Irvine Uses Fire Stance to Fight El Toro Airport

Pressing its case against a commercial airport at El Toro, Irvine is threatening to pull out of the Orange County Fire Authority, sparking angry retorts from North County cities that would be left with a financially reeling agency.

With an annual $19-million payment, Irvine is the largest contributor to the authority, which provides firefighting services to 19 cities and unincorporated county areas.

About $5 million of that amount helps to subsidize the authority’s services for 13 smaller cities, mostly North County cities that support an airport to replace the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro.

Mayor Christina L. Shea said Wednesday that Irvine needs to “send a strong message” that it won’t continue paying extra for countywide services that benefit cities supporting the airport.

“It’s called leverage,” Shea said. The city, she pointed out, often pays more than its share in regional agencies, including the countywide library system.

At Tuesday night’s meeting, council members agreed that Councilman Mike Ward, recently appointed chairman of the authority’s 21-member board, should warn the authority at its Nov. 19 meeting that Irvine is considering withdrawing from the coalition.

The City Council will vote in two weeks on whether to remain part of the authority. If the city bolts, the council also will have to decide whether to create its own fire department, privatize fire services or create a regional fire authority with other South County cities.

“Eight [North County] cities benefit from us, yet they oppose us on an issue called El Toro,” Councilman Dave Christensen said. “We better their quality of life, yet they want to decrease ours.”

Shea and Christensen said they would drop the idea of pulling out of the authority if the subsidized cities in North County passed resolutions opposing the airport.

“This is political extortion, using public safety as leverage over North County,” charged political consultant Dave Ellis of the Airport Working Group, a pro-airport citizens organization.

Council members in other cities that benefit from Irvine’s fire payments also were infuriated.

“It’s shameful,” said Yorba Linda Councilman John M. Gullixson, whose city received $1.3 million last year in subsidized services from the authority. “Who is Irvine to start throwing its weight around? If they want to pull out of the Fire Authority, why don’t they just pull out of the Sanitation District too?”

Councilman Jeff Thomas of Tustin had another idea: “Irvine should be put over somebody’s knee and publicly spanked.” Tustin is the authority’s most subsidized city, at $1.4 million last year.

Capt. Scott Brown, the Fire Authority’s spokesman, said cities must give 12 months’ notice if they intend to pull out of the agency. He declined to comment on what impact Irvine’s withdrawal would have on the authority, which was formed in March 1995.

“Whether we would survive or not ultimately would be a matter of policy [by] the remaining cities and whether the math could be worked out,” Brown said.

Christensen, taking a harder line than Shea, also said the northern cities should withdraw from the Orange County Regional Airport Authority, a coalition of North County cities that supports the El Toro airport.

“We’re not just out being a big bully, but we want to heighten awareness,” Shea said. “Why is it that we’re always giving but we’re not getting the support we want for our quality of life?”

Ellis contends that Irvine needs the anti-airport resolutions from North County cities as ammunition for a 1999 ballot measure that South County hopes will kill the airport. The proposed initiative would rescind a 1994 vote that authorized construction of the airport after the Marine Corps leaves the base in July.

Irvine City Manager Paul Brady cautioned council members at Tuesday’s meeting, saying it would cost an additional $14.5 million a year for the city to create its own fire department. The city pays $82.27 per resident a year for the authority’s service. Its own department would cost $97.44 per resident, he said.

Among options outlined by Brady were creating a South County fire authority among neighboring cities or contracting with private companies to provide fire service for Irvine.

Laguna Hills Councilman Randal J. Bressette said he couldn’t support a South County fire agency unless it provided the same level of safety as the county agency and was cost effective. Laguna Hills, a staunch opponent of an El Toro airport, pays about $76,000 more per year than it receives in service.

He also warned that the two issues shouldn’t be linked.

“We’re talking about fire safety and emergency response,” Bressette said. “I don’t think the airport should be part of that discussion.”

Complicating any Irvine withdrawal is the manner in which fire services are paid. Irvine is one of 12 cities whose residents pay for fire services through property taxes paid to the county. Seven other cities have cash contracts with the Fire Authority to cover their costs.

If Irvine were to create its own fire department, it would have to negotiate with the county over its ultimate portion of property taxes. And the county is the lead agency planning the construction and operation of the El Toro airport.

Christensen said he will continue to “push as hard as I can” on withdrawing from the Fire Authority if North County cities continue to oppose Irvine over the airport.

“I would never be so bold as to speak for the whole council, but this is a significant concern for us,” he said. “If it means pulling out of the Fire Authority, then we’ll do it.”

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Irvine’s Big Stick

The Irvine City Council is threatening to pull out of the Fire Authority because the city opposes plans for a commercial airport at El Toro. Irvine pays the authority about $5 million more each year than it receives in fire services. The extra money subsidizes fire service to smaller cities, most in North County.

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Overpayment/ City Contribution underpayment Irvine $19,348,394 $5,156,215 Unincorporated 17,424,812 1,849,715 Laguna Niguel 5,764,461 760,011 Dana Point 4,009,711 680,442 Stanton 2,370,310 222,037 Villa Park 683,091 129,716 Laguna Hills 2,956,494 76,379 Los Alamitos 812,324 -137,071 San Juan Capistrano 2,611,598 -151,412 Placentia 2,946,230 -156,972 Seal Beach 2,432,354 -190,774 Mission Viejo 6,972,726 -370,075 La Palma 759,177 -424,966 Buena Park 4,999,496 -624,858 Lake Forest 3,369,167 -654,005 San Clemente 3,355,824 -1,001,554 Cypress 2,260,425 -1,186,238 Yorba Linda 3,169,857 -1,271,271 Westminster 5,267,285 -1,340,204 Tustin 3,494,062 -1,370,120

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Source: Orange County Fire Authority, 1998 Equity Study