El Toro alternative found lacking

Esther Fine

Charles H. Loos may have been a journalist at one time, but his

Aug. 2 letter (Community Commentary, “El Toro isn’t the only option

for an international airport,” Friday) certainly lacked the required

investigative qualities necessary for providing good reporting.

Loos questioned the money spent on the planning and promoting of

an El Toro airport, finding it a waste that could have gone for more

welfare programs or infrastructure projects. Then, he returned to the

old, tired argument of finding another site like Camp Pendleton and

building a transportation system to get to it.

Loos seems to have been taken in by South County’s propaganda

machine. He should have read the numerous and exhaustive official

reports that explain the serious air and ground transportation

problems our region is facing without El Toro. Every potential

possibility for another airport, including Pendleton, has been

thoroughly examined and discarded due to “fatal flaws.”

The ugly truth is that without El Toro airport, John Wayne Airport

will be forced to expand significantly. To keep our quality of life,

property values and sanity, Newport Beach was forced to counter the

massive misinformation campaign by South County cities. Trouble is,

Irvine’s nearly $20 million to stop an El Toro airport was no match

for the meager $3-plus million the Newport Beach City Council

provided.

When Loos sees JWA expanding and Newport Beach deteriorating, he

might want to reconsider his position. Cities within the JWA corridor

should have spent whatever needed to secure an El Toro airport

because there is no issue that will prove more important.

* ESTHER FINE is a Newport Beach Realtor.