Council Isn’t Ready to Join Pro-Airport Group

The City Council has decided against joining a group of cities that support a commercial airport at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, set to close next year.

Councilwomen Carol Downey, Maria Moreno and Constance Underhill agreed this week that it was premature to join the Orange County Regional Airport Authority.

“I have some reservations about this,” Downey said. “My preference is to stay neutral. . . . I’m not saying I don’t want an airport there, I want all the information to be out.”

Said Moreno: “We don’t have all the factual data and I don’t see the need to rush into this.”

Mayor Norman Z. Eckenrode and Councilman Michael L. Maertzweiler both said they support a regional airport at El Toro, and were willing to join the group.

“By joining the authority, we would have a voice,” Eckenrode said.

Several cities, including Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Garden Grove and Newport Beach, have joined the group. Like Placentia, La Palma and Yorba Linda have opted against involvement in the pro-airport coalition.