The fight for Miramar just got a bit more crowded.
A group calling itself Support Our Military ” No On Miramar held a kickoff meeting June 29 in opposition to a joint-use civilian airport at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
“Our message is simple: This issue that has been put on the ballot is bad for the community and bad for the military,” said John Dadian, lead consultant for the group. “We get that out and then we win.”
Dadian said the group objects to the dangers of combining military and civilian aircraft and the negative impacts a joint-use airport would have on base operations. Noise, traffic, infrastructure and environmental concerns are also high on the list.
The group, headed by local business executives and retired military officers, plans to raise $1 million for a campaign that will include countywide polling, direct mailers to reach absentee voters, advertisements on television and radio and, of course, volunteers.
Sound familiar? That’s because a previously formed group, Taxpayers for Responsible Planning, has a similar strategy.
T.J. Zane, director of Taxpayers for Responsible Planning, attended the meeting and said leaders from both campaigns would soon talk about future collaboration.
“Before long, we obviously need to find a way to work together, if not combine,” Zane said.
That’s because with just four months left before voters decide whether to approve a Nov. 7 ballot measure put forth by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority to secure a civilian airport at Miramar by 2020, the two groups will be fund-raising at a furious pace. And with similar motives, similar goals and similar strategies, the battle over Miramar could easily become the battle over who can raise money from the same groups of people first.
“Whether it’s combine or closely coordinate, it’s something we’re going to have to deal with,” Zane said. “There isn’t much time in this campaign as it is.”
A sense of urgency certainly seemed to pervade the hastily called meeting of about 100 people at the Town & Country Hotel in Mission Valley.
“We’re the David; we’re going up against the Goliath,” Dadian told the crowd. “The airport authority has for the last couple of years done a tremendous amount of research and we’re just getting going right now.”
Representatives for City Councilmen Jim Maddafer and Brian Maienschein attended the meeting, as did airport authority board members Mary Teresa Sessom and Xema Jacobson, both of whom voted against the final ballot proposal on June 5.
The Web site for Support Our Military ” No On Miramar is www.noonmiramar.org.