Editorial

For Newport-Mesa, Tuesday’s elections were a model in polar opposites.

On one end, there was the harsh realization that South County forces

were able to use the promises of a Great Park to dash the county’s plans

for an airport at El Toro and leave a majority of Newport-Mesa residents

with bitter disappointment.

On the other came a new infusion of faith in our democratic process

after voters defied the prognosticators and ensured that a judge, who

stands accused of child molestation and possession of child pornography,

will not get a free ride back to the bench.

First, let’s deal with the disappointment.

Though many have surmised that the Great Park was nothing more than a

smoke screen to kill El Toro, the voters nonetheless took the bait on

Measure W and dealt what looks like a mortal blow to the pro-airport

movement. Sure, there is now talk of lawsuits and even another ballot

measure in the form of the V-Plan from the pro-airport forces, but

securing an El Toro victory that way sure seems pretty slim today.

Even if those efforts are successful, the blows to the pro El Toro

airport campaign came from several sides. In addition to Measure W’s

passage, a key airport proponent on the Orange County Board of

Supervisors lost her seat to Fullerton Councilman Chris Norby.

Norby, flush with campaign money from South County, has promised his

supporters that he would end the El Toro efforts. Indeed, even Newport

Beach County Supervisor Jim Silva has said publicly if Measure W wins,

he’d soften his pro-airport stance.

The final, and maybe most mortal, blow came from the owners of El Toro

itself -- the U.S. Navy.

Our local congressman, Chris Cox, announced the very day after the

vote that Navy officials, who presumably had seen enough bickering over

the site, were prepared to parcel off the land to the highest bidder,

instead of handing it over to the county as originally planned.

With such daunting obstacles now in the way, we urge those who put all

their efforts into the dream of El Toro to now refocus their energy on

their own backyard, namely ensuring that flight caps and curfews continue

at John Wayne Airport for years to come.

Now back to the sun that shined that dark day.

Thanks mostly to the efforts of local attorney Gay Sandoval, county

voters provided enough write-in ballots to force a runoff between accused

Superior Court Judge Ronald Kline and another candidate to be determined.

Ironically, Sandoval may not be that candidate, even though the

write-in votes would not have been possible except for her.

That’s because after Sandoval announced her intentions to run a

write-in campaign, several others quickly followed suit, including Costa

Mesa City Councilwoman Karen Robinson.

While we must remind all that Kline is only accused and not convicted

of these crimes and obviously needs a fair trial, Sandoval’s efforts

ensure that voters in November will be able to choose between a judicial

candidate facing such charges and one who isn’t.

As election victories go, this one was pretty nice. We only wish there

had been more for Newport-Mesa to celebrate.