Incumbents trying to steal Taylor’s thunder

The article “Candidate’s JWA claims questioned” (Oct. 26) contains

distorted information about candidate Richard Taylor’s involvement in

the request for the extension of the John Wayne Settlement Agreement.

This, while purporting to be a search for the truth, is a statement

by political opponents of Taylor.

Taylor is vice president of the Airport Working Group, which is a

signatory to the settlement agreement. Taylor has supported the

agreement always and has worked tirelessly as a volunteer for eight

years trying to protect Newport Beach from the expansion of John

Wayne Airport.

The attempt to extend the settlement agreement, which expires Dec.

31, 2005, was begun by former Mayor John Noyes, together with

Councilwoman Norma Glover and Supervisor Tom Wilson. They began these

discussions behind closed doors. Later the working group signed on to

this request, as did Stop Polluting Our Newport, another signatory to

the settlement agreement. Most of the negotiations were handled by

working group legal staff and city staff.

The city of Newport Beach and Orange County supervisors have

approved the request for an extension of the settlement agreement.

However, the airlines association objects to restrictions on airport

flights, as does 1990 law. The Federal Aviation Administration has

not signed this new settlement agreement. The outcome of this request

for a new agreement is in doubt.

The article was a political statement, not a factual report.

SHIRLEY CONGER

Corona del Mar

Thanks for giving us the “smoking gun” quotes from departing

Newport Beach council members Norma Glover and Dennis O’Neil in

“Candidate’s JWA claims questioned.”

O’Neil is quoted as saying, “the most important issue for Newport

Beach was ensuring restrictions at John Wayne, over and above getting

an airport built at El Toro.” Really? I suppose the “most important

issue” for the captain of the Titanic was to keep the deck chairs

straight.

Glover, also, was quoted as saying that “the working group” has

been working on El Toro and that their focus always was on getting

the El Toro Airport built. Both Glover and O’Neil (and maybe some of

the other council members) seem clueless that if there were an

airport at El Toro, we wouldn’t have to worry about the flimsy,

one-sided extension of the John Wayne Settlement Agreement. Any

reasonably aware adult can easily see that this Band-Aid could be

beaten, battered, blasted and broken by lawsuits already promised by

the airlines and/or the FAA.

And the quote “they don’t expect a legal challenge and, if one

were to come, that lawyers have assured them the city would prevail”

makes me scratch my head in wonder. Never have I met or heard of a

“real” lawyer making such unrealistic “assurances.”

If the Newport Beach City Council had joined the Airport Working

Group in focusing on the El Toro issue, rather than avoiding it, we

would not have to face the certainty that John Wayne will be forced

to handle virtually all the air traffic that burgeoning South County

will surely produce, nor the certainty that Newport Beach will be

destroyed by the massively expanding airport that John Wayne must

become.

So the story has proven that both O’Neil and Glover, our soon to

be dearly departed council members, live in a fool’s world of

delusion and deception. There is no Airport Tooth Fairy that will

protect us from the big bad world of reality in which we live.

Candidate Rick Taylor is correct when he says; “This is not clad

in iron” and that there are still possible (virtually certain) legal

challenges by the FAA and airlines that use the airport. He’s clearly

the only candidate that seems to understand it. And Taylor is surely

the candidate we need for this sure-to-come fight.

GEORGE MARGOLIN

Newport Beach

I was shocked when I read Saturday’s story about Rick Taylor’s

qualifications questioned. On two separate occasions I attended

community forums in Costa Mesa where Rick Taylor repeatedly warned us

about the dangers and perils of John Wayne expansion. He and Gary

Monahan were the only people talking about the threat of the

expansion.

To say that he was not part of nor important to the settlement

agreement is an insult to those of us who know better.

ELIZABETH GREEBAN

Costa Mesa

I was disappointed to read comments in the Daily Pilot by two

Newport Beach Council people stating council candidate Rick Taylor

had little or no involvement in attaining the John Wayne Settlement

Agreement.

As a director of the Airport Working Group and member of the

Newport Beach Citizen’s Aviation Committee, I worked with Taylor for

many years and can testify to the fact that Taylor donated an

incredible amount of time and effort to stop an expansion at John

Wayne Airport. His dedication to building El Toro airport stemmed

from his knowledge that it was absolutely the only way to stop

additional flights from John Wayne Airport.

Taylor and fellow Airport Working Group directors initially were

concerned that the trade off in obtaining an extension of the

original settlement agreement required allowing more flights and

increasing the number of gates at John Wayne. Along with many other

experts on the subject, the Airport Working Group also realized that

the settlement agreement could be seriously challenged by the FAA

and/or airlines, similar to what has just happened at Long Beach

Airport. However, with no assurances that El Toro airport would be

built, a new settlement agreement to replace the original one

(expiring in 2005) became more appealing.

Taylor is on the executive board of the Airport Working Group and

in that capacity attended many meetings giving his input,, concerns

and suggestions regarding the extension of the settlement agreement.

The Airport Working Group was a co-signer of the original agreement,

and without its approval, the new agreement could not have been

finalized. Therefore, it was unfair to minimize Taylor’s role in the

process.

Taylor has remained engaged in the battle to build El Toro and

believes he can be even more effective in the fight should voters

elect him as a member of the Newport Beach City Council.

BONNIE O’NEIL

Newport Beach

In this article, the implication is that the Newport Beach City

Council saved our city by implementing the John Wayne Settlement

Agreement. Nothing could be further from the truth. Council members

Gary Adams, Tod Ridgeway, Dennis O’Neil, Norma Glover, etc., have

lulled our city into a false sense of security. They took no action

on El Toro, including denouncing the “No on Measure W” campaign in

February of 2002. El Toro would have taken the traffic burden for a

growing Orange County off of John Wayne. Is that protecting the city

of Newport Beach? Could this be a means of trolling for a job after

one leaves the council?

The way the council has approached the settlement agreement is to

give everything away up front (more gates, more flights, 10 years)

before we even go to the airlines to get their agreement. Successful

negotiators agree this is a bad strategy. There are already six

airlines that have reserved the right to sue Newport Beach. Because

of the laws that have been passed since the first settlement

agreement, this one is on very shaky ground. My neighbor already has

his house for sale because he cannot afford to lose 40% of the value

of his home when the settlement agreement loses in the courts. The

Newport Beach City Council also agreed to pay all legal fees relating

to the settlement agreement, instead of sharing the costs with the

county. How much is that going to cost us?

Does this sound like a council that is protecting us from being

another Playa del Rey? The residents of Playa del Rey thought they

were too wealthy and influential to be destroyed by the massive

expansion of Los Angeles International Airport. Their city is now

buried under the huge runways of that airport. Only council candidate

Rick Taylor really understands the settlement agreement well enough

to help resolve the problems the current council has created.

CATHY GRAMMER

Newport Beach