A use, of sorts, for El Toro

Alicia Robinson

While Orange County voters axed the idea of a commercial airport at

the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in favor of a park, the

base may again become home to military personnel.

After trying since the base closed in 1999 to get the military to

reopen housing at El Toro, military family advocate Ken Lee is

optimistic that it could happen. Rep. Chris Cox helped facilitate a

meeting last week between Lee and top Defense Department officials,

who were “very receptive to our offer,” Lee said.

“We presented an offer to acquire the housing and commissary areas

and make them available not just to active military but to [National]

Guard and Reserve [personnel],” said Lee, who runs the Irvine-based

military family support group ocmil.com. “We believe that because the

housing areas sit on the outer edges of the base, they could be set

aside and reused without interfering with the Great Park plan.”

Lee said he has been lobbying for four years to get more

affordable housing for military families in Orange County, where

housing costs are so high they have some members of the military

“teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.” After staging a protest over

the housing issue in front of Cox’s Newport Beach office in April,

Lee is happy to have the congressman’s assistance.

“Congressman Cox’s goal has always been to get as much value from

the sale of the base property as possible, and he realizes the offer

being made ... is a bona fide offer that is very attractive to the

[military], Lee said.

Lee’s group will work with Tustin-based Affordable Housing

Resources to make a formal offer for the housing in the next few

weeks, but Lee said he does not know what the financial terms will

be.

Who’s backing

your candidate?

‘Tis the season for endorsements, and they’re coming in fast and

thick with the election 2 1/2 weeks away.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Jim Gray, the Libertarian

candidate challenging Sen. Barbara Boxer, announced this week he is

endorsed by the National Reform Party, a decision that was apparently

a tough one for the group.

“It took months for this decision to come to pass,” Reform Party

member Don Lake said in a written statement. “We don’t believe in

politics, but we do believe in government, good government, and Judge

Gray is a solid candidate.”

The political action committee of the Council for Citizens Against

Government Waste recently endorsed Cox for his “outstanding record of

fiscal discipline and fighting on behalf of taxpayers,” a statement

from the group said. “Rep. Cox has the ability to improve the future

economic outlook by continuing his hard work in Congress to eliminate

waste, fraud and abuse.”

On Wednesday, Costa Mesa City Council candidate Katrina Foley

announced her endorsement by the city’s firefighters.

“To her, the endorsement shows that the firefighters and

paramedics know Katrina strongly supports public safety and wants to

make certain that Costa Mesa families are safe,” a statement from

Foley’s campaign said.

Whose event are

you going to?

A slew of political events also are scheduled for the coming

weeks. On Tuesday, students at Newport Harbor High School are holding

a debate night with members of the Young Republicans and Young

Democrats clubs and the Junior Statesmen of America. Debate topics

are likely to be the war in Iraq and the economy. The event is set

for 6:30 p.m. at Newport Harbor High School, 600 Irvine Ave., Newport

Beach. For information, call Phil D’Agostino at (310) 386-1477 or

send an e-mail to pdagostino@ nmusd.k12.ca.us.

Two events are scheduled for Thursday. A luncheon held by the

Newport Harbor Republican Women will feature Orange County Register

columnist Gordon Dillow, discussing his experience as an embedded

journalist with U.S. Marines in Iraq. The social hour begins at 11:30

a.m. with the lunch set for noon at the Pacific Club, 4110 MacArthur

Blvd, Newport Beach. For information, call (949) 721-1726.

Later on Thursday, Republican candidate for the 70th Assembly

District Chuck DeVore will hold a fundraiser with Sen. Tom

McClintock; John Eastman, a professor at the Claremont Institute and

Chapman University; and Carl DeMaio, president of the Performance

Institute. The event is scheduled from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the

offices of the LFC Group, 17 Corporate Plaza, Newport Beach.

Admission is $75 with other sponsorships requested. For information,

visit https://www.ChuckDeVore.com online.