Bill Effort to Strip O.C. of Its Independence

Re “Bill Urges O.C. to Fly Its Share,” May 30:

Assembly Bill 2333 is an attempt to punish Orange County voters for rejecting an airport at El Toro. This bill has passed the Assembly and is before the Senate in Sacramento. It sets the dangerous precedent of ignoring the voice of those closest to the local issues.

Los Angeles World Airways, which operates LAX and the underutilized Ontario and Palmdale airports, has concentrated the vast majority of passenger and cargo flights at LAX, rather than distributing flights to its other airports. LAX can solve its problems by making use of existing capacity, not by forcing Orange County to build an unneeded and environmentally disastrous second airport.

AB 2333 would try to limit growth at LAX by forcing Orange County to absorb much of the aviation need generated by population growth in Los Angeles County. But LAX’s problems are being exacerbated by growth in Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire, not growth in Orange County.

Anyone who has flown out of LAX would have to agree that it has grown too large. But Sacramento lawmakers should insist that a regional airport be close to projected population centers in L.A. and the Inland Empire to minimize the cost, congestion, and pollution generated by vehicles.

Orange County has debated a second airport for nearly 10 years. Meanwhile, John Wayne Airport is capable of handling up to twice its current passenger capacity without expansion and without adding nighttime operations.

AB 2333 addresses just four counties--Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside. It ignores the fact that Sacramento and San Francisco send airline passengers to airports in other counties. If California legislators believe that this bill is appropriate, they should extend the bill to include every county in the state.

This bill is an attempt to strip Orange County of its independence in transit matters and make our county a colony of Los Angeles.

Michael Smith

Mission Viejo

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The bill introduced by State Assemblyman George Nakano (D-Torrance) attempts to force Orange County to build an unneeded and unwanted airport at El Toro. County voters have twice rejected this plan and to withhold funds from us if we don’t build an airport would be laughable if it weren’t so insidious. Officials in Los Angeles County have spent decades cornering the lion’s share of the air travel and air cargo business at LAX, hoarding domestic and international routes and catering to the airlines’ every whim.

This has occurred at the expense of property values and quality of life for what used to be very nice communities near LAX. Los Angeles County has supported the airlines’ flawed hub-and-spoke system and allowed airports in Burbank, Palmdale, and Ontario to go underutilized. Well, they got what they wanted, but now they’ve decided that living next to a large airport is unpleasant and they’ve decided to try to export their problem.

A lack of planning on Los Angeles’ part does not constitute an emergency for Orange County. We have an airport that can serve Orange County’s needs for decades without any expansion and we have no desire to import passengers from LAX. I suggest Nakano try listening to the will of Orange County voters and develop another plan to fix Los Angeles’ problem.

Douglas K. Blaul

Trabuco Canyon