Again, residents are deeply divided, with 51 percent favoring the non-airport plan and 40 percent favoring the airport. North County residents are evenly split between the two competing plans, while 67 percent of South County residents favor the non-airport plan. Baldassare believes lack of confidence in county government is a significant factor behind the failure to reach consensus on the airport issue. Only 29 percent of residents approve of the way county government is handling the El Toro base conversion issue, while 43 percent disapprove and 28 percent have no opinion. The disapproval rating remains the same as last year, while the approval rating is up slightly-by six points.
Disapproval outweighs approval in North County and South County alike.
The county didn't begin the base reuse planning process by trying to develop a broad-based public consensus, and it's hard to go back now and have a reasoned debate about the pros and cons of an airport because attitudes seem to be pretty much set in stone. It might be different if people felt they had been engaged in the process from the beginning. The UCI survey shows that another hurdle facing those who favor an airport at El Toro is satisfaction with John Wayne Airport. Thirty-two percent would like to develop El Toro as an international airport and continue to use John Wayne as a commercial airport. Only 13 percent want to close John Wayne and develop El Toro as Orange County's only commercial airport.