NEWS ANALYSIS : Cities Taking Hard Line in El Toro Talks : Land use: Six South County municipalities are demanding from the county some real authority over how the base will be redeveloped. But supervisors refuse to yield ultimate control.

It is easily the most significant land-use decision Orange County has confronted in recent memory.

But after pledging to keep the process open during discussions over future use of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, officials shrouded the negotiations in secrecy this week as they sought to thrash out their differences in politically charged back-room bargaining.

It is there, and not in public, where county officials say they are “bending over backward” to entice suspicious South County cities into a coalition that would be acceptable to the Defense Department as a lead planning agency, which could then apply for generous federal grants designed to ease and speed the transition from military to civilian use.

While it is critical that both sides come together--the cities need the county government’s bureaucratic might, and the county must have the cooperation of the cities nearest the base to satisfy the Defense Department--it has become increasingly apparent that neither side trusts the other.

On one side, six South County cities, led by Irvine, are demanding some real authority in deciding how the base will be redeveloped. On the other side, the county is unwavering in its demand for absolute power, limiting the role of the cities to membership on an advisory commission.

By week’s end, both sides had gone underground, and there was widespread speculation that to break the stalemate the county would have to offer face-saving enticements.

The optimism that negotiators expressed after their first secret bargaining session Wednesday evaporated only 24 hours later, when the county rejected a compromise position offered by the South County cities. That plan would have given decision-making authority over El Toro’s fate to both sides, but would also give the county’s Board of Supervisors a final yes or no vote on the jointly created development plan.

In rejecting the offered compromise, the county, sources said, did not want to surrender the right to tinker with the final recommendation.

“I hope the cities understand that we are doing everything humanly possible, but giving (up) the final say would be abdicating our authority,” County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider said. “We won’t do that.”

South County representatives also feel they have made back-breaking gestures to reach a compromise, only to be rejected.

“I think the county needs to assume, and needs to know that we need to work together,” Irvine Mayor Michael Ward said.

One public official close to the negotiations, who was reluctant to be identified by name, said it is unlikely a compromise can be reached before Tuesday, when the Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on who will be offered membership on the El Toro planning council.

“All this can be resolved with just getting people to the table and recognizing that everyone wins, or everyone loses,” the official said.

The issue has been contentious for county officials since March, when the 4,700-acre site was placed on the base closure list.

At first positioning themselves against the closing of the base, the supervisors found themselves at odds with Newport Beach, which was lobbying for the conversion of the base to a regional commercial airport.

Once the final decision was made this summer to close the base, the county proceeded to organize the El Toro planning committee. But its problem turned out not to be Newport Beach, which has decided to join the county’s advisory council, but most other cities in the county, which felt ignored or slighted because they were not given enough voting power.

The county is proposing a 19-member panel made up of South County cities, Newport Beach and possibly Anaheim, as well as business leaders who would make recommendations on El Toro’s future to the supervisors.

Protesting the county’s panel, the cities of Garden Grove, Los Alamitos and Stanton last week created the Orange County Regional Airport Authority. Anaheim may join, but would lose its seat on the county commission if it does.

“We are not doing it with the idea that we want to be thorns in anybody’s side,” said Anaheim Councilman Irv Pickler, who favors the competing airport authority.

Unless the new group wins support of a large city like Anaheim, it is not expected to have much influence since South County cities closest to the base are rejecting it.

Of all the Orange County cities, Irvine is considered the one with the most clout in the negotiations with the county.

Irvine borders most of the base, except for one side that abuts Lake Forest. Also, 300 acres of El Toro are in the Irvine city limits, and the rest of the base is considered in the city’s “sphere of influence.”

From the city’s standpoint, until the military leaves in four to six years, Irvine has more land use rights than the county, and it is now exploring whether it should fight the county and annex the base.

In order to bring Irvine and other South County cities to the table, some suggest, the county might promise a share of future revenue from massive future redevelopment--with or without an airport.

But money won’t buy an agreement, said one South County leader who asked not to be identified.

“We don’t want to just go to the highest bidder, we want the quality of life,” he said, referring to the strong anti-airport sentiment in the area.

Could the county have handled the issue differently and avoided an impasse?

City officials who differ on whether there should be a regional airport agree that the county could have done more to seek their opinions early on.

But others say the power struggle has revealed the county’s diminishing political influence as the newly formed South County cities begin testing their independence.

Incorporated in recent years to have greater control over their own destinies, the cities believe there is no greater issue that threatens the quality of life for residents.

Irvine Councilman Barry J. Hammond said the final decision-making on El Toro has to include officials from cities closest to the site because they will be the ones who can best sell the final package to their constituents.

“If we are not included, we have no way to offer assurances to our communities. . . . I think you will not have a plan that will be accepted by the communities.”

But because of the county’s governmental clout and its longstanding stewardship on regional issues such as transportation, park development, and the need for a new County Jail, some speculate the South County cities really have no choice but to go along with the county or get left out of the planning process.

That political reality is what drove Newport Beach to the county’s advisory panel, Mayor Clarence J. Turner said recently.

“The time has come to sit down at the table and present your point of view,” Turner said, adding that there will be legal requirements such an environmental impact reports that will present plenty of opportunities to challenge the county, if Newport Beach disagrees with the approved development plan.

“You can’t cheat” in this process, Turner said. “You can try, but there are enough safeguards there that if you try, you will get blown out of the water.”

One business leader who has been monitoring the negotiations predicted an agreement would eventually be reached for the good of the region.

“You have to go through this (posturing) for people to be able to express themselves and feel that they got things done. It just isn’t very pretty to watch, but ultimately, they reach some kind of an accommodation if everybody believes this is important.”

The importance of communitywide support was underscored Friday, when President Clinton visited the Alameda Naval Air Station and talked of the millions of dollars the federal government is ready to hand over to the commission already in place there to guide the base conversion.

In addition to funding the commission’s new staff, the federal government has committed to fund $3.5 million in planning grants and will assign a “SWAT” team made of Labor and Commerce department officials to help workers find new jobs. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner already has met with the commission and set deadlines for toxic waste cleanup on the base.

Schneider declined to comment on the local negotiations, but said the county group would move ahead with its existing leadership plan Tuesday, even if it meant leaving some of the cities behind.

He also said that talks would probably continue throughout the weekend in anticipation of the Board of Supervisors meeting. City officials, however, were more skeptical but held out hope that the county would make an attractive counteroffer.

“If they don’t want to participate with us, then there is no way that we can drag them to the table,” Schneider said. “If they don’t want to sit at the table, then we will invite other groups--people from neighborhood groups or chambers of commerce--in those areas to join us.”

Schneider acknowledged that “there was no way to stop” the dissident cities from forming their own leadership groups and that those competing interests “will be a problem” if they continue their efforts independent of the county.

“The best we can do, I think, is demonstrate (to the federal government) that we have made a good-faith effort on this. If we waver and there are competing reuse plans, the Marine base will be mothballed.”