THE RACE FOR NEWPORT BEACH CITY HALL

Mathis Winkler

“Malibu 4423 Yankee, stand by,” the controller’s voice comes over the

headphones. “It will be a couple more minutes.”

Gary L. Proctor -- attorney, businessman, airport commissioner and

candidate for Newport Beach’s District 2 City Council seat -- awaits

clearance from the control tower to follow his passion. He’s geared up

his private plane -- the 10th he’s owned since he began flying in 1975 --

to compare John Wayne Airport and the former El Toro Marine Corps Air

Station from above.

Pulling his plane into a soft curve along the shoreline, Proctor aims

toward El Toro across South County’s monotone subdivisions.

“I still don’t see the runway,” he says, turning to Robert Cashman, a

fellow airport commissioner accompanying Proctor as co-pilot on the

flight. “Do you see the runway, Bob?”

As he approaches the deserted Marine base, Proctor realizes that he’s

flown slightly to the right of the actual flight path into the proposed

airport.

“We were over more houses than would have been the case,” he says.

Maneuvering his plane through several mock takeoffs and landings at El

Toro, Proctor explains that big jets would reach altitudes up to 9,000

feet by the time they’d fly over anti-airport areas like Coto de Caza.

On his way back to John Wayne a few minutes later, he spots his former

residence in Tustin, standing directly in the flight path. Before moving

to Newport Beach last November, he lived there for 25 years. Proctor

currently lives in a condominium, but says he’s looking to buy a house in

the city.

“I started flying because traffic in Orange County was so bad,”

Proctor says a few minutes later, sitting in the conference room of the

airport’s Newport Jet Center. “My wife and I would drive to Mammoth [to

ski] and we thought, ‘There must be a better way to get there.’ ”

Since then, he’s collected about 5,500 flight hours.

On weekends, he uses his plane to commute to Santa Clara County. His

wife, Sandra, recently moved there with the couple’s two children to take

care of ailing family members, Proctor says. He adds that he’s also

opened a branch of his business there.

Proctor, who adopted his children, owns a Santa Ana-based legal

services firm that specializes in helping families reunite with their

children in Juvenile Court.

“The state is the absolute worst parent,” he said. “I attempt to help

families to solve [their problems] or help the system to find a foster

home.”

Proctor scoffs at the notion that he is a carpetbagger, considering

he’s lived in the city for such a short time.

“Look at the people that have endorsed me,” he says, adding that his

supporters range from current Councilwoman Jan Debay to firefighter and

police associations, as well as the Airport Working Group.

“They endorsed me because of what they viewed to be my integrity,” he

said. “If they all thought I was lying. ... they ought not support me.”