Proposed El Toro Airport
I have closely followed the proposed El Toro airport issue and am disappointed with the lack of fairness from you. Your Aug. 3 edition is an example.
Your editorial “Airport PR Plan Was Off Radar” applauds the supervisors for voting down funds that would have been used to educate the public. This is especially interesting because it is you who allow letters printed from South County residents that are filled with misinformation.
Yes, your Letters to the Times section is one of the primary vehicles used to panic the public by allowing anti-airport writers to make misleading statements unsupported by facts and to use worst-case scenarios and portray them as probable occurrences.
Typically, your letters and editorials against the El Toro airport far outnumber those in favor. The Aug. 3 sampling shows three anti-airport letters and one pro-airport.
ANGELA O’NEIL
Costa Mesa
* I resided in Inglewood from 1950 to 1974. 1 know what it is like living near an airport.
On certain approaches we could see our swimming pool from the air. In the past twenty-so years we have been back many times. My grandchildren like to cruise the old neighborhood where their mothers went to school, see our old house, etc.
I suggest any proponents of an LAX here in Orange County take time to cruise around the LAX area. See what it is really like. It was bad enough when we left and has only gotten worse. I didn’t think that possible.
Here is what you will see. LAX has devastated a once beautiful area. Lots are still vacant after many, many years. Beautiful houses overlooking the Pacific are also vacant because of too much noise. Along with the decent people who work at an airport comes the scum and con-artists, continual traffic, bars, hotels, car rental lots, etc. It’s not a pretty sight.
For the past seven years I have lived here in Leisure World with the noise from El Toro base, and it doesn’t begin to compare with the noise of LAX. In fact there is no comparison at all.
The light air traffic from El Toro I have no trouble with. I’ve read of other plans for El Toro that I think are excellent. However, the best one is to move the airport to Camp Pendleton out of sight.
JERRY BAILEY
Laguna Hills
* Although The Times can’t report on all the behind scenes shenanigans, it has been doing a great job. Wake up, Orange County.
The days of sitting by quietly while the county spends, spends, spends are over, folks. Have we forgotten the bankruptcy already?
Thank you nonprofit watchdog groups and don’t let up on your important work. By the way, the El Toro airport Internet site is informative and beautifully executed.
MARY SCHWARTZ
Santa Ana
