Editor’s Notebook -- Tony Dodero

I know the issue of John Wayne Airport expansion and the construction of

an airport at El Toro has got to be THE most intense issue for readers of

this newspaper.

So, I can’t help, but wonder, if someone is coming up with a way to

combat the television commercial campaign spawned by opponents of El Toro

from South County.

The television spot that pops up on TV from time to time, I have to

admit, is pretty powerful stuff. The commercial features the sound of a

rather loud jet airplane with words instructing viewers to call a certain

number to stop the noise from El Toro.

What’s ironic to me is the airport opponents have struck the same deep,

emotional anti-development, anti-urbanization chord that the Greenlight

folks have done in Newport Beach, with their initiative to stop further

development.

Indeed, the anti folks may have sensed that and have moved behind enemy

lines. Right here in our own towns, the proponents of the Safe and

Healthy Communities initiative, which if passed would in effect ground El

Toro, have plastered the area with Yes on Measure F signs.

I wonder if the El Toro proponents realize they are taking some hard

punches here and unless they strike back quick are going to be left with

a big task of selling the idea that building a large airport won’t affect

quality of life ...

Just the facts ma’am

Our police reporter Greg Risling gets to cover lots of court trials and

he gets to hear a lot of people say:

“Not guilty.”

But recently Risling was the one telling me “I didn’t do it.”

It all stemmed from a note we received from an avid reader of the Daily

Pilot from Costa Mesa, only identified as “Lisa.” Lisa took Risling to

task for allegedly misspelling the name of actress Dyan Cannon and the

tabloid The National Enquirer.

First, Lisa is right in one regard. We have no excuse for getting those

names wrong and we promise to redouble our efforts to avoid that in the

future.

But since the reader left no return address, I thought I owed it to

Risling to tell her in this column that he is not the culprit.

After further investigation, we found the errors, unfortunately, occurred

either at the copy desk level or by another reporter.

And we’re throwing the book (a dictionary) at ‘em...

No intern jokes please

It’s not exactly the most secure job in the world but Ann Marie Wallace,

a former Costa Mesa resident, political campaign advisor and one-time

contributor to the Daily Pilot’s Community Forum pages, sent me a message

recently that she’s got a new job.

She’s heading to Washington D.C. to work for none other than Bill

Clinton.

Wallace, who was formerly on the staff of the Orange County

Transportation Authority as well as the Democratic Foundation, the county

party’s fund-raising arm, will be Clinton’s policy aide for California

issues.

And while the job obviously has a sunset clause in the near future,

there’s not many people who can claim their boss is the president of the

United States ...

* Tony Dodero is the editor of the Daily Pilot. Suggestions or comments

regarding this column can be made via e-mail at [email protected]

or by phone at 949-574-4258.