About Time for a Voter Wake-Up Call

I’m sure they have a strategy.

They’re probably planning to do all their chores and errands this weekend, call in sick Monday and then pull an all-nighter. Don’t be surprised to see parking lots jammed Monday and Tuesday at county libraries as last-minute voters pack the aisles looking for information.

How else will they be ready to hit the polls on Tuesday and cast their ballots on Measure F?

That’s Measure F.

F as in Frank.

I realize that some of you have already heard of it. To hear some tell it, it’s one of the most important votes they’ll ever cast as Orange County citizens.

To hear others tell it, well. . . .

Let’s just say news travels slowly to some households.

Measure F, if it passes Tuesday, would require a two-thirds majority of voters countywide before the Board of Supervisors could build airports, hazardous waste landfills or large jails near residential areas.

Don’t spread this around, but the driving force behind those who want to pass it is a passion to kill the proposed El Toro airport.

If you live in Orange County and read a newspaper, have a TV or a mailbox, you should have heard about Measure F by now and, presumably, formed an opinion.

According to many residents, an El Toro airport would either (a) keep the county’s economy percolating well into the next century or (b) destroy life in South County as we know it.

Whichever they prefer, wouldn’t you think people would at least have an opinion on it by now?

If so, you would be oh, so wrong.

A story in Thursday’s Times indicated that 21% of the voters still are undecided. Just over 50% favor Measure F (which would likely stop the airport) and 28% oppose it. That leaves the big chunk of undecideds with election day just a few days away.

Those Articles Are for Reading

Folks, it’s not like there’s been a news blackout on the subject.

I did a quick search of The Times’ files, punching in “Measure F” and then “El Toro airport.” The number of hits totaled 755 stories since 1997. I’m guessing the other major local paper has done about as many.

Partisans have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the campaign, and charges and countercharges have flown faster than military jets out of the old Marine base at El Toro.

So far--and just wait till this weekend’s last-minute mailers--the ad campaign has featured, among other things, a Charles Manson look-alike and dead Marines.

Don’t ask.

One of the anti-F slogans was “F No.”

I think I get it.

OK, so 1 in 5 voters is still undecided. I had no idea we had this many Libras in the county.

Just what will it take to get them to zero in?

Are they going to wake up next Tuesday and, without having known the day before, decide if they want an international airport in the middle of the county?

Or do they think some heretofore undisclosed nugget of information is going to show up over the weekend that, suddenly, will clarify everything?

Maybe they’re right. Over the years, last-minute mailers in Orange County are known for their enlightening quality. Just ask any political candidate who, after a long campaign, suddenly discovers that his opponent has saved for the last weekend the disclosure that he/she once organized a Satanic cult.

The closest we’ve come in this campaign has been from the pro-F side, which argues in one flier that opposition to it means people like Manson might be living next door to you.

Eek!

I suppose there’s nothing inherently wrong with waiting until the last minute to decide how to vote.

Or could it be that far too many people just haven’t bothered to pay attention?

If so, there’s danger ahead, because that suggests they may not be aware of Measure X on Tuesday’s ballot.

That’s the one that reads:

Do you favor the release of a toxic chemical that, once dispersed over all of Orange County, will eradicate all human life within 24 hours?

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821 or by e-mail at dana.parsons@latimes.com.