The Airport Debate

Airport supporters should support other airports

What course of action should El Toro supporters take? Supporters of a

commercial airport at El Toro should come to their senses and recognize

that most Orange County residents do not want an airport at El Toro, and

for that reason there will not be one. They should lend their support to

a regional airport, with connecting highway and rail transportation at

Pendleton or March Air Force Base.

DAVID BARTH

Newport Beach

V-plan undermines city’s pro-airport support

I quite agree with our City Manager Homer Bludau (“Bludau blasts El

Toro V-plan,” July 12). If Charles Griffin and Villa Park Councilman Bob

McGowan wish to propose a different configuration, e.g. the V-plan, then

they should offer such suggestions after there is a certainty that we

will have an El Toro airport. Their timing is terrible. Are they

undercover supporters of the South County position of the Great Park and

expanding John Wayne Airport? Let’s stay together and deal with the

biggest issue. We need El Toro airport.

DAVID and BARBARA WALLACE

Newport Beach

Only politically correct airport is in Los Angeles

I think they should just shut down the John Wayne Airport, and

everybody can go to L.A. to fly. Then everybody will be happy. There

won’t be any noise in Newport Beach, and there won’t be any noise in the

South County, either. That will just end the whole thing.

JEANETTE MAHONEY

Newport Beach

Great Park far from being a reality

Apparently after three false starts, the proponents of the Great Park

have finally fixed all the technical and legal flaws in their petition

and have now sent their minions back to the streets begging for

signatures. It is clear that in their rush to stop an airport at any

cost, they were careless in their effort to file a proper petition by

fumbling technicalities such as excluding required maps, mislabeling

directions, and so forth.

All of this is rationalized by their vision of a park larger than

Balboa, Golden Gate and New York’s Central Park combined as an oasis for

Orange County citizens. All this land, plus every conceivable cultural

and recreational facility is promised without a single dollar required

from Orange County taxpayers.

Even the tagline on their mailers is “. . . imagine . . .”

However, in light of their inability to create a simple ballot

petition, much less a complex initiative, it makes their vision of an

enormous park without taxes seem more like a mirage.

TOM ANDERSON

Newport Beach