Like School Boys Fighting on the Playground

As the Mayor’'s $11 billion dollar plan to expand LAX airport isn'’t sufficient to service more than 78 million passengers a year, the City Council battled yesterday over the fate of the El Toro Marine Air Station in Orange County.

Both Tony Cardenas and Villaraigosa support the proposal to make the Marine station a commercial airport. Here'’s where things get ugly: Cardenas, who endorsed the Mayor in the 2001 election but remains neutral in the upcoming race, is upset his colleague is using the opportunity of the airport proposal to attack the Mayor for not doing more to push the idea earlier and further his own faltering campaign (he has to do something, lacking his two former bases of support .

Cardenas says: “I love this city and we'’re trying to deal with public policy. I don’t think we need to bring any of that other stuff into this chamber.”

Villaraigosa says: “The Mayor held a news conference two years ago and did nothing to follow up on it.”

Really? This is what members argue about in the chamber? Even if it was a stupid debate (which it is), it’s a moot point. Federal officials are opposed to any aviation uses at the site, and O.C. officials have stated they will fight to overturn the residents’ vote to turn the base into a commercial airport.

Tony and Tony, back to your corners. Instead of fighting about a federally owned airport based in ANOTHER COUNTY, the Council should be trying to devise a decent LAX expansion plan. If they did that, they could stay out of other counties’ business. Either way, our city faces dire straits; we need accountability in City Hall, a school system that graduates the majority of its students, more police on the streets, a solution to the horrible traffic, and an end to the salacious scandals plaguing our city. Tony and Tony, I suggest you retract your claws and work on that.