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.
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