L.A. Seeks to Halt El Toro Land Sales

Los Angeles officials met Tuesday with lawmakers and their aides in Washington in an eleventh-hour attempt to stop the Navy from auctioning the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in Orange County.

Mayor James K. Hahn revived the city’s bid to operate the base as an airport last month when he asked the Navy to transfer up to 3,700 acres to the U.S. Department of Transportation, which could lease it to Los Angeles World Airports.

His proposal was immediately dismissed by federal officials, who are expected to conclude the auction on the base’s four parcels today.

Councilman Tony Cardenas; Kim Day, the executive director of the city’s airport agency; Jim Ritchie, deputy general manager of the agency; Phil Depoian, an advisor to Hahn; and Tom Naughton, president of the Airport Working Group, asked several legislators to intervene on the city’s behalf.

The lawmakers agreed to urge the Navy to consider other options for the base, Cardenas said, adding that some local officials were surprised to learn the minimum bid the Navy required was $142,000 an acre.

“This is a prime piece of real estate; the Los Angeles Unified School District is paying $1 million per acre to build schools, and they’re letting land go at $142,000 per acre,” he said.

Cardenas wrote a resolution that was approved last month by the City Council in support of the mayor’s plan.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles officials met with Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee; Rep. John L. Mica (R-Florida), chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee; Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach).

Cardenas also briefly discussed the matter with Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-North Hollywood).

The congressman agreed there is a “desperate need for a new airport to serve the Southern California metro area,” said Gene Smith, his chief of staff, but doesn’t believe the city’s efforts are “realistic” given that some congressmen who represent Orange County oppose an airport at El Toro.

This is the second time Los Angeles officials have attempted to gain control of the base. In April 2003, federal officials rejected a 37-page memo transmitted in secret by the city to the federal Transportation Department, offering to take over El Toro.

“Whenever someone says, ‘Well, why are you talking to us now?’ we’ve let them know we have documentation from [Los Angeles World Airports] saying they’ve been willing to entertain an offer for the last two years,” Cardenas said. “Washington has given us a cold shoulder. They haven’t given us an opportunity to negotiate with them.”