Group rallies airport support in Costa Mesa

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- Members of the Airport Working Group hosted a meeting

Tuesday night at the downtown community center not only to gain support

for an El Toro airport -- and their organization -- but to voice

disapproval with the City Council regarding the matter.

Major expansions at John Wayne Airport, bringing increased noise and

traffic to the residents of the city, are inevitable if an airport is not

built at the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, the Newport

Beach-based group contended.

“We can’t understand why Costa Mesa -- who will get absolutely creamed

-- has not joined the fight to support El Toro,” said Tom Anderson, a

member of the group. “To have only two council members here is pathetic.”

Councilmen Gary Monahan and Chris Steel, along with about 120 members

of the community, were at the meeting.

“Let us know how you would like us to get involved,” Monahan said.

“Costa Mesa City Council has not really jumped into the fray or dedicated

any time or money to the issue. Apparently we need a little more

motivation.”

Costa Mesa resident Rachel Perez-Hamilton took the councilman’s cue

and circulated a petition at the meeting in hopes of sending a message to

the City Council, she said. By the end of the meeting, more than 80

residents had signed it.

The petition expressed “dissatisfaction” with the council in regard to

both John Wayne and El Toro airports and demanded that the council

“donate $600,000 to agencies who are educating the citizens of Orange

County and supporting the John Wayne and El Toro airports.”

In May, the council approved a $15,000 grant to the Airport Working

Group for the purpose of informing Costa Mesa residents about the dangers

of expanding John Wayne Airport. Later that month, the group gave the

money back because the city would not allow them to publicly support an

El Toro airport.

Councilwoman Linda Dixon said she did not attend the Airport Working

Group gathering because she thinks the city-hosted informational meeting

is a more appropriate place to hear the opinions and concerns of the

residents. Costa Mesa is planning to hold a public meeting on airport

issues in the fall, she said.

“This is a meeting with no council members coming there with their

agenda to preach their beliefs. This is an opportunity for the public to

come and speak their minds,” Dixon said.

Councilwoman Karen Robinson was at a Redevelopment and Residential

Rehabilitation Committee meeting Tuesday night and was unable to attend,

she said.

“I was very frustrated that the meeting was scheduled on the same

night of another very important committee meeting,” she said. “I am

looking forward to hearing opinions about the airport -- and regional

airport issues -- at the meetings that the city is planning.”

Mayor Libby Cowan was unavailable for comment.

Aside from bashing the City Council, the purpose of the meeting was to

inform residents of Costa Mesa about the issues surrounding John Wayne

Airport. President Tom Naughton explained the regional demand for another

airport and Gen. Art Bloomer of the Orange County Regional Airport

Authority addressed what he called “misinformation” being disseminated

about the proposed airport at El Toro.

Vice President Rick Taylor’s presentation sparked the most interest.

Taylor detailed the effects of the county’s two alternative expansion

plans for John Wayne Airport, which would be implemented if another

airport is not built, he said.

“Day in and day out jets fly over our homes and we just endure it for

the good of the county while all the clean air is reserved for the folks

in South County,” Taylor said. “You can go home and do nothing and it

will grow like a cancer in your body. Just rest assured that every night

while you sleep, one more plane is flying overhead.”