City has to accept El Toro...

City has to accept El Toro airport has flown

From reading the Daily Pilot Forum section, we are struck by the

short term memory loss of those Newport Beach residents who are

clinging tenaciously to the belief that an international airport at

El Toro is still a great idea.

Sadly, they forget that Newport Beach had a great opportunity that

they let get away. When we ran for City Council against Tom Edwards,

in 1994, there was a Speak Up Newport function that featured both

Bill Krogerman and Tom Edwards debating the El Toro airport proposal.

Although we were not allowed to participate directly, we managed to

ask Krogerman publicly whether or not he would support air cargo and

general aviation at El Toro. His response was: ‘’We would certainly

take a strong look at that given that a commercial passenger airport

not be included.’’

So in 1995, we were appointed to the Environmental Committee of

the Orange County Airport Commission and found that the plan being

developed by the county and supported by Newport Beach did not

include that proposal, but offered instead an international airport

with a 98 Million Annual Passenger contingency by 2025. LAX still

doesn’t have a 98 MAP without the adoption of the current expansion

proposal. So people of Newport Beach -- wonder why the South County

people were outraged? It wasn’t until the passage of Measure F

(overturned by one lone judge) that the county plan visited a maximum

28 MAP option, more than three times as big as our own Orange County

airport is today.

Using the big hammer was never going to work, but then, why

compromise and work together when you can just as well push your

weight around and then cry like babies when that strategy doesn’t

work.

Maybe there is still time to pay off the right politicians or

judges and come up with another Plan E, F, G, H or Z -- but we don’t

think so. In the words of Spike Lee: ‘’Just do the right thing’’ and

if you can’t do that -- ‘’live with the consequences.’’

RON AND ANNA WINSHIP

Newport Beach

Those against El Toro have fooled populace

The Daily Pilot article ‘’V-Plan supporters, opponents exchange

accusations’’ (May 16) quotes anti-airport supporters responding to

accusations they have lied about the V-Plan as saying they have the

right to free speech and are not breaking any laws. Sadly, that may

be true.

Anti-El Toro airport activists have fooled the public for years by

making ridiculous, unsubstantiated statements for the purpose of

sabotaging airport planning. In plain language -- they lied and

manipulated facts and they continue doing so today. Yet those lies

are protected by our Constitution. It is frustrating for those who

know the truth to watch the public accept blatant lies as facts.

If every statement about El Toro airport was analyzed by an

unbiased source and a report was published weekly on the front page

of our newspapers exposing lies, the public would have demanded

building the new airport and we would be building the terminal by

now. Follow the anti-El Toro airport money trail and discover it

leads to greedy developers and ambitious politicians who have had a

plan from the beginning to grab that land for themselves, no matter

the cost.

JANICE WRIGHT

Newport Beach

Airport funding audit sounds wonderful

I’m very much in favor of having the airing out of how the money

was spent for the El Toro grant money, very much. And I applaud City

Council members John Heffernan and Norma Glover for what they’re

doing.

SOLLY SHATZEN

Newport Beach

Airlines need El Toro international airport

Regarding “Supervisors, council extend airport limits” (June 26),

the much-heralded settlement extension won’t be worth the paper it’s

written on until the planned El Toro international airport comes on

line. At the start of the last settlement agreement, 1984, we had

3-million annual passengers at John Wayne Airport. Now we have three

times that much, 9.8 million annual passengers. During the next 20

years, demand will grow to 45 million annual passengers, of which 40

is to be handled at El Toro. Without El Toro, there will be massive

condemnations at John Wayne Airport, added runways and bridging over

freeways.

Airlines must sue to open El Toro, not to expand John Wayne

Airport. There are people in the noise zone at John Wayne Airport,

but no one is in the noise zone of the planned El Toro international

airport, even when operating at 30 million annual passengers.

DONALD NYRE

Newport Beach