(San Diego) Airport authority, military on collision course

[question everything]

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Airport authority, military on collision course

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer
North (San Diego) County Times

SAN DIEGO ---- The agency looking to build a new international airport to accommodate San Diego County's future air travel needs appears headed for a collision with top military brass.

The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority took one more step Monday toward a major skirmish with the military during a presentation of what a consultant says are workable concepts for airports on Camp Pendleton, Miramar Marine Corps Air Station and Naval Air Station North Island.

Just days after the Secretary of the Navy flatly rejected using any county bases for a commercial airfield, several authority board members refused to take no for an answer. The presentation was made during a meeting of the authority's strategic planning committee, composed of four of nine board members. The panel forwarded the concepts to the full board.

The board is expected to decide March 6 whether to study the base airport concepts in greater detail, including one "out of the box" idea in which the authority would build a runway for the Marines at Pendleton in exchange for being able to use an existing military runway at Miramar. In the swap, the authority would carve an airport out of Miramar but leave the rest of the base in Marine hands. The agency is studying whether to build a new airport to replace cramped Lindbergh Field or expand Lindbergh to meet soaring travel demand, which is forecast to grow from 17.4 million passengers last year to 30 million by 2030. The agency is expected to name a plan by May and place it on the November county ballot for an advisory vote.

(snip)

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/02/28/news/top_stories/18_51_342_27_06.txt

[LiberalGuy000]

1. not surprised

We now know that San Diego is a basket case, and has been for many years. Not surprising, considering how long Repugs controlled that city (and still control the county).

The fact that they still have a one-runway airport is their own dumb fault. For years, residents and the powers that be fought any attempt to expand the airport so that larger planes could take off and land in San Diego. One of the reasons why is because San Diego has a history of wanting to remain as white and provincial as possible. The old guard STILL does not want the city to be a cosmopolitan place. They still want to think of it as a "big small town". They're so scared of becoming "another L.A." that it's almost comical.

I lived there for a little over a year. It's one of the most boring and overrated cities in the country. In the minds of many San Diegans, watching the Padres win is about as exciting as civic life can get.

[DeaconNoGood]

2. Damn right ..........

San Diego doesn't want to be L.A.

Put the airport in frikkin' El Centro.