Orange County, CA November 3, 1998 General
Smart Voter

Why No International Airport at El Toro?

By Ron Winship

Candidate for City Council; City of Newport Beach; District 4

This information is provided by the candidate
An International Airport at El Toro is not in the best interest of Newport Beach or the County of Orange.
The John Wayne Settlement agreement which runs out in 2004 was supposed to be the cure for all the egregious noise and inconvenience we experienced in Newport Beach after Air Cal came to John Wayne Airport. Remember, the tarmack, the quaint terminal? What happened? The Tom Reilly Memorial Terminal happened! Superstructures of parking facilities happened and continue to happen as we speak. Over-budget projects that set our minds spinning into the hundreds of millions of tax payers dollars. Alright, it is there! Now what? While our roads crumble, while our lighting and even sidewalks remain in terrible condition, the current city council has dedicated over $2 million dollars a year to selling an international airport to south county. This is inconsistent with the efforts of south county over a period of eight years. Do we think we can change their minds at this late date?

For those who don't travel out of Newport Beach, there is no International Airport in the world situated in the middle of an suburban center anywhere in the world. There in lies the philosophical dispute. Will Orange County become a maze of urban traffic or not? With an International Airport we can be assured that Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Costa Mesa, Tustin and certainly all of south county will be affected.

Other lies the proponents want you to believe: It is suggested that re-negotiation of the John Wayne Airport Agreement in 2004 will keep things as they are. Nothing could be further from the truth. John Wayne will have extended hours of operation, John Wayne will increase the number of passengers each year. More traffic will occur.

The solution: Move 80% of our John Wayne Airport Flights, all private general aviation, to a single runway at El Toro. South County will complain, but go along with this compromise. This is the reason that Newport Beach must be a strategic player in regional concerns and make peace with south county now. Environmental concerns that will affect us all must be met regionally. We need friends that understand we are only willing to do to them, what we would expect them to do to us.

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: November 2, 1998 20:47
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