Redistricting Plans Could Affect El Toro Airport Issue

Several proposals to change the boundary lines of Orange County’s five supervisorial districts could dilute the clout of south County cities opposed to an El Toro airport.

The maps are among a dozen options for new district lines to be unveiled Wednesday at a public hearing in Laguna Hills. A redistricting committee composed of representatives from each supervisorial office will make its recommendations this month to the Board of Supervisors.

Most of the proposals move political powerhouse Newport Beach out of its south County 5th District. Most also either split Irvine between two districts or move the whole city to another district with cities whose officials back a new airport.

Irvine has spent the most money fighting a new airport at the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station; Newport Beach has spent the most to support it.

Most of the maps unveiled so far also cluster the rest of south County’s cities, now spread between two districts, into a single district.

The maps all share another aspect: They place Santa Ana, the county seat, within one district. The city, which has the highest percentage of minority residents in Orange County, now is split among three districts.

“I think the motivation from Day One was for the pro-airport majority to reduce south County’s representation to one board member,” said Supervisor Todd Spitzer, one of two anti-airport supervisors on the five-member board and who is seeking an Assembly seat in March.

A challenge by south County residents against such a move could be tough, he said. Redistricting law encourages clustering “communities of interest” together and protecting the political power of minority areas.

The controversy over whether to build an airport at El Toro has shaped county politics for seven years. The new airport has been supported by a bare majority of supervisors since 1994, when voters approved new airport zoning. But some issues, such as approving new leases for the airport, need approval by four supervisors.

Some Proposals Based on Population

James Campbell, chairman of the county’s redistricting committee, said he submitted eight options based on population, not politics. One map splits the county along its major freeways; another keeps every city whole within a district.

The rest of his maps acknowledge an explosion of growth in south Orange County in the last 10 years, said Campbell, chief of staff for pro-airport Supervisor Chuck Smith.

Pulling Lake Forest and Mission Viejo out of the 3rd District--where they are represented by Spitzer--and plunking them with the rest of south County’s 5th District makes sense, he said. The 5th District is represented by the board’s other anti-airport supervisor, Tom Wilson.

“I keep saying this is not an El Toro issue,” Campbell said. “There’s no way to make four solid pro-[airport] districts. But others don’t believe me.”

Among those unhappy with Campbell’s proposals is Wilson, who could find himself representing the entire southern half of the county. He said he’ll oppose any map that clusters south County into one district or isolates Irvine.

Redrawing lines that will last for 10 years to protect the airport would be foolish, Wilson added. The fate of El Toro could be decided in March, he said. That’s because airport foes hope to qualify a measure for the March ballot that would replace the airfield with zoning for a large urban park.

District boundary lines are adjusted every 10 years, based on U.S. Census figures. The 12 proposals will be distributed Wednesday at the county committee meeting at 3 p.m. at Laguna Hills City Hall, 25201 Paseo de Alicia, Suite 150.

Besides Campbell’s maps, proposals were received from the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Asian & Pacific Islander Alliance, the League of Women Voters and Santa Ana resident Arturo Jacques.

For board Chairwoman Cynthia P. Coad, the most important factor may be politics--but not the airport kind. Coad, who faces reelection in March, is from Anaheim but has built political and donor bases in smaller northern cities that move to other districts in many of the proposals.

For Diane Taylor of Brea, who created the map submitted by the League of Women Voters, the main goal was righting wrongs committed during previous redistricting efforts. Another was keeping cities intact.

“I was not concerned about where these political hot buttons were,” she said.

Taylor said she has attended every meeting of the redistricting committee, which have been dominated by special interest groups and the board offices.

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Changing the Lines

A county committee will get the first look Wednesday at a dozen maps that would redraw the boundaries of Orange County’s five supervisorial districts, done every 10 years. The committee will recommend a preferred map to the Board of Supervisors, which must pick one in August.