Measure F: This Man Made It Fly

Third time was a charm for Bill Kogerman.

After two election losses in a six-year attempt to stop the county’s plans to build an airport at the closed El Toro Marine base, the retired Marine lieutenant colonel finally found himself a winner Tuesday.

Kogerman was chief operations officer for Measure F, which passed with 67% of the vote, prevailing in 31 of 33 cities. It was a stunning sweep the likes of which polls failed to predict and proponents could only hope for.

“Bill Kogerman was absolutely essential to this victory,” Yes on F spokesman Len Kranser said after the vote. “He was tireless.”

The measure forbids the county to spend money promoting the airport through lobbying and public outreach, though it can finish the state’s environmental review process. Then, after holding public hearings across the county, officials can proceed to the building stage only after receiving approval by two-thirds of voters.

Kogerman’s job this time around was running the busy Yes on F campaign headquarters in Laguna Hills, marshaling 5,000 volunteers, signing checks and reviewing direct mail appeals.

It was familiar territory: He’d handled those tasks in 1994, when the airport was approved by 51% of voters, and in 1996, when South County’s attempt to rescind that approval failed.

The main advantage this time was that, countywide, the anti-airport sentiment had grown larger than airport support, he said. That made it easier to tap into a larger base of grass-roots support not only in South County but in North County, where measure backers would have to convince most voters to support them or lose.

Tuesday’s victory was all the sweeter for Kogerman because there were those in the Yes on F camp who weren’t sold on his involvement. After all, he’d been in charge during the earlier two losses.

“I knew some people needed to blame me,” he said Friday from Laguna Hills. “I figured, OK, then maybe I’ll do what I do best and lead people.”

Kogerman became the behind-the-scenes operator. It was a job that chafed a bit on the often gruff, always outspoken spokesman, whose natural conservatism sometimes led him into collision with the anti-airport coalition’s more liberal wing, including Irvine Councilman Larry Agran.

Kogerman nonetheless backed off his previous public posture, deferring to Yes on F committee chairman Jeffrey Metzger and elected officials like Agran, who was aggressively using Irvine resources to battle the county’s airport plans on several fronts. He asked Kranser to take over media calls.

When election day hit, Kogerman and office manager Marion Pack--who as an anti-nuclear and environmental activist is his political opposite--were busy dispatching 300 observers across the county to monitor voting activity. He sent another 400 volunteers to wave signs, holler and cajole voters along major street corners.

But his back-burner seat didn’t keep him from asserting himself in private. He made it clear, for example, that he wasn’t happy about a second group that formed to raise money for Measure F, a group run by activist Ed Dornan, an ally of Agran’s.

On Friday, Kogerman signed a letter with five other Yes on F organizers urging residents not to donate money to the group and to send the original Yes on F committee any funds to fight a lawsuit filed against the measure.

Despite the fissures in the Yes on F coalition, committee chairman Metzger said it was Kogerman, Agran, Dornan and a host of elected officials who “contributed mightily” to the win.

“Bill Kogerman did a terrific job of marshaling forces in South County,” Metzger said. “There were some very strong personalities and very strong egos and they feel very strongly about their roles. What matters is that Measure F passed. The vote is the vote.”

Even Measure F opponents begrudgingly acknowledged Kogerman for coordinating a commanding army of volunteers.

“You have to give him credit with doing a good job,” said Arturo Montez, who worked in Santa Ana neighborhoods in the weeks before the election urging residents there to vote no on the measure.

Having a cache of money to buy ammunition helped, Montez said. Yes on F forces raised about $2 million from thousands of mostly South County donors, while cities contributed about $7 million in “public education” messages in mail and on cable TV criticizing the county’s airport plan.

The No on F side spent about $1.3 million, mostly contributions from pro-airport businessman George Argyros.

“Any time you have anyone’s quality of life threatened and you have support from local government, you’re going to overcome the other side,” Montez said.

But money didn’t swing the election, Kogerman said. Not with the kind of support that the measure received.

“We were able to tap the core and heart of the community and we tapped it across the county,” he said. “Obviously, I was thrilled. I’ve led lots of men in the military but this was definitely one of the finest hours.”