Long lessons learned: Airport fight not over...

Long lessons learned: Airport fight not over

Richard Taylor mentions that I had been involved in controlling

John Wayne Airport for “more than 25 years” (Readers Respond,

Sunday). Actually, I’ve been at it for 40 years, beginning in the

early 1960s when I (and others) sought and obtained a resolution from

the county supervisors stating that the initial runway extension and

construction of a passenger terminal would not lead to commercial jet

operations. Within a year or two after those “improvements” were

completed, commercial jet operations commenced. Needless to say, we

were more than chagrined. But we also learned a hard lesson: It’s

never over till it’s over.

In 1969, I was appointed by Gov. Ronald Reagan as one of two

resident members to the commission that developed the noise standards

for California airports. The resulting state regulations, including

the setting of maximum allowable 24-hour and single-event noise

exposure levels over homes (enforced by 24-hour aircraft noise

monitoring), are still in effect.

In the 1970s the Airport Noise Abatement Committee (which I

headed) waged a multifaceted, hard-nosed fight against further

airport expansion, including the filing of hundreds of inverse

condemnation lawsuits against the county over airport noise. A small

initial batch of those suits went to trial, and there were enough

wins to force the county to seek a settlement in which the committee

agreed to drop the remaining lawsuits if the county signed a

settlement agreement with the city of Newport Beach, which included

limits on annual passenger capacity, noisy flights, and the hours of

commercial jet operations. That 20-year agreement was signed in 1985.

Happily, it’s been renewed for another 20 years. But, as they did

in the 1960s, the county supervisors will renege on that agreement

when (rather than if) it becomes necessary.

Having described what was accomplished before the Airport Working

Group existed, let’s look at what’s happened on that group’s watch.

One event stands out -- the loss of El Toro. We lost for four

reasons:

1. We were hopelessly outgunned, “out-PRd” and outspent by the

anti-El Toro crowd;

2. We allowed incumbent Supervisor Cynthia Coad (an El Toro

proponent) to lose to Chris Norby (who declared against El Toro and

was rewarded with heavy campaign contributions from South County);

3. We failed to politically organize the affected residents in

Eastside Costa Mesa so they could exert pressure on their City

Council (Measure F won even in Costa Mesa); and

4. There was no countywide effort to get out the anti-Measure F

vote.

It’s as simple as this: We can’t make those kinds of mistakes

again. The next battle will assuredly be another Armageddon unless

we’re prepared to take off the gloves and develop a hard-nosed,

effective, multifaceted strategy now. No more tax-exempt status that

bars political action and fundraising for political purposes.

It’s never over till it’s over.

DAN EMORY

Newport Beach

Mobile home vote

will be remembered

I have just come from City Council meeting where once again our

mayor, Gary Monahan, has shown his disregard and contempt for the

residents, mostly seniors, of Costa Mesa in favor of outsiders and

the big money.

Along with his sidekick, Councilman Allan Mansoor, who mimics

everything the mayor says or does, he has wasted taxpayer money,

hours upon hours of the planning department’s time and hard work in

developing a city ordinance that would give some protection to mobile

home owners in the event that their park owners would close their

parks, as happened to the home owners of El Nido and Snug Harbor

parks. Although Joe Brown, owner of those two parks, is now helping

to relocate us, we went through a trying year of anguish, frustration

and fear before we came to this point. If the city of Costa Mesa had

this ordinance a year ago, it would have saved a lot of grief,

taxpayers’ money and torment to the park home owners.

I guess the majority of the City Council did not take history

lessons in school or they would realize that it repeats itself if not

heeded. I think it’s clear that the mayor and Mansoor are bias toward

the park owners association, but Councilman Mike Scheafer should know

that there are 1,200 mobile homes in Costa Mesa. That amounts to a

lot of votes in November. Thank you Councilman Scheafer.

DICK MATHERLY

Newport Beach

* DICK MATHERLY is a former resident of El Nido Mobile Home Park.