so much pressure that, sooner or later, we’re going to have to build an airport.”
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Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821, by writing to him at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail at dana.parsons@latimes.com.