No surprise in results of UCI survey

Alex Coolman

The results of a UC Irvine survey showing declining support for a

commercial airport at El Toro drew concern -- but not surprise -- from

airport advocates and Newport-Mesa residents Thursday.

“[It] doesn’t surprise me,” said former Newport Beach mayor and El Toro

proponent Clarence Turner. Airport advocates have “really failed

miserably at putting the idea of the El Toro airport across,” he added.

The survey, released Wednesday, showed that 54% of Orange County

residents oppose the development of a commercial airport at the former El

Toro Marine Corps Air Station. That number is up 8% from the result of a

study released in 1999.

In North Orange County, the survey showed, opposition to the development

has climbed from 37% in 1999 to 45%.

Newport Coast resident Elaine Satin, munching fish tacos at Rubio’s in

Costa Mesa, said her enthusiasm for the airport project had waned with

the passage of Measure F.

That initiative, which voters overwhelmingly passed in March, would

require a two-thirds countywide vote to move forward on any airport

development, a high hurdle for El Toro advocates to achieve.

“My impression was that the passage [of Measure F] was going to make a

huge difference,” Satin said. “It’s like that passed, and now it’s over

with.”

David Ellis of the Airport Working Group of Orange County attributed the

shift in public opinion to the amount of money that has been spent on

opposing the airport.

“[Anti-airport groups] have spent $23 million in 24 months,” he said.

“That kind of money will have an effect on almost anything.”

But Meg Waters, a spokesperson for the anti-airport El Toro Reuse

Planning Authority, said the situation was exactly the reverse.

“We were vastly outspent,” she said. “Perhaps we spent our money wiser

because [El Toro opponents] are so fragmented.”

Waters argued that the statistical shift reflected a higher degree of

awareness on the part of county residents about the flaws of the El Toro

plan.

“Now that the anti-airport side has gotten organized and has been able to

communicate and people are having a chance to evaluate both sides, that’s

made the difference,” she said.

If opponents are doing a better job of getting their message out, Turner

said he felt poor organization on the part of El Toro advocates had

hobbled that cause.

“They have not worked together,” he said. “They have not come out with a

consistent message. If the county wants to get it back on track, the

county’s got to make some very dramatic moves and come up with some

innovative ideas.”

* For more coverage on the El Toro airport issue, see Page 5.