Measure F landslide: What happened?

NEWPORT BEACH -- How did a pro-airport camp comprising primarily

Newport-Mesa groups, in a little more than a year, go from predicting

victory to the losing end of a landslide vote?

That was the nagging question a day after Measure F -- South County’s

latest attempt at derailing the county’s plans for an international

airport at El Toro -- passed by a 2-to-1 margin.

It was near the end of 1998 when momentum was building for the El Toro

project and Newport Beach was leading the troops into battle.

Incumbent Supervisor Jim Silva had cruised to victory over his South

County-funded challenger -- Huntington Beach’s Dave Sullivan. Fifth

District Supervisor Cynthia Coad also won handily, not only preserving

but strengthening the pro-airport majority on the Orange County Board of

Supervisors.

Newport Beach leaders at the time characterized the results of that

election as a “major loss” for South County and assumed the anti-airport

contingent would face an “uphill battle.”

Even Clarence Turner, the former Newport mayor considered the city’s

airport guru, said confidently at the time, “If we play our cards right,

I think we’ve won this one.”

What happened over the course of 1999 that caused a reversal in momentum

and the resulting change in public opinion?

Insiders say there were inherent flaws working against the pro-airport

group. First, South County produced a well-crafted initiative -- one that

dealt not only with the airport debate but played to the general

anti-government sentiment sweeping through the county.

“I think it was a referendum on the county planning process, and the

question is, where do we go from here and how do we make that change?”

said Peggy Ducey, executive director of the Orange County Regional

Airport Authority.

Secondly, there was a clear lack of leadership, direction and

cohesiveness on the pro-airport front.

“The pro-airport people didn’t do a good job of communicating the

benefits of the airport,” said political consultant Eileen Padberg. “They

have to go back to the drawing board and come up with a clear, consistent

message of why the airport is a good thing.”

Padberg added that momentum was lost when voters were assaulted with

varying concerns from two groups -- the Airport Working Group and the

George Argyros-founded Citizens for Jobs and the Economy. Although three

county supervisors, a large section of Newport-Mesa and some North County

cities support an airport at El Toro, there appears to be an army without

a general.

“You can’t have all of these groups giving different statements on a

daily basis,” she said. “It’s too confusing and doesn’t make sense.

There needs to be one group driving the bus.”

Observers also point to the critical move made by the Newport Beach City

Council last year. The council terminated the contracts of several El

Toro airport consultants -- what had been its “El Toro Task Force” -- and

put its weight behind organizations such as the Airport Working Group,

believing group leaders would present a comprehensive and detailed plan

to voters.

“We had a strategy and the machinery got dismantled for political

reasons,” said Tom Edwards, former mayor and longtime airport activist.

“Clarence Turner predicted this exact thing two years ago when the city

changed its course. He predicted it to a ‘t.”’

But City Council members defended their past decisions.

In fact, Councilwoman Norma Glover said it was the focus on the task

force that put the city behind in the fight.

“They spent a year putting together a flawed plan and we got way behind,”

she said. “We lost one year in the battle and it’s really hard to play

catch-up.”

Mayor John Noyes also stood behind the council’s decision to give its

money to the different organizations.

“We’ve got grass-roots organizations out there and they know what they

are doing,” he said. “The county should be driving the train. I think

we’re on the right track.”

Councilman Dennis O’Neil added that no matter what the council did, it

couldn’t spend public money on the campaign, anyway.

Airport proponents admit they may need to rethink their strategy, but

don’t want to stray from their message. Ducey said the pro-airport camp

will have to look closely at why Measure F passed and make the necessary

adjustments.

“I believe that the project can be packaged for a vote of the people and,

at the same time, in a way that lets people know what they gain and lose

if it does or doesn’t pass,” Ducey said. “I think there’s a way to do

it.”

South County officials, who oppose an El Toro airport, also sense that

Newport Beach has lost the edge it once had.

The El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, a coalition of South County cities

fighting the airport, has reached out to the Newport-Mesa community,

saying both areas should work together to prevent El Toro and an

expansion at John Wayne Airport. Local officials haven’t accepted the

offer.

In the meantime, some South County folks said the pro-airport group may

have lost ground they can’t recover.

“I don’t think they have a lot of cards left in their deck,” said Meg

Waters, a spokeswoman for the reuse group. “A lot of cities in North

County oppose John Wayne’s expansion and stand at the side with Newport

Beach. But they have their heads in the sand.”