Antiairport forces upping the ante

Sean Kirwan

A coalition of eight South County cities is trying to increase its

war chest in the El Toro airport battle by nearly $2 million.

Susan Withrow, a Mission Viejo City Council member who also serves on

the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority board, said the group will most

likely approve the proposal to increase spending for its public outreach

program at Monday’s meeting.

If the plan is approved, Withrow said all eight cities in the group

will be asked to contribute about $175,000 for each of the 11

representatives who sit on the board.

The contributions would require approval from the individual city

councils, but city officials Wednesday, with the exception of Laguna

Woods, seemed more than willing to give more money to fight the airport.

Newport Beach Mayor Dennis O’Neil said the news isn’t necessarily

surprising.

“It’s just further evidence of the ability of the antiairport people

to put a lot of money into supporting their efforts to oppose the

county’s legal responsibility to take all action that will result in a

commercial airport facility at the former El Toro Marine Corps Air

Station.,” he said. “We know that the opposition to the county’s charge

is well-funded and we read in the paper often that they are expending

huge sums of money.”

Mission Viejo Mayor Sherri M. Butterfield said she is supportive of

the extra expenditure and believes other council members will agree.

“Now is not the time to get weak-hearted or tighten the purse

strings,” she said.

She added that although the city had not budgeted more money for the

El Toro fight, she was sure the city would find a way to come up with the

funding.

Lake Forest Mayor Peter Herzog said he believed that his City Council

would support the measure, too.

“I think it’s fair to expect that [the additional funds] would be

approved in light of the severe impact the airport would have on Lake

Forest and the past stance of all five council members,” Herzog said.

Because Lake Forest has two representatives on the Planning Authority,

the city would be asked to pitch in about $350,000 -- funds that Herzog

said are available in the city’s budget.

Although they are strongly against the airport, Laguna Woods Mayor

Bert Hack said the city doesn’t have the money to make a contribution at

this time. Laguna Woods became a city just six months ago and paid a

discounted fee to become a member of the planning authority.

Laguna Niguel City Councilwoman Mimi Walters said she would also be

very surprised if her city did not support the proposal.

The extra funding will go toward disseminating more information on the

airport proposal, its impacts on the community and alternative uses for

the site, Withrow said. Walters said the program will use direct mailers,

television commercials and other media outlets to spread the message.

“This is the No. 1 issue and we need to do all we can to make sure that

we get this thing stopped,” Butterfield said.

O’Neil admitted that pro-airport forces don’t have the same ability

to raise large sums of money as quickly as airport foes. However, he said

if you factor in what Orange County is spending on airport planning and

promotions, the pro-airport total is probably much more.

/SI -- Jenifer Ragland contributed to this report.