Measure F foes soak up loss at Villa Nova

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- Members of the Airport Working Group partied the night

away, sipping wine in a fancy restaurant as Measure F crept closer and

closer to approval.

Despite the seemingly unfavorable results of the contentious election,

supporters of the El Toro airport gathered at Villa Nova for a lively

evening. Airport Working Group volunteers lingered around steaming buffet

tables of pasta and meatballs, chatting about the measure and other local

political issues.

“I think there may still be a surprise,” volunteer Peggy Coholan said

early in the evening. “I live optimistically. If it doesn’t work,

there’ll be another way.”

The initiative proposes to require a two-thirds majority vote before any

new airports, jails or landfills in residential neighborhoods could be

built. The issue has divided the county bitterly, with the south

supporting the measure and the north opposing it.

However, while some Airport Working Group members were optimistic, others

had realistically accepted losing this battle in the war to build an

international airport at El Toro and prevent any expansion of John Wayne

Airport.

Members placed the blame on almost everything -- from lack of funding to

North County voter apathy to the media -- for Tuesday’s defeat.

But they maintained they fought the best campaign they could.

“I wouldn’t change anything,” said Bruce Nestande, director of Citizens

for Jobs & the Economy, which led the anti-F effort.

Tom Naughton, president of the Airport Working Group, added that the

campaign and volunteers were outstanding. They worked tirelessly and

donated a great deal of time to the campaign, he said.

“Campaigns all have rhythm,” said Dave Ellis, the working group’s paid

consultant. “We were outdone and outspent.”

He added that the initiative was very craftily drafted. Even Ellis could

see the temptation of requiring a vote for jails or landfills, he said.

“It was slow to start,” added member Richard Taylor. “If the election was

in a couple days, we would’ve won hands-down.”

Taylor said part of the problem was that local voters were apathetic.

They didn’t think the measure was a real threat, he said.

Despite the loss, however, members of the group insisted that there is

life after Measure F and that it would not kill their campaign. The next

step, many said, would be to take it to a court battle.

“This will go on,” Naughton said. “Tomorrow is another day. We will still

have the same goals as today.”