Tustin Urged to Yield Base

Chanting, “Shame on Tustin” and “Do the right thing,” about 300 people rallied Monday at Tustin City Hall to demand that the city give up 100 acres of its closed Marine base to two Santa Ana school districts for new campuses.

The protest was the latest skirmish in an increasingly acrimonious dispute between the districts and Tustin. Santa Ana schools have the second-highest density in the state and are 92% Latino, prompting allegations of racism against Tustin officials for turning down the schools’ request for land at the former Tustin Marine Corps Air Station.

City officials instead have offered the schools 37 acres on another part of the base and $20 million to buy property elsewhere. But last month the districts released the results of a study that showed that property to be contaminated by two toxic plumes. The Navy is obligated to clean up the ground contaminants.

“We want what they are giving their own children: non-contaminated land,” said Santa Ana school board member John Palacios.

The demonstrators included elementary students bused in for the event, parents, teachers, principals and labor union members. The demonstration was peaceful, but there was a tense moment when some union members confronted a Tustin police officer in civilian clothes who was videotaping the event and putting the camera lens inches away from protesters’ faces.

Union leaders appealed to an on-duty police sergeant, who did not respond.

“If you want a confrontation, we’ll have a confrontation,” said a worker, who put a placard in front of the camera.

The officer who was videotaping said, “You understand that you’re interfering with an officer in the performance of his duties. I’m here on a police function.”

Both sides then walked away.

Tustin officials said federal law allows the city sole authority to decide how the property will be used. City plans include homes, businesses, a golf course and schools for Irvine and Tustin on the 1,561-acre base.

Giving the land to the Santa Ana school districts would upset the city’s redevelopment plans, officials said.

The districts’ effort to gain title to the property has generated support in Sacramento.

Last month, the Assembly passed a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Lou Correa (D-Anaheim) that would force Tustin to give up the 100 acres. A separate measure by Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Garden Grove) passed the Senate and gives priority to building schools rather than development of the closed base.

Speakers Monday exhorted the crowd to continue pressuring Tustin officials to give up the disputed property. Rally organizers announced a march June 4 from Santa Ana school district offices on Chestnut Avenue to Tustin City Hall for another protest.

Sylvia Mendez, whose parents Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez sued in 1945 to desegregate Orange County schools, directed her message at the parents.

“I’m living proof that parent involvement can make a difference in their children’s future,” Mendez said. “Like you, my parents were concerned about their children’s education.”

Several speakers criticized Tustin’s plan to develop the disputed land for commercial use rather that offer it to the school districts. “We want schools, not golf courses,” Palacios said.

Fellow board member Sal Tinajero noted that the land falls within the two school districts’ boundaries and accused Tustin of stealing it.

“These acres belong to us. We’re not asking for charity. They were swiped away by Tustin,” Tinajero said.

Conversely, Santa Ana Superintendent Al Mijares said the districts’ attempt to occupy the property “is not a land grab.”