Joint Council Session on John Wayne Airport

IMPORTANT MEETINGS AHEAD
Over the next couple weeks there will be many important meetings in Costa Mesa, most of them having to do with the upcoming municipal election. Beginning next week there will be several more candidate forums and less formal "meet and greet" opportunities where the nine candidates for three open seats on the city council will present their qualifications to interested voters.

PERHAPS THE BIGGEST IS TOMORROW
However, tomorrow, Tuesday, there will be a meeting of historic significance in our city. Tomorrow, September 30, 2008 at 4:p.m. in the Los Lagos Room of the Costa Mesa Golf and Country Club, 1701 Golf Course Drive, there will be a joint meeting of the Costa Mesa and Newport Beach city councils to address John Wayne Airport issues.

"GO LOCAL"
There are two items on the agenda tomorrow. First will be a presentation entitled, "Evaluation of Transit Connection to John Wayne Airport/OCTA "Go Local" Program."

MOU ON JWA BETWEEN CM & NB
Of greatest importance, in my opinion, is the second item on the agenda. That item is entitled, "Memorandum of Understanding on John Wayne Airport between the City of Cost Mesa and the City of Newport Beach, California."


A VERY IMPORTANT ISSUE FOR EASTSIDERS
This is a really big deal, especially for those of us who live on the Eastside of Costa Mesa and share with our neighbors in Newport Beach the negative impacts of noise, safety and dirt caused by the increasing traffic out of John Wayne Airport.

COWAN QUASHED LEADERSHIP ON EL TORO
Some will recall that our city, under the leadership of then-mayor Libby Cowan, refused to participate in pushing for a new commercial airport at El Toro Marine Air Station. That's when this kind of formal relationship between Newport Beach and Costa Mesa on airport issues should have taken place. Cowan, however, worked for the City of Irvine and would almost certainly have placed her job in jeopardy had she done the right thing for Costa Mesa residents and moved aggressively in support of the El Toro airport plans. While that is water under the bridge, it does leave a very nasty taste in the mouths of many of us on both sides of the Newport Beach/Costa Mesa border.

MOU MAY IMPROVE RELATIONSHIPS
This MOU codifies the roles and responsibilities of our two cities on John Wayne Airport issues and forms the foundation for a new level of cooperation between our cities. This is good news, because the relationship between them has been strained, to put it mildly, in recent years. Issues in which both cities have a very significant vested interest - annexation and the Banning Ranch, for example - have increased tensions by residents and leaders on both sides. The spirit of cooperation in this MOU may help heal those wounds... I hope so.

AGENDA AVAILABLE HERE
The agenda for tomorrow's meeting may be found on the city web site, HERE, and includes the staff report and text of the Memorandum of Understanding. Although the meeting begins quite early, those interested should try to attend. My understanding is that it will be taped for replay at a later time on CMTV.