Associations Cleared to Fight El Toro

A state appeals court has upheld the right of homeowners associations to spend money to fight Orange County’s plans for a commercial airport at El Toro, a ruling that could result in an influx of new money to bolster anti-airport efforts.

South County homeowners groups, while staunchly opposed to the county’s plans for the decommissioned Marine Corps base, steered clear of direct donations to anti-airport groups during the campaign for Measure F last March, encouraging individual contributions instead.

The ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeals in Riverside could end such reluctance in the future. The panel’s three judges said the $542,000 in contributions by Leisure World’s Golden Rain Foundation and three affiliated groups in 1996 were appropriate uses of association funds.

That means in future campaigns, fund-raisers won’t have to work as hard and can appeal to South County’s many wealthy associations. About three-quarters of South County housing units are governed by homeowners groups, which collect monthly dues.

“It’s going to be easier for communities impacted by these kinds of projects to raise money quickly,” said Meg Waters, spokeswoman for the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, comprised of eight anti-airport cities. “They’re not going to have to do it with bake sales.”

The effect of the court ruling, published May 25, probably won’t be felt immediately, since there are no airport-related measures expected on the November ballot. But unless the anti-airport Measure F is overturned in court later this month, the initiative requires another countywide vote on the airport plan. And that means both sides would be making the rounds for cash to persuade voters.

Spending more to fight over El Toro isn’t necessarily a good thing, said Stan Oftelie, executive director of the Orange County Business Council, which supports the airport project.

“What the airport fight needs right now is to lower the volume,” Oftelie said. “Regardless of which side you’re on, [more spending] continues to raise the stakes. Then it becomes a battle of sound bites and mailers, but not good public policy discussion.”

Developer George Argyros filed suit against the Golden Rain Foundation and 35 Leisure World association directors on behalf of his mother-in-law, a Leisure World resident. The Newport Beach man has been the major financial donor to the pro-airport cause.

Argyros couldn’t be reached Thursday to say whether he would appeal. His attorneys, Daniel Livingston and Alan Ross of Payne and Feirs, were unavailable for comment.

Waters said some associations shied this past election from giving money directly to anti-airport groups because of the pending court case. Airport opponents successfully pushed for Measure F, which passed with 67% of the vote and which requires a two-thirds vote for all new airports, jails and landfills.

That didn’t stop individuals in South County communities from donating about $2 million to the anti-airport cause. Pro-airport forces spent $1.3 million.

Many homeowners associations paid for oversized painted thermometer-type signs placed at the edge of their neighborhoods showing how much had been donated there. Homeowners belonging to a handful of associations in Dana Point’s Monarch Bay area, for example, raised nearly $1 million for Measure F.

The lawsuit stemmed from donations made by Leisure World’s homeowners associations in 1996 as anti-airport forces attempted, unsuccessfully, to overturn voter approval of the airport two years earlier.

The associations argued in court that their contributions to Taxpayers for Responsible Planning, a group fighting the airport, were proper because they were intended to help residents protect their property values and quality of life. They argued that a poll of residents showed 91% opposed an El Toro airport.

Argyros’ attorneys argued that the donations were political contributions not allowed under the association bylaws, and that they were made without the express consent of association members.

The court found in favor of the associations and their directors and awarded them their costs in defending the lawsuit.