Preparing for the final days

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT-MESA -- The two camps fighting over the future use of the

closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station are digging in as election day

looms.

Voters will be asked on Tuesday to decide whether they want Orange

County to develop a Great Park at the base or stay with the plan for an

airport there.

It will be the fourth such vote in eight years -- reaching back to

1994’s Measure A, when voters first approved airport zoning for the base.

The vote will probably settle things for good, said Mark Petracca, a

UC Irvine political science professor and political analyst.

“It’s the end game,” Petracca said. “It will be hard to go back to the

ballot either way.”

Measure W, otherwise known as the Orange County Central Park and

Nature Preserve Initiative, would change the zoning at the base from

aviation to open space.

The initiative would not guarantee a park is built but would allow

that use. It would also act as a directive to county supervisors from the

public to shift gears and begin planning a Great Park.

Recent polls have shown the initiative is leading among voters and

supporters have far outspent opponents. However, a “yes” vote might be a

major setback for an airport, but not a death blow, Newport Beach

Councilman Dennis O’Neil said.

“It’s a momentous election as far as the future of El Toro is

concerned,” O’Neil said. “It will have a significant impact on the

direction and timing of the county’s airport plan.”

If the base, which is owned by the Navy but leased to the county, is

rezoned for a park, two major scenarios could unfold.

County officials have spent about $40 million to plan an airport since

the base was tabbed for closure in 1993. That effort, which culminated in

the board’s approval of the environmental report last year, could stop

altogether.

Or the county could defy the approval and join in an expected lawsuit

challenging the initiative. Airport Working Group Executive Director

Barbara Lichman has promised a challenge if Measure W passes.

Even though the initiative is leading in the polls, airport supporters

haven’t given up. Newport Beach Councilman Gary Proctor put a brave face

on the initiative’s prospects for failure.

“I’m very optimistic it’s going to be defeated,” Proctor said. “If the

opponents could get the truth out, there is no doubt in my mind [Measure

W would lose]. There’s not the money to do that.”

The gap in funds between the two groups has been widely reported. As

of the Feb. 21 campaign filing deadline, groups working to defeat Measure

W have raised $288,333.

In contrast, the Committee for Safe and Healthy Communities, the lead

Measure W group, has raised $826,569 this year.

As of Friday afternoon, not much had changed. Groups are required by

law to report any donations or expenditures within 24 hours.

Between Monday and Thursday, the working group had raised an

additional $14,245. The No On W group, led by former Supervisor Bruce

Nestande, had raised $37,000. Corona del Mar resident John Croul gave

$25,000 of that sum, county records show.

The initiative’s opponents are still waiting for their mystery donor.

In a Feb. 11 letter, Lichman said a “single generous individual” would

match all contributions dollar for dollar.

But if Measure W passes, it won’t be for a lack of funds on the

pro-airport camp, initiative spokesman Len Kranser said.

“They had ample opportunity to get out their message,” Kranser said.

“The problem was the message didn’t sell. The people aren’t buying it.”

Last spring, the city handed the working group a $3.67-million grant

for a public relations campaign. The Board of Supervisors also approved a

$5-million grant to the Orange County Regional Airport Authority earlier

in the year.

In late December, a Superior Court judge banned further spending,

ordering the remainder of the grant returned.

But airport supporters such as Richard Taylor, a working group board

member, said the battle has not been lost.

Taylor said he hoped voters would see the initiative as a veiled

attempt to stop an airport, not build a park.

“It’s the same type of shell game as Measure F,” Taylor said,

referring to the 2000 measure that passed on a landslide but was voided

in court. “Their real interest was to bury an airport.”

The motive for the initiative isn’t a hidden one, Kranser said. And it

shouldn’t surprise anyone.

“We’re killing the airport and substituting something else that people

seem to want,” Kranser said. “Everybody knows what we’re doing.”

* Paul Clinton covers the environment and John Wayne Airport. He may

be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail ato7

[email protected] .