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MONARCH BAY STRIVES TO STOP EL TORO AIRPORT
If El Toro Airport is built, Monarch Bay will be directly under the approach path. Noise and jet fuel residue will rain on us, 24 hours a day. Commuting will worsen as vehicles from the south jam the 5 Freeway on their way to El Toro. Experience, near other airports, indicates that property values will be negatively impacted.
The best way to prevent this is to pass the Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative. It requires that the county complete an environmental impact report, tell us what the airport will look like and what it will cost, and then put it to a final 2/3 vote of the people.
Elected leaders, including our Supervisor Tom Wilson, Assemblywoman Pat Bates, State Senator Bill Morrow, and Congressmen Chris Cox and Ron Packard have come out in support of the initiative. Over 5,000 volunteers collected 192,000 signatures on petitions. The Orange County Registrar of Voters has just recently certified that enough valid petitions were turned in to place the measure on the ballot for the March 7, 2000 election.
Now how do we pass it? The Los Angeles Times estimated that $6 million dollars will be spent on the campaign. $2 million will be needed by pro?initiative forces. Probably twice that will be spent by the opposing pro airport groups lead by those who care little about our quality of life in south county. We expect to be outspent, but polling data says that WE WILL WIN if we raise enough money to tell our story to the rest of the county. $2 million will do the job paying for professional campaign management, message testing, mailers, TV spots, and the operation of a campaign office and phone bank.
Every cent must come from private donors. The cities can not contribute to political campaigns. We expect to raise the $2 million from a mix of large and small donors. Relatively affluent communities like Monarch Bay will have to carry a good share of the load. Our community goal is to raise $100,000 or more in Monarch Bay, by December.
With 214 homes, that means an average of $500 per home. However, some residents will not, or can not, participate at that level, and therefore we must rely on donations of $1,000 to $10,000 dollars. The Monarch Bay campaign was kicked off recently with two pledges of $5,000. We hope that you too will make a generous commitment to your Monarch Bay quality of life and to protect your property value.
The Community Acting Chairman is Cliff Anderson at #241 Monarch Bay, 499-3079. For additional information about the initiative and the airport project contact either Wayne Rayfield 499?0744 or Len Kranser 499?5544. A neighbor will be contacting you for your support. Please weigh how much you have invested in your home and then write a check accordingly.