In a Dec. 27 story on the fight over the proposed El Toro International Airport, Argyros who normally disdains talking to the OC press corps offered the T imes an assessment of the fight that would boil Che Guevara s blood. The South County is all spanking-new, and they live behind their guarded gates. It s almost the working people of the North against the haves in the South. This is a side of Argyros we haven t seen before. Access to the island is strictly controlled and limited to a single-lane, gated bridge.
Signs warn away the unwanted.
Argyros and the island s other 27 residents lease the formerly public beach that surrounds the island under a special deal pushed through Sacramento a decade ago. Argyros just feels guilty about all the times he s screwed the working man. Argyros built only seven neighborhoods of single-family homes in his development career, but 260 residents have so far sued Argyros for damages stemming from allegedly shoddy construction. Inc. All rights reserved.