Evicted Airport Tenant Gets Air Support

COSTA MESA â€”  County officials made good Monday on their promise to evict Cliff Fraizer, John Wayne Airport’s longest-standing tenant, but not before two retired Marine acquaintances flew in aboard vintage aircraft to give him a proper send-off.

“We came here to salute him,� said Dick Bertea, a retired Marine pilot who arrived from Chino in a World War II-era Corsair, along with Ken Weir, a retired Marine Corps general, who made the trip in a Korean War-era Skyraider. “Marines take care of their own.�

But Fraizer, an 86-year-old former barnstormer and retired Marine himself, wasn’t there to see the show.

About an hour before the two airplanes taxied to a stop a few hundred yards from Fraizer’s A&E; Inspection Service office, the man who has been an airport fixture for 39 years drove off in a pickup truck containing a few of his belongings.

That meant Fraizer also was gone when two Orange County marshals, two sheriff’s deputies, four airport officials and a locksmith arrived about 12:45 p.m. to change the locks on his doors and claim the building and the area around it for the county.

“It’s sad,� said Pat Ware, an airport spokeswoman. “We didn’t want to see this happen, but it would have been a gift of public funds to let him stay. We have to treat him like any other tenant.�

Fraizer, who was in business at the airport since 1957, had been at odds with the county for years. As far back as 1968, he complained that airport officials had given him a 10-year lease instead of the 25-year deal he wanted. In 1989, he refused to pay a rent increase that he believed was unjustified.

For several years, one of his own tenants paid the difference of about $300 a month. But last June, when the tenant halted the payments, Fraizer stopped paying his rent altogether, creating a debt which, with penalties, now totals about $9,000, according to county officials.

“They are crucifying me,� Fraizer said Monday morning as he packed belongings into his battered 1948 Chevy pickup. “They never even let me have my day in court.�

Ware said Fraizer would have 15 days to claim the possessions left locked in the building which, among other things, include numerous World War II relics and flying paraphernalia dating from the 1920s and ‘30s.

“Everything has been videotaped and documented,� Ware said. “We don’t want any misunderstandings.�

As the marshals did their work Monday, a number of friends and supporters gathered near the building to sadly sing Fraizer’s praises.

“I’ve known Cliff for a number of years, and he’s a good guy,� said Rick Wallace, 42, an engineer from Placentia who remembers working on airplanes with Fraizer as a child. “How can they do this to an 86-year-old man? It’s harassment.�

Sarah Bearden, who was visiting from Las Vegas, said she was an old family friend.

“I think it’s tragic if he has to leave,� said Bearden, 32, who grew up in Corona del Mar. “I’ve known the man all my life, and to think I might drive out here again and not see him is very sad.�

By far the most dramatic presence, however, was that of the two ex-Marines and their aircraft.

“Cliff has done a lot for the airport and the country� as a Marine, Bertea said. “He has survived a lot of bashing. We hate to see him beaten up on. There’s no dignity in it.�

Times staff writer Martin Miller contributed to this report.