It’s Time to Yield on Tustin Base Land

It’s time to call a truce in the running battle between Santa Ana school districts and the city of Tustin over the best use of the land on the closed Marine helicopter station in Tustin. In July, the governor signed AB 212, requiring Tustin to transfer 100 acres on the base within the boundaries of Santa Ana school districts for construction of schools. The law keeps Tustin from proceeding with plans to redevelop the base until the land is transferred.

But the governor’s signature on AB 212 is not the end of the story. The legislation will go away if a deal can be struck to provide clean land to build needed schools.

Instead of negotiating, Tustin is threatening to take the Legislature, governor and Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer to court. That accomplishes nothing.

Last June, before final approval of AB 212 and at my request and that of state Sen. Ross Johnson (R-Irvine), Judge James Trotter, a nationally renowned mediator, graciously volunteered his time to preside over a mediation session. While the session did not produce a satisfactory compromise, it did evoke an interesting reaction by Trotter, who, with the consent of the parties, shared his views with elected officials. He believes both sides are acting in good faith and believe strongly in their position. He thinks Santa Ana’s request for clean land is reasonable, and he believes Tustin could come further in accommodating Santa Ana’s needs.

Specifically, he recommended that Tustin take the next step by offering land that has joint-use opportunities for the Santa Ana Unified School District and the Rancho Santiago Community College District. Tustin officials responded by saying they probably could do that, but they won’t.

Tustin’s refusal to consider contingent land for the two Santa Ana districts--to allow them to build a joint-use facility to save taxpayer money--pushed the Santa Ana schools to request that the Legislature put final touches on AB 212 and send it to the governor for his signature.

We did that. Now that AB 212 is law, it is time for all of the parties to return to the negotiating table in an attempt to reach a settlement. Neither Assemblyman Lou Correa (D-Anaheim) nor I, the co-authors of this legislation, view it as a carte blanche to the Santa Ana school districts.

Santa Ana must continue its efforts to negotiate in good faith. The Santa Ana school districts have committed to keeping open their recent offer to accept 37 acres with assurances that the land meets strict state environmental standards for new schools.

Unfortunately and inexplicably, Tustin has sworn not to return to the bargaining table. A timely settlement of the dispute benefits Tustin, the school districts and taxpayers.

I fully intend to keep the pressure on the districts to strike a reasonable settlement.

I urge Tustin to return to the negotiations and seek to do the same.