El Toro Ruling Debated

A San Diego court Friday barred Orange County from spending any money to oppose a March ballot measure that would end plans for an airport at El Toro.

But what that means exactly depends on which side of the El Toro airport debate you’re on.

Airport opponents interpreted the tentative ruling by Superior Court Judge Charles R. Hayes as ordering an end to the county’s “Just the Facts” information program on its El Toro airport plan.

“It’s crystal clear that this injunction is against the ‘Just the Facts’ program,” said attorney Richard Jacobs, who argued for the spending freeze on behalf of the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, a coalition of southern Orange County cities opposed to an airport.

County lawyers, meanwhile, said the county has no intention of changing its public outreach. Officials haven’t spent any money opposing the initiative, which isn’t even mentioned in El Toro materials, Deputy County Counsel Don Rubin said.

“Our position is that we’re not promoting an airport; we’re providing information about the county’s airport plan” which was authorized by voters in 1994, he said.

“We’ve always been very careful not to mention the ballot initiative in any part of our program,” El Toro Planning Director Gary Simon said.

About $2 million has been spent this year on public outreach for the county’s airport plan, with $4 million more to be spent by June 30. The money has come from John Wayne Airport, whose director warned county supervisors this week that it faces a deficit this fiscal year if parking and other fees aren’t raised.

The two interpretations of Hayes’ ruling dampened reaction from both sides. The judge released the ruling on the Internet based on motions filed by each side; no hearing was held.

The mystery over what the judge actually ordered won’t be solved until Jacobs submits a final ruling for Judge Hayes to sign. He has five court days to do so. Jacobs will write the ruling because he asked for the injunction.