When San Diego County residents headed for the polls earlier this month, the majority of them agreed to vote no on Proposition A, which asked voters whether the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority and government officials should work toward obtaining 3,000 acres at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar by 2020 for a commercial airport, providing certain conditions were met. Based on countywide results, with the exception of the approximately 2,500 absentee/provisional ballots still waiting to be counted, 62 percent of voters said no, while 38 percent said yes.
However, when precinct counts for specific areas of the city are examined, the vote was not as clearly in one direction.
It doesn’t take a soothsayer to predict that residents living close to the current Lindbergh Field and its jet noise pollution probably would be in favor of moving the airport to Miramar. And sure enough, based on polls in the areas of Ocean Beach, Loma Portal, La Playa and Midway, the vote was closer and was in favor of the proposition, with 52 percent saying yes and 48 percent no.
Meanwhile, those living in areas close to Miramar decisively rejected the plan to move San Diego’s commercial airport into their backyard. Based on polls in the areas of La Jolla and University City, the vote was clearly against the proposition, by a percentage of 72 to 28.
Residents of downtown San Diego, including Hillcrest, North Park and Centre City, also voted against the proposition, according to polls, but at closer percentages: 43 percent said yes, while 57 percent said no.
“We are pleased with the results of Prop. A,” MCAS Public Affairs Officer Maj. Jason Johnston said. “We’re pleased that our efforts to inform the community about our strategic importance here and about why Miramar is so important to national security was heard and was understood by the local public.”
He explained that because MCAS Miramar was not allowed to conduct its own polls, officials were not sure how the election would turn.
“I was happy with a lot of the preliminary discussions that were being had in the media “¦ about that they thought Prop. A would fail, so we were happy with that,” Johnston said. “But going into the election, we honestly didn’t know.”
The proposition’s failure has not exactly left the Airport Authority Board back at square one, according to Joe Craver, current chairman of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority Board.
“First of all, the issue does not go away,” Craver said. “The issue is still here. The studies are still available; they are not going to be lost to the community. As far as where the Airport Authority goes from here, that basically is going to be up to the decision of the [new] board.”
The Airport Authority Board has, to date, spent $11,755,676.71 in technical studies and $3,569,924.99 in education and outreach programs.
Craver explained that he, Xema Jacobson, William Lynch, Bob Maxwell and Lemon Grove Mayor Mary Sessom will have all completed their terms of service on the board on Dec. 4.
A nine-member board governs the Airport Authority, with three paid members serving as the executive committee. The executive committee is appointed in the following manner: by the governor, and confirmed by the State Senate; by the sheriff of the County of San Diego and confirmed by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors; and by the mayor of the City of San Diego and confirmed by a majority vote of the San Diego City Council.
Craver was appointed by former Mayor Dick Murphy for a four-year term. Mayor Jerry Sanders recently announced his appointment of Alan Bersin, former Superintendent of the San Diego Unified District Schools, who announced his resignation as state Secretary of Education effective Dec. 15, to replace Craver on the board. According to Pam Hardy, communications director for Council President Scott Peters, who is in charge of setting the agenda for City Council meetings, Bersin will not be on the agenda for confirmation until after legislative recess, in early January.
Jacobson was appointed by former Gov. Gray Davis. According to Craver, she has expressed to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that she would like to continue on the board and requested reappointment.
San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender appointed Lynch to the board. According to Craver, Lynch had no desire to be reappointed. On Tuesday, Nov. 21, Kolender announced his appointment of Robert J. Watkins, president and chairman of the R.J. Watkins & Company. Watkins will replace Lynch on the board pending confirmation by the County Board of Supervisors.
It is not yet known whom Schwarzenegger will appoint. However, his appointee will be sworn into office without confirmation from the Senate, due to the lengthy period between meetings, according to Craver.
Former City of Oceanside Mayor Terry W. Johnson appointed Maxwell to the board in 2004 for a two-year term. The mayors of East San Diego County appointed Sessom to the board in 2002 for a four-year term. Neither is up for reappointment and both will be replaced by someone from the private sector, according to Craver.
Board members Paul Neito, Paul Peterson, City of Vista Mayor Morris Vance, District 4 City Councilman Tony Young and Thella Bowens, president/CEO of the Airport Authority, will remain on the board.
Once the new board and executive committee members are sworn in, they will elect a new chairman, Craver said. The next step would be for the chairman to appoint chair people as well as members to serve on various committees, which would be approved by the other board members.
“I can see almost the whole month of December and going through the necessary steps to be able to get the board ready to start to function,” Craver said, if all new board members could be sworn in by Dec. 5, which is unlikely due to confirmation delays. “They probably wouldn’t be able to have their really first meeting with a new chair until early January.”
The new board will then tackle unfinished business, including addressing the defeat of Prop. A, possibly looking for new sites to study or going back to previous areas of study. The board will also examine its master plan for improvements at Lindbergh Field and the completion of land-use compatibility plans, which could restrict development in the areas surrounding every civil and military airport in the county.
While the defeat of Prop. A means no more discussion at Miramar ” at least for the near future ” the Marines are not counting on that.
“We expect that this debate will continue in some form or the other,” Johnston said. “We are constantly aware of if an organization’s wanting to use this land, but we’re going to continue our efforts of ensuring the public know why this land here at Miramar is so vital to us and to national security. So it’s not as if we’re going to stop our efforts simply because the vote failed, and that’s really part of our responsibility ” in fact, we’re required to inform the public as to why we do what we do.”