More than one city should be armed...

More than one city should be armed with veto power

In his Pilot Community Commentary Tuesday, “More than just

resolutions for ‘05,” Newport Beach Mayor Steve Bromberg states, “as

a city, we would like to have complete veto power over future airport

expansion” at John Wayne.

To be consistent, Newport Beach should back the city of Irvine

having the same veto power at El Toro.

Moreover, Newport Beach should oppose Los Angeles Mayor James

Hahn’s aggressive stance against local control of airports by the

people who live near them. Hahn seeks to take over El Toro to be run

as an annex of Los Angeles International Airport.

At a press conference a few days ago, he said, “This airport just

doesn’t belong to people in Orange County. People think just because

they live next to it they ought to be the ones to decide.”

Newport Beach also should oppose Los Angeles efforts to create a

state-mandated Southern California regional airport authority with

power to decide which airports are built or expanded. If Newport

Beach residents are not satisfied with Orange County local control

over the fate of John Wayne Airport, they certainly won’t like Los

Angeles-dominated regional control.

LEONARD KRANSER

Dana Point

El Toro land includes

room for compromise

At this point, Irvine and South County maintain firm control over

El Toro. The only realistic chance for any kind of airport would be

if Irvine and South County were willing to change their minds. This

will require a radically different approach than past methods.

First off, El Toro proponents should apologize and show some

contrition for their heavy-handed tactics of the past. Proposing a

24-hour, seven-day-a-week airport over heavily populated areas is not

something I would even wish upon my worst enemy. While approaches

over Laguna Woods may be a bit quieter than takeoffs over Santa Ana

Heights are, it is still a nuisance nonetheless. Ask yourself this:

“Would you agree to around-the-clock landings to John Wayne? I doubt

it.

So scrap the antiquated military flight paths and implement the

“Pilot’s Plan,” where approaches would come from the north, and

takeoffs could head south with a 30-degree bank to the right and

remain entirely free of homes and schools. For good measure, impose a

curfew if necessary.

Yes, there will be some in South County who would even oppose this

layout. But, keep in mind that many individuals and cities have spent

millions of dollars protecting themselves from a very invasive county

plan for the past 10 years. However, compensating South County for

their past expenses would go a long way toward saying you’re sorry.

Where could such money come from? The city of Los Angeles.

Officials there are willing to spend nearly $11 billion for an LAX

makeover yet not add any real increase in capacity. Instead, for less

than half that amount, we could have a win-win-win situation for all.

First, $1 billion could pay off the Navy, then it should not take

more than $3 billion to modify El Toro (even less for a smaller

airport.) Finally, there should be a $1 billion community fund for

South County for a grand total of $5 billion.

From this community fund, El Toro Reuse Planning Authority cities

could get reimbursed tenfold for their past expenses along with

individuals who contributed, plus this fund could aid local

charities. Also, the citizens of South County could get an annual

subsidy like the citizens of Alaska receive from oil revenues. Then,

to sweeten the pot, give them free or deep discounts on parking and

passenger fees. Plus, give their citizens first priority when it

comes to airport-related jobs and construction projects.

This may require a public-private partnership, since there may be

some regulations prohibiting a public agency from such generosity.

However, there are private firms that run airports all over the

world. Also, the airport should not require more than 2,100 acres, so

this would leave at least 1,600 acres (slightly larger than UC

Irvine) available for a Great Park as well.

The point is, honey will go a lot further than vinegar. So why

throw good money after bad money on even more coercive litigation and

legislation? There should be a meeting among community stakeholders

and former warring parties to explore ways simultaneously to make El

Toro as profitable and as good of a neighbor as possible for South

County. This new approach could not possibly yield any worse results

than past attempts for El Toro.

REX RICKS

Huntington Beach

City has forfeited

its right to veto

Steve Bromberg argues that Newport should have veto power over the

expansion of John Wayne Airport. I disagree.

Newport officialdom have used their collective legal, financial

and political power to attempt to unilaterally force our only county

airport to be limited in capacity far below its design capacity while

at the same time doing everything within their power to force a much

larger airport, with no limits of any kind upon their neighboring

communities:

* They have claimed that the Los Angeles region has a shortage of

runways located and sized appropriately to meet any foreseeable

future regional needs -- unless a new airport is built at El Toro.

* They have misrepresented regional demand and the Orange County

factor in that demand, and have attempted to make the case within the

county, within the region, and in Sacramento that Orange County

should be required to build a new major regional airport at El Toro.

In short, Newport and its paid agents have waged a very large,

well-financed and deceitful 10-year attempt to promote Newport at the

expense -- legally, environmentally and financially -- of the rest of

the county. By their actions these past 10 years, Newport officials

have effectively forfeited their right to any say in the future of

John Wayne Airport. Only the county voters as a whole should decide

the future of John Wayne Airport.

MICHAEL SMITH

Mission Viejo

Noise is not the

factor it once was

It appears that common sense and knowledge of flying is not

acceptable in this debate. Our representative, Chris Cox, should be

on the positive side of this debate because it is vital to Orange

County’s future.

As a Navy pilot surviving four years of multi-engine aircraft in

World War II, five years in Korea and years of flying from Los

Alamitos, I flew to every airport in the area, and El Toro was the

best and safest. Even Air Force One made frequent stopovers. Noise

was a Marine fighter problem years ago, but it is no longer a problem

for modern aircraft. I trust that our governor has been briefed on

this important debate.

ROGER BROWN

Newport Beach

Skate park would fit

well at Triangle Square

Regarding Geoff West’s letter to the editor Friday, “Nike’s

departure not exactly a surprise,” I must have missed West’s

suggestion last year about building a skate park in the lower level

of Triangle Square. I have thought for a long time that putting a

sports facility there would alleviate worries about parking, noise

and crowds of young people annoying neighbors while having fun.

A youth-oriented mall would be a great addition to the city and

would be a perfect use for this underutilized property.

JUDITH STAMPER

Costa Mesa

‘Square’ should cater to younger, active crowd

Geoff West had a great idea in turning Triangle Square into a

skate park/youth-oriented center.

People in this area have been begging for a skate park for a long

time. There are plenty of youth-oriented apparel retailers and

manufacturers located in and around Costa Mesa. Why doesn’t the city

put together a plan and approach some of these larger companies for

support?

KATHY HOFFMAN

Corona del Mar