Busing out the troops

Gloria Ruzicka is charged up about plans to build an airport at the

closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. So much so that she woke up

early Tuesday to lend her hand to the cause.

Ruzicka, who lives in Eastbluff, was one of more than 150 locals to

hop on a bus bound for a hearing in Santa Ana before the Orange County

Board of Supervisors about the environmental review of the county’s plan

for an airport at the base.

The 71-year-old said she has been frustrated with the stalemate over

what ultimately should be built at the base.

“I don’t think anything’s going to happen in my lifetime,” Ruzicka

said. “I’m doing it because I have three children.”

Ruzicka and a small crowd of other supporters gathered for a catered

breakfast at the picnic area of the Newport Dunes Resort to begin their

morning. Starting about 7 a.m., airport supporters chewed on pastries and

sipped coffee as they kicked around the airport topic.

Come 8 a.m., the first two buses carrying 55 people each were off to

the hearing. A second round was a half-hour behind. On the ride over,

Newport Harbor Chamber of Commerce spokesman Doug Stuckey said he hoped

the board would respond to the strength-in-numbers showing.

“This seems like a good way to get people out there and excited about

it,” Stuckey said. “To get one unified voice for the airport.”

Airport supporters jammed the board’s hearing hall. In a line snaking

out the door before the hearing, supporters shouted “El Toro Now” and

other rallying cries.

Oddly enough, only a small contingent of South County leaders showed

up. Those who were there protested the hearing as a sham.

“It’s all a show,” said Paul Eckles, the executive director of the

10-city El Toro Reuse Planning Authority. “It’s not a legally significant

hearing.”

The board is set to formally vote on the certification of the

environmental report on Sept. 17. If the report is approved, the board

would then turn its attention toward getting the base handed over from

the Navy.

The county has proposed an airport that could handle as many as 28.8

million passengers a year, but supervisors are backing off that plan in

favor of a smaller facility handling 18 million passengers a year.

Board Chairwoman Cynthia Coad urged the board to seriously consider

the smaller airport on Sept. 17.

“The issue of whether El Toro should ever be developed beyond that

level should be made by a future board,” Coad said. “They would be best

positioned to ensure that all environmental and quality of life issues

are fully considered and protected.”

At the hearing, a host of city officials from across the county showed

up to make their arguments. Costa Mesa Councilman Chris Steel said his

city was behind the county’s plan for an airport at the base.

If no airport is built at El Toro, Steel said, John Wayne Airport

could be forced to grow beyond its cap of 8.4 million annual passengers.

“The electorate of Costa Mesa overwhelmingly supports the

certification of this environmental-impact report,” Steel said. “If John

Wayne is allowed to expand, it will have a devastating effect on Costa

Mesa.”

Others talked about the stretching of flight capacity in Orange County

and a pent-up demand waiting to overwhelm the nation’s air systems.

“The growth is here whether we want it or not,” Newport Beach

Councilman Tod Ridgeway said. “We need to be responsible to the entire

region. The highest and best use [of the base] is an airport.”