Briefly in the news

-- Paul Clinton

A San Diego Superior Court judge has cemented a ruling banning Orange

County from spending any money to oppose the Great Park initiative.

Judge Charles R. Hayes reaffirmed his tentative Dec. 7 ruling that

sides with a South County lawsuit seeking to ban further spending.

The county, via its “Just the Facts” public information campaign, has

been trumpeting the value of an airport at the closed El Toro Marine

Corps Air Station.

The El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, a coalition of South County

cities, sued the county May 17. The group accused supervisors of

illegally diverting revenue from John Wayne Airport to plan and promote

an airport at the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

The county is now prohibited from lobbying voters against Measure W,

the Orange County Central Park and Nature Preserve Initiative.

Hayes also barred the Orange County Regional Airport Authority, a

group that receives about $5 million a year in county grants, from

spending public money to defeat Measure W. Voters will have the

opportunity March 5 to decide whether they want to use the closed base

for a Great Park.