Poll shows increase in airport support
Paul Clinton
NEWPORT-MESA -- Support for an airport at the closed El Toro Marine
Corps Air Station has jumped 7% since March, according to a poll released
Wednesday.
The Orange County Business Council and Cal State Fullerton funded the
telephone poll, which was completed between June 19 and July 2 by the
university’s Social Science Research Center.
Pollsters asked a random sampling of 532 Orange County residents two
questions: whether they would support or oppose an airport at El Toro and
whether they would vote for a ballot measure, set for March, that would
pave the way for a Great Park at the base.
Of the people surveyed -- the 10% who were undecided or didn’t answer
weren’t counted -- 46.8% supported an airport versus 53.2% in opposition.
The poll registered a 4.34% margin of error.
Counter to those numbers, 62.4% said they would vote for the park
measure, with 37.6% saying they wouldn’t support an idea floated by
Irvine Mayor Larry Agran.
Airport advocates were heartened by the study. They attributed the
jump in support to a public information campaign mounted by the county
earlier this month, closer scrutiny of the Great Park plan and a troubled
economy.
The Airport Working Group has produced several fliers and television
ads criticizing the park.
“That’s big,” group spokesman Dave Ellis said. “We’ve been working
aggressively. It’s starting to pay off.”
The majority, about 80%, of the poll’s sample was taken from North
County. South County households made up 20% of the homes polled.
Meg Waters, the spokeswoman for the the 10-city coalition of South
County cities fighting the county’s airport plan, questioned the validity
of the data.
Waters said the business council’s involvement raises a red flag,
because the group supports building an airport at the base.
“They’ve always tried to give a pro-airport spin to these things,”
Waters said. “If the business council was not involved, I would take it
more seriously.”
Julie Puentes, the spokeswoman for the council, denied that the poll
was motivated by politics.
Since March when the last poll was done, the Great Park plan has come
into the debate. And the high costs of developing a park at the base are
likely to sway more voters in favor of an airport, Puentes said.
“I think there’s bound to be disenchantment about the Great Park as
soon as the costs come out,” Puentes said. “A certain measure of doubt
has started to be created about the Great Park.”
* Paul Clinton covers the environment and John Wayne Airport. He may
be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at paul.clinton@latimes.com.
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