The El Toro Debate -- No end in sight

The Daily Pilot article of Jan. 12 [“Naughton appointed to airport

land use board”] labeled Tom Naughton, president of the Airport Working

Group, a “foot soldier” for the Orange County Board of Supervisors in

their quest to open a commercial airport at the former El Toro Marine Air

Base. Naughton has donated his time to the Airport Working Group for more

than six years and served as president for the last three years. He is

one of the many members of the group who donated their time to bring

about the settlement agreement for restricted flight operations and noise

abatement procedures at John Wayne Airport.

At the same time, he is aware that escalation of passenger demand for

more flights at John Wayne without an airport at El Toro will cause

catastrophic impacts on the citizens of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.

The Pilot also quotes Meg Waters, spokesperson for the El Toro Reuse

Planning Authority, an ad hoc coalition of South County cities opposing

an airport at El Toro. She states that Naughton’s appointment is a

political payoff, although the position is nonpaying. The Pilot fails to

identify Waters as part of a company, Waters & Faubel, which has been

paid more than $50,000 per month of public funds for more than two years

for salaries, public relations, TV ads and mail by the planning

authority. Faubel is an ex-council member of Mission Viejo.

One of Waters & Faubel’s TV ads shows an obviously doctored video of

El Toro main runways looking north into a zoomed-in, perfectly clear view

of Loma Ridge towering over the runway and nearby hills obscured with

haze. Loma Ridge is more than five miles from the end of the main

runways. Televising this video on local stations cannot be cheap. Several

more misleading anti-El Toro airport TV clips are currently on the air.

These are typical of the anti-airport mission.

The Daily Pilot, once a local Newport-Mesa newspaper, shows its true

colors when quoting a paid representative of anti-El Toro airport

zealots.

RALPH P. MORGAN, JR.

Costa Mesa

I would like to comment on the article concerning the extension of

flight restrictions at John Wayne Airport [“Pushing for more

restrictions,” Jan. 29] and in particular at statements attributed to

Barbara Lichman of the Airport Working Group. I take strong exception to

Lichman’s assertion that South County cities have no business or say in

any decision over John Wayne Airport.

As an elected representative of the 43,000 residents of my city who

would be subjected to overflight of more than 300 departures a day, 24

hours a day, seven days a week under the county’s El Toro Airport plan,

my city and every other South County city that will be subjected to El

Toro overflights has every right to be involved in any decision on John

Wayne.

The Airport Working Group has made it patently clear that the only

solution to retaining caps at John Wayne is for an airport to be built at

El Toro. They offer no other options, nor do they offer a willingness to

even discuss other options. No, their solution is to subject my city and

many other cities in South County to an airport with no restrictions, far

more flights and no curfews.

It is time for Newport Beach to wake up to this misguided group of

individuals that has done, and continues to do, significant damage to the

support that the South County cities have expressed for retaining

restrictions at John Wayne. As Meg Waters correctly pointed out in the

same article, you need our South County support to make that happen. But

the continued open hostility exhibited by the Airport Working Group and

its “leadership” of Lichman is eroding that support quickly. 2005 is just

around the corner, and one thing that can be assured is that there will

be no airport at El Toro.

GARY THOMPSON

CouncilmanRancho Santa Margarita

What will it take to end the debate of the airport at El Toro?

Answer: Open the airport at El Toro!!

ANN WATT

Santa Ana Heights

I have been hesitant to believe statements from anti-airport activists

that claim the El Toro airport is unsafe. Finally, we will have that

question answered by objective experts. The Federal Aviation

Administration took a major step in evaluating El Toro’s safety recently

as they tested departure routes and obstacle clearances at the former

base. I believe when their results are announced, we will know positively

that the El Toro airport would be perfectly safe for commercial aircraft

use.

ANGELA GALLAGHER

Costa Mesa