Criticizing Santa Ana
Chamber on Light
Rail is Off-Track
In your Nov. 22 issue a letter from Art Pedroza Jr. criticizes the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce for, as he writes, “its support for light rail on the cover of the latest edition of its newspaper, the CityLine.”
Mr. Pedroza signed the letter as the chairman of the Santa Ana Public Library Board. Your readers could have assumed he spoke for the library board, which he did not. More importantly, and embarrassingly, he didn’t even read the article correctly.
The newspaper article he cites reports on a commissioned poll, by the chamber, done by Lawrence Research, which scientifically polled 350 owners and managers of businesses located on the proposed light-rail routes through Santa Ana. Survey results found that the light rail system was favored by a 69-17 margin. The entire article was about that poll and the opinions of those interviewed. Nowhere does it state that the Santa Ana Chamber endorsed the project. We simply did our duty by getting our business community to speak their minds and thus represent their opinions to the appropriate parties.
This is but one of many examples of our chamber’s leadership in advancing a business agenda for Santa Ana. Another example is the chamber board’s unanimous support for the local school bond measure that passed with 70% approval this past November.
Four years ago, we asked our business community to support a bold, aggressive, private-sector-driven program to improve the image, economy and education issues in Santa Ana. The business community responded by investing $2.4 million, exceeding our goal.
Our leadership agenda is results-oriented. If we conclude that something will enhance the community image to create a regional attraction, grow the economy to increase profitability, or link education and business to produce a competitive workforce, we will be there. Our residents desire that, our businesses expect that, and our leadership demands that.
Michael Metzler
President and CEO
Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce
El Toro, Cont’d
Re your Dec. 6 Viewpoints, “Is El Toro Safe to Fly?” The better question to ask is: Can El Toro be made safer, more efficient, and more cost-effective as a new commercial airport for Orange County?
No amount of money and sweet talk of how “community-friendly” El Toro is will ever change the blatantly obvious facts: Under the current preferred plan, virtually all existing runways will be removed, graded and repaved, using the same “X” pattern to confuse the populace by implying it is the same existing airfield that it has been for 56 years. It is also painfully clear that the county continues to ignore those who could better the plan, but remain off limits to the planning process.
The county is proposing to, in a sense, build an entirely new commercial airport at El Toro, which is what should happen. Their greatest mistake thus far, though, is in not using the opportunity to design from the ground up, a modern, safe, efficient and cost-efficient commercial airport based on runway realignment that impacts no one.
An FAA staffer in an internal memo acknowledged the shortcomings of the county’s preferred plan and recognized that our “largely ignored V-configuration plan is potentially the safest, most efficient plan for El Toro.” But rather than implement our Alternative Airport plan, the county, OCRA and the Airport Working Group have decided to cripple El Toro’s legs to resemble the cast on the leg of JWA. What a waste.
Russell Niewiarowski
The New Millennium Group
Santa Ana Heights
Re Tom Wall’s Dec. 6 Viewpoint arguing for the safety of El Toro. Yes, aircraft have operated from the base for 57 years, but mostly they were high thrust-to-weight ratio jet fighters, aircraft that could take off almost vertically if they needed to.
Yes, commercial jets have ferried troops to and from the base many times, but for the last 30 years they have only taken off to the south, something prohibited in the county’s plans. The Marines wanted to avoid repeating the disastrous crash of a DC-8 that occurred during a takeoff from the north runway in the ’60s.
Yes, the required climb gradient is higher at John Wayne, but aircraft that fail to meet the requirement at John Wayne are faced with paying a fine, while aircraft that don’t make the grade at El Toro will leave bodies scattered across the terrain.
Arnold Burke
Lake Forest
Good Piece
I’ve been interviewed before (and often misquoted), but Susan Deemer’s Dec. 6 story was, without exception, the best written piece I’ve ever seen. Thank you.
Fred Lerner
phobo.com
Irvine
