SEAL BEACH : Council Remains Neutral on El Toro Airport Plan

The City Council has chosen to be neutral on the question of turning the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into a commercial airport.

Council members last week decided not to take a stand on Measure A, the El Toro Airport Initiative.

“It really isn’t up to the council to take a position on something that affects the other part of Orange County,” Mayor George Brown said. “I don’t think there’s anybody who has a good feeling for what will happen if Measure A passes.”

Councilman Frank Laszlo, who supports Measure A, said the council’s neutrality should not be interpreted as opposition to the the ballot initiative. He said Seal Beach residents are concerned about proposals to turn the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Reserve Center and adjacent Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station into a commercial airport as an alternative to the El Toro site.

“The council wasn’t split on the concept, it was split on getting involved in the controversy,” Laszlo said. “If our county needs an airport, El Toro is the most logical place.”

Council members were not reluctant to oppose Proposition 188, which Laszlo called the “tobacco industry initiative.” They unanimously rejected the proposition that would repeal all local smoking bans, which are now allowed to be more stringent than statewide anti-smoking laws.

Laszlo and other city officials say they would lose decision-making power if the initiative becomes law.