Lobbyists’ Role in an El Toro Airport

* Re “Supervisors Crank Up El Toro Lobbying in D.C.,” Jan. 5:

In defending the Board of Supervisors’ misguided authorization of funds to lobby Washington on El Toro, airport supporter David Ellis bemoaned that the money being spent by the county did not come close to the spending of South County cities. What Ellis is missing is the fact that the cities of South County have the support of their citizens in defending their communities. The board clearly does not have the support of the majority of the citizens of Orange County, as was demonstrated by the overwhelming passage of Measure F. It is time the board stops catering to special interests, and functions to serve the interests and the will of the citizenry.

BRUCE JUENGER

Aliso Viejo

*

* The free press may be the one medium through which the battle-weary voters of Orange County can receive support against our own representatives.

It was bad enough when our representatives disregarded the clear wishes of the majority in opposition to the development of El Toro as a commercial airport. But there seems to be no end to their shameful spending against our own will and in favor of special interests. Now they’re spending more than $1 million to hire slick Washington lobbyists to outmaneuver us in Washington.

Actions such as these make us a laughingstock and representative democracy a sham here in beautiful Orange County.

LENORE GREENBERG

Laguna Niguel

*

* I want to thank Supervisors Charles V. Smith, Jim Silva and Cynthia Coad for their determination to protect Orange County from another potential bankruptcy by striving to reduce the huge debt incurred five years ago. The supervisors have suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous calumny because of their fiscally responsible stand about the debt, and about the El Toro airport.

Preventing the airport and adopting the non-aviation plan for the Marine base is another example of a potentially high tax burden that Irvine and other South County cities are touting. From the amount of taxpayer dollars used by Irvine in its propaganda campaign against the airport, it is apparent that they belong to the “tax, tax, tax and spend” contingent. Instead of referring to Irvine’s “Great Park,” we should call it “The Great Pork.”

RICHARD D. THOMSON

Fullerton

*

* Now the supervisors are employing five firms of lobbyists to speed the conveyance of El Toro from the federal government to the county, and paying a bonus if they can get it transferred in a rush. Why? Apparently because Measure F was overturned and the county wants to rush an airport through before an appeals court can rule otherwise.

Measure F, if nothing else, sent a message that the voters wanted a chance to vote on specific uses, including landfills, airports and prisons. The supervisors continue to rush headlong toward an airport, seemingly wanting to ram it through before anyone can stop the 3-2 charade in Santa Ana. If their action wasn’t so outrageous, it would be laughable. El Toro airport is not smart operationally, nor environmentally, and there are alternatives.

PATRIC BARRY

Laguna Hills

*

* The voters of Orange County have spoken. They don’t want an airport at El Toro. Therefore, supervisors should not spend our money on lobbying efforts with a bonus incentive to quickly transfer the base to the county. This is clearly aimed at expediting the airport plan. There is no need for the board to appropriate over $1 million for pro-airport lobbying efforts in Washington. This is a waste of our money.

MIKE BARON

Aliso Viejo

*

* I’ve read letter after letter stating that the vote for Measure F indicated the will of the people was against an airport at El Toro. It really makes me sick that no one has brought up the real reason for the Measure F victory. Even here in Balboa Island, where planes fly directly overhead, many people voted for Measure F because of the landfill and prison issues that were cleverly thrown in by the South County lawyers. If South County is so sure that the majority of voters are against El Toro, let’s have another vote with only the airport as the subject.

MARILYN ROBINSON

Balboa Island

*

* Congratulations to the board for speedy approval of spending for El Toro lobbying in Washington. Supervisors Todd Spitzer and Tom Wilson insist that the airport issue be resolved at the local level. They seem to ignore the fact that resolution requires input from Washington, and that a broad point of view is required to fit the airport into a national air transport system. The South County cities are victims of their own success. It’s not realistic to live a bucolic existence in lovely towns totally detached from the problems of transportation, air and water pollution, traffic and other infrastructure needs without considering their effects on surrounding communities.

WILLIAM KEARNS

Costa Mesa