PERSPECTIVES ON BASE CLOSURES : Put the Local Focus on Redevelopment : Experience shows that it’s better for a community to plan a base’s reuse than to fight its closing.

Not all problems can be fixed at the federal level. In fact, communities can best speed base redevelopment by applying the same grit and energy they used in fighting base closure, while following some basic guides:

* Forget legal battles. When the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard ‘s closure was announced in 1991, proponents of keeping it open sued, arguing that the federal government had not complied with the base closure law. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court and then back to an appeals court. It remains in legal limbo, but the community still has to bear the layoffs and economic impact as the base prepares for closure.

* Avoid turf wars. Community infighting can devastate base redevelopment, stall the economy and deprive the area of federal planning money. For example, George Air Force Base in Victorville is in a legal tug-of-war between neighboring local governments while the base property remains unused.

* Start planning immediately. England AFB in Louisiana, which has been called an exemplary base closure, welcomed a business client on the base before the closure date and quickly accessed federal planning grants--all because its reuse plan was in place early. Though just closed this winter, the community has higher housing prices than in 1991, a 10% increase in sales-tax revenue and more than a dozen companies ready to do business.

* Use government agencies. The Pentagon’s Office of Economic Adjustment is the chief liaison to communities. The Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration funds infrastructure projects. The Trade and Commerce Agency is the lead state agency. Communities must be adept n making these agencies work for them.

* Communicate with federal representatives to help remove problems and speed up the bureaucracies.

Californians put up a good fight to save our state’s bases. Communities, Congress and the state banded together to work for California. Now, we need to apply that same coordination and energy, in Washington and throughout California, to oil the complicated federal machinery so it works for the state. Only then can these bases be a source of opportunity, not despair.