Position on El Toro needs closer look...

Position on El Toro needs closer look

I disagree strongly with the Navy’s attempt to auction El Toro air

station. The air transportation crisis continues to grow as more

people and businesses move into this area, affecting not only Orange

County but the entire Southland. Both north Orange County municipal

officials and Los Angeles officials argue that an airport at El Toro

would ease the strain on John Wayne and other regional airports. The

south Orange County residents complain “they had to live with a

military airfield for decades ....” This South County position

deserves a closer look.

* El Toro was installed in south Orange County more than 60 years

ago and was situated to minimize its impact on any future communities

and includes a 140,000-acre buffer zone under the take-off path. El

Toro was in place and operating long before most of the complaining

residents were ever born. When they moved in, these new residents

signed easements acknowledging the airport and agreeing to accept any

airport noise; in exchange, they received a reduction in the cost of

their homes.

* Even with the near build-out in south Orange County, there are

no houses as near to El Toro’s four safe runways as most of the

houses in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa are to John Wayne airport’s

single, short and relatively unsafe passage.

* A glance at the real estate pages in the papers will show that

the home values in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa and other communities

in the area have not only held up but have increased dramatically.

The negative affects of nearby El Toro on community life is a myth

and a fraud concocted by south Orange County residents in collusion

with developers and builders who have the most to gain by preventing

El Toro from reopening.

WILLIAM KEARNS

Costa Mesa

Residents’ needs

need to be heard

Regarding a compromise between Costa Mesa and Newport Beach over

control of West Santa Ana Heights, what about the residents? The

residents and property owners have clearly stated that their areas

should be annexed by Newport Beach.

These unincorporated areas were never a part of Costa Mesa. The

Local Agency Formation Commission subjectively put these

unincorporated islands within Costa Mesa’s sphere of influence, but

the residents successfully stopped any annexation to Costa Mesa

through a protest vote. The Newport Beach Planning Commission has

stated that the city would not have any problem serving these areas.

Why is Costa Mesa treating this like a Middle East border conflict?

This is not a war. It is simply an election by the residents that

they would best be served by the city of Newport Beach. This

annexation process has been going on for way too long (more than four

years). Costa Mesa has to accept that the residents will always have

a voice in any annexation plans, and they will not be able to

overturn their vote.

JOHN FAY

Unincorporated island

south of Mesa Drive.

A veto vote on

‘veto’ power

So Newport Beach Mayor Steve Bromberg thinks the city of Newport

Beach should have complete veto power over future John Wayne Airport

expansion, any additional flights or changes to curfew hours that

impact Newport Beach, but he apparently also still supports the

county’s failed plan to shove a huge, 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week

airport with more than 800 commercial takeoff and landings per day

down South County’s throats (“More than just resolutions for ‘05”).

Why should Newport Beach residents have “veto power” over JWA, but

South County communities should not have been afforded the same veto

power regarding El Toro?

It’s simple. Either Bromberg’s newfound belief in local veto power

over airports extends to South County and El Toro, or his comments

are clearly just another in a long list of politically motivated,

self-serving, declarations to come out of Newport Beach politicians

and residents over the years.

DOUGLAS K. BLAUL

Trabuco Canyon

Factors mean merit pay won’t work

I’m against merit pay. I teach, but I also have 25 years of

experience previously as a self-employed salesman.

As a businessman, I can control many of the factors of production.

As a teacher, I don’t control who my students are or where they come

from or how their lives affect their ability to learn. I can’t

control the factors of production.

Additionally, I would add that schools reflect the society they

serve.

ROBERT RASMUSSEN

Costa Mesa