Los Alamitos Seeks Details on Base Plan

Los Alamitos officials have called a special meeting tonight to discuss a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department proposal to build a regional homeland security base in the city.

One problem: Sheriff’s officials said Wednesday they didn’t plan to be there.

“It is not appropriate to have public meetings on something that is just an idea,” Los Angeles Sheriff’s Capt. Jim DiGiovanna said. “We’re not in a position to open it up for public debate.”

Los Alamitos officials complain that they’ve been left out of the loop of a proposed $20-million, antiterrorism and disaster-response operations center and airfield that also might involve federal, state and Orange County law enforcement agencies.

“We want the sheriff to come and tell us firsthand what he’s proposing,” City Manager Henry Taboada said. “There’s been no attempt on the part of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to bring this to light.”

Regardless of whether the Sheriff’s Department attends tonight’s meeting, Taboada said he would distribute the department’s 26-page description of the proposal.

The plan is to relocate the sheriff’s Aero Bureau -- 19 aircraft and 70 personnel -- from Long Beach Airport to the Joint Forces Training Base, which is being used by the California National Guard.

In addition, the Sheriff’s Department is seeking federal funding to create a Homeland Security Department joint aviation operations center that would also house the Orange County Sheriff Department’s two helicopters, as well as aircraft operated by the California Highway Patrol and two federal agencies: the Drug Enforcement Administration and Customs and Border Protection.

The plan calls for building about 22,000 square feet of hangar space, 600,000 square feet of maintenance and storage areas and 15,000 square feet of office space for up to 125 employees whose shifts would allow base staffing around-the-clock.

Taboada said the city heard about the idea from the Sheriff’s Department in January 2004 but was led to believe it was very preliminary.

Since then, Taboada said, he had had to invite himself to briefings and only on Wednesday received a copy of a 7-month-old letter signed by 18 congressional members seeking funding to build the base.

On the surface, the idea sounds good, Taboada said.

“Who can argue with homeland security? And what’s wrong with consolidating?” he said.

“But what they failed to take into account is that the Joint Forces Training Base is located smack in the middle of a built-out community -- Los Alamitos, Garden Grove, Cypress, Seal Beach. ... There are issues with landing patterns and noise. This would add an entirely new element.”

Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe said he also had concerns.

“If they raise federal dollars, they can [stay] at the Long Beach Airport,” Knabe said. “The concern that I have is the accessibility of the sheriff’s helicopter to the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles.”

DiGiovanna said there would be time to discuss those issues and seek input from residents. But for now, he said, sheriff’s officials believe it is best to postpone public meetings.

“Even though we’ve had congressional support for the idea, we are nowhere near getting any funding support,” DiGiovanna said.