County Seeks Freeze of Measure F’s Ban on El Toro Spending

Attorneys for Orange County will ask a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Friday to freeze voter-approved limits on spending for a proposed El Toro airport until the validity of the county ballot measure is decided.

The county’s attorneys will appear before Judge Dzintra Janavs, assigned Tuesday to preside over a lawsuit filed by pro-airport forces challenging Measure F, which passed March 7 with 67% of the vote.

A 3-2 majority of county supervisors last week authorized the filing of a cross-complaint, asking that the spending restrictions either be invalidated or clarified. The complaint will be filed against Laguna Hills attorney Jeffrey Metzger, past chairman of the group that placed the measure on the ballot.

Measure F, which takes effect April 7, requires two-thirds voter approval before the county can proceed with plans to build an airport, any large jail near homes or hazardous-waste landfills.

Metzger said Tuesday that he is “honored” to be the target of the litigation. He criticized pro-airport supervisors Charles V. Smith, Jim Silva and Cynthia Coad for bypassing the will of voters and trying to overturn its restrictions.

“The Board of Supervisors needs a civics lesson,” he said, adding that the three should acknowledge the will of county voters. “What does it take for these people to get the message?”

Metzger said he will decide in the next 10 days whether to challenge Janavs’ hearing of the case. The judge handled a preelection challenge to Measure F and was critical of the measure, saying she had “grave doubts” that it ultimately could survive a court challenge. However, she allowed the measure to remain on the ballot.

Airport Supporters Like Assigned Judge

Attorney Brad Hertz, representing a pro-airport group, Citizens for Jobs and the Economy, said he is pleased to have Janavs on board.

“We hope that what she wasn’t able to do in the preelection challenge she can do post-election,” he said.

Hertz and Fred Woocher, an attorney representing the Airport Working Group, which also supports an El Toro airport, argued in their lawsuit that Measure F violates the state Constitution and state laws that give county supervisors sole legislative authority over matters of statewide importance.

The lawsuit was filed against the county, putting its attorneys in the awkward position of having to defend a measure that a majority of supervisors opposed. The board last week took a “neutral” position on the overall validity of the measure, which means the defense of Measure F will shift to Metzger and other anti-airport forces.

The anti-airport El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, comprising eight South County cities, voted Monday night to authorize its attorney, Richard Jacobs, to ask to intervene in the lawsuit. The cities group wrote Measure F, which was turned over to Metzger’s group to place on the ballot.