THE FRED COLUMN

Fred Martin

This whole El Toro airport beef is all wrong.

It shouldn’t be a street fight with Newport Beach and the county of

Orange against Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, Lake

Forest and Leisure World.

This years-old spitting contest is an utter waste of time, brainpower

and untold millions of dollars.

There is no right, there is no wrong. I have a strong hunch that, if I

lived in or around the El Toro flight path, I’d be fighting like mad,

too. And I’d be writing nasty things about all those rich folks in

Newport Beach tossing their weight and their considerable money around.

Admit it: You’d probably be bellyaching, too.

Assuming the good guys win, do you really think that’s the last you’ll

hear from down South? Hardly. Every city government in South County will

be queuing up to file suit against the county and the city of Newport

Beach.

By the time a civilian El Toro actually becomes operational, they’ll have

to change the name from Orange County International to Orange County

Intergalactic. The first flight out would be a Boeing 999 to Pluto.

But maybe there’s a way out of this nasty plight.

Can you imagine what might happen if the energy and the brainpower and

the money that has been wasted on the El Toro dilemma could be pulled

together to come up with a solution that works for all involved?

Can you imagine if, instead of joining South County governments in their

campaign for yet a third ballot referendum, Rep. Christopher Cox

(R-Newport Beach) had actually demonstrated some leadership in finding a

solution to this ugly mess?

Instead, he comes out and says, “Hey, gang, I just signed this great

petition that would allow the people to settle this enormously complex

issue.”

A ballot initiative o7 wasf7 a great idea. The first time. The measure

allowed the people of the county to speak, and they did: “Let’s do it!”

the majority agreed.

That was not good enough for South County, so they cobbled up another

referendum to negate the one that voters had already passed. That didn’t

work either.

So here’s the next great tactic: A third referendum on the same tired old

topic. This time, however, the South County residents recruit everybody’s

favorite congressman and hoist him onto their shoulders. What next, a

Gatorade bath?

The gimmick here is calling the new ballot measure the “Citizens for Safe

and Healthy Cities” initiative. Can’t you see the TV spots? They’ll be as

big a crock as those being run now by the managed-care industry to thwart

legislative attempts at controlling HMOs.

The only thing that is surprising about Cox coming out for the anti-El

Toro measure is that anybody was surprised by it. Since the day the Navy

announced the eventual closing of the Marine air base, and its civilian

use became an issue, the Congressman has never once given any indication

that he supported conversion plans.

Still, people in Newport Beach continued their beatification of

Christopher Cox. There was some wishful thinking about a presidential

run, more rational vice presidential boomlets anda reasonably serious

senatorial exploration, now folded.

I suspect the hordes of loyal Cox supporters in Newport are more than a

little disappointed right now. The prince turned out to be a fink.

But it’s not too late for Chris Cox to save face -- and perhaps a

political career that could go beyond the House of Representatives.

He could show courage by admitting that dividing the county once again is

really not the way to a successful solution.

He can discover that Orange County has a large air transportation problem

that gets worse by the day. And that the size of the current predicament

is molecular compared to what’s coming up.

Finally, Cox needs to show big-time leadership.

He needs to identify Orange County’s airport dilemma as what it really

is: A regional pox, a Southern California affliction that, if not

properly cured, could permanently disable orderly and livable growth in

the region.

From there, all Cox needs to do is exercise that leadership by bringing

together a working symposium of the great minds we have here.

Congregate the thinkers and planners, the academics and the technical

wizards, the tycoons and the money people. Not in the useless

congressional hearing format, but in a problem-solving summit.

Let these great minds solve the problem. Then let Cox bring his district

together for the common good of all -- and let’s get on with life.

Then, maybe his supporters can actually begin thinking seriously about

Sen. Cox or Vice President Cox or -- who knows?

FRED MARTIN is a former Newport Beach resident who now writes from his

home in Fort Collins, Colo. His column runs Wednesdays.