The People Get to Decide

For seven years, the Orange County government has been using passenger fees, parking fees and other revenues from John Wayne Airport to fund the ill-conceived effort to build an international airport at El Toro. So far, $50 million has been wasted on this unpopular plan.

John Wayne Airport officials have sounded an alarm. They recently warned that their business plan may not include enough money to keep John Wayne running while paying millions to plan an airport at El Toro.

Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, John Wayne Director Alan L. Murphy warned supervisors that the airport will lose another $9.2 million in revenue because of a 15% decline in passengers and faces an additional $12.6 million in costs for airport-related security.

Faced with this bleak financial picture and the prospect of a long-term decline in airline travel, what do the three pro-airport supervisors do? They continue to siphon money from John Wayne to promote their unneeded and unwanted plan for El Toro airport rather than use the money to improve security at John Wayne.

On March 5, the voters of Orange County will have an opportunity to put an end to the county’s fiscal irresponsibility by voting to approve the Orange County Nature Preserve and Central Park Initiative.

A recent study conducted by Cal State Fullerton and the pro-airport Orange County Business Council concluded that 60% of county residents oppose an airport at El Toro, and an overwhelming 67% support the proposal to create an Orange County Central Park at El Toro. (This is the same percentage that voted yes on Measure F, the March 2000 anti-airport initiative that set the stage for the upcoming countywide vote on the Great Park.)

Orange County has grown rapidly from an agricultural area to an increasingly urban community with 3 million residents. The Orange County Central Park and Nature Preserve Initiative gives us one last opportunity to preserve seven square miles in the heart of Orange County and create a magnificent park that is every bit as beautiful as San Diego’s Balboa Park.

Airport supporters have, for the most part, given up trying to convince the public that Orange County needs an El Toro airport. Instead, they have embarked on a campaign designed to scare voters away from the Orange County Central Park initiative.

Pro-airport forces have conducted phony “fiscal impact studies” and hired former state officials to lend credibility to their claims.

The facts shine through the smoke and haze of these so-called studies:

* First, the Orange County Central Park initiative is a zoning plan. It does not raise taxes or require the county to spend any money.

* Second, there will be no cost to taxpayers for the land at El Toro if it is used as a park. The Department of the Navy has confirmed this fact.

* Third, federal law requires the U. S. government to pay for environmental cleanup at El Toro for the intended use of the property--even if the cleanup standards for a park are higher than those for an airport.

* Fourth, the California Constitution, specifically Proposition 13 and Proposition 218, prevents local tax increases for park purposes unless approved by two-thirds of the voters.

Airport supporters ignore all of these facts in their increasingly desperate attempt to convince voters that the Great Park plan will raise local taxes.

They consistently underestimate the millions of dollars in revenue that could be generated by leases on the 1,100 houses and 3 million square feet of commercial buildings left behind by the Marines.

They ignore the hundreds of millions of dollars that are available to Orange County through state park bond funds.

And they dismiss the type of private philanthropic support that built the Orange County Performing Arts Center and the Discovery Science Center.

The recent fiscal impact study paid for by the pro-airport Orange County Business Council estimates the monthly revenue from leasing commercial buildings at El Toro at “between 15 and 20 cents per square foot.” Cal State Fullerton has already negotiated a 10-year lease at El Toro for a 46,000-square-foot building at an average monthly net rate of $1.15 per square foot. Airport promoters clearly need to change the batteries in their calculators.

Unpublished drafts of the county’s own business plan for El Toro, obtained through a public records act request, show that the well-managed reuse of base assets could yield as much as $291 million over 15 years.

The city of Irvine has carefully considered all the financial ramifications of developing and maintaining an Orange County Great Park at El Toro. We stand ready to annex the property and take full responsibility for these obligations.

There is one thing that the airport promoters and Great Park proponents agree upon: Orange County voters face a critical decision on the fate of El Toro--it’s a decision that will affect future generations.

We can build a giant airport that will give our children a legacy of noise, pollution and traffic, or we can create a true oasis in the heart of Orange County and preserve the quality of life that makes Orange County special. I trust the people to make the right decision.