Call to action is late

While I have to acknowledge that on some level Byron de Arakal’s Watchdog column Oct. 9 was a call to action, that recognition stops at the point when the pity quotient is discussed.

What is most disconcerting is his inability to realize that a regional approach to air traffic -- El Toro -- goes hand in hand with sane limits on John Wayne Airport growth. To that extent, his comment that die-hard supporters of El Toro are pitiful denigrates not only his position as a call to action but also the efforts of hundreds of volunteers who gave and continue to give their time to limiting the expansion of John Wayne.

If we measure the pity factor in the fight to slow John Wayne growth, Costa Mesa and its council have their own special marker.

Save the extraordinary efforts of Councilman Gary Monahan, and a few other advocates, Costa Mesa has had a history of a lacking vision on the El Toro fight. De Arakal, it seems, suffers from the same myopia as his city leaders.

For some reason, they never quite understood the notion that an airport at El Toro was a solution that would limit John Wayne growth by deflecting passenger demand to another badly needed airport to handle the increased air traffic in the Southern California region.

Costa Mesa’s leaders regarded the discussion of an airport at El Toro as a political disease. They thought it so contagious that some members of the council went on the record to openly oppose El Toro and stymie discussion of the issue and did little to rebut the cacophony of false information that blanketed Costa Mesa from South County.

Their tepid response was that while they opposed El Toro, they certainly didn’t want John Wayne to expand. That is like refusing to help your neighbor, whose house is burning to the ground, because you have to attend a meeting on fire safety.

De Arakal’s commentary then incredibly warns the City Council to get ready, because the “specter of John Wayne’s expansion draws near.”

Draws near? It’s been here for years, is ever present and will impact the residents of Costa Mesa for many more years as increasing numbers of commercial and private jets barrel over Costa Mesa on their way out of John Wayne, not to mention those flying over on the way to Long Beach’s airport.

And, specter? It is more like a continuing nightmare of the failure of the council to recognize, years ago, the threat of an bigger airport and it’s relationship to El Toro.

Finally, with all due respect to de Arakal, I would be remiss if I failed to point out that the John Wayne Settlement Agreement, contrary to his assertion, does in fact supersede the county’s Airport System Master Plan. When the final details of the settlement agreement were hammered out two years ago, those at the table included representatives of the county, among the other signatories that included, I might add, the Airport Working Group.

While I apologize in advance for being over sensitive, I need to point out that I find it most peculiar, and in fact downright irritating, when individuals and groups, with little or no history or participation on the subject, lecture us about what needs to be done to control John Wayne Airport.

Where were these people and these groups when we had a regional solution? This urgency didn’t arise when the Great Park ruse was announced.

No, this fire started 20 years ago, continues today and will scorch this community to the bare ground if we don’t approach it regionally and collectively. The apparatus to fight this fire has been taken from us, piece by piece, through apathy, lack of resolve and lack of political resolve.

So with all due respect to de Arakal, it’s rather disingenuous to yell fire after years of apathy.

* RICHARD TAYLOR is a Newport Beach resident and vice president of the Airport Working Group.