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.”
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