Further Talks Sought in Fight Over Base Land

Combatants vying for land at the closed Tustin Marine base have been invited back to the negotiating table by Assemblyman John Campbell (R-Irvine), whose district includes the base area.

Campbell asked Assemblyman Lou Correa (D-Anaheim) on Thursday to gather a handful of officials from Tustin, Santa Ana Unified School District and Rancho Santiago Community College District to try to hammer out an agreement. Tustin has offered a third of the acreage that Santa Ana wants for schools at the closed base.

Last week, the Assembly passed a Correa-sponsored bill that would require Tustin to give 100 acres of base land to Santa Ana schools. On Thursday, Correa said he would be happy to participate in another negotiating round but refused Campbell’s request to postpone action on his bill until July.

“If we can settle it in the next two weeks, great, but if not, we’ll move ahead,” Correa said, adding that he postponed the bill several times previously to accommodate requests for negotiations that eventually failed.

Similar legislation by state Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Garden Grove) passed the Senate last week. Each bill is now headed for a vote in the other legislative house before heading to Gov. Gray Davis.

“My feeling is that Tustin won’t negotiate a settlement until this bill is before the governor,” Correa said.

Campbell said the matter should be settled at the local level and “not by state legislators who don’t even know where the base is.”