Finding finality an election can't provide

By: JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 8, 2006 7:07 PM PST ∞

So much for faith in the democratic system.

As late tallies showed Proposition A, the ballot measure asking county residents if they wanted to move the region's civilian airport to Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, being shot down by voters by a lopsided margin, backers of Prop. A were already promising to ask us again in a few years' time.

What about respecting the will of the electorate? If their plan all along was to simply ignore the wishes of area

residents (as well as those of Congress) and simply keep putting new measures on the ballot until one wins, then why bother with the charade in the first place? If Prop. A had won, you can be sure its backers would be talking about this being the "final" decision, rather than one step in a long process.

It's like a 5-year-old kid wearing down mom and dad through attrition by simply asking for a wanted toy over and over again.

Only Miramar isn't a toy. And the backers of Prop. A aren't little kids.

The most prominent of them are public employees, the staff and board members of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority -- folks whose salaries are paid with our money.

And when their allies at the Alliance in Support of Airport Progress tell us that they intend to ignore our stated wishes and continue planning for a new civilian airport at Miramar despite the strong public sentiment against it?

Well, maybe it's time for the state Legislature to simply disband the authority. The authority was created by the state only to find a permanent long-term home for our regional air transportation needs. Given the on-the-ground reality that the airport won't be moving inland, that Lindbergh Field is the long-term airport solution -- well, why not return operational control of Lindbergh Field back to the Port Authority, which did a fine job of managing it for so many years?

And let the dilettantes at the airport authority go find some real jobs. Hopefully the kind where you have to actually listen to the boss.

If local Democrats are serious about presenting an electable alternative to Rep. Brian Bilbray in two years' time, they need to

get someone other than Francine Busby in the picture.

Busby never came across as a legitimate candidate (despite one recent poll showing her dead even with Bilbray -- whoever commissioned that one is due a refund). It was particularly hard to take her seriously as a reformer when she spent the final month of the campaign slinging mud.

And how on earth could she keep a straight face proposing to support new laws to clean up politics while the whole time flouting existing laws regarding confidentiality of grand jury investigations? (On top of which, her ads and campaign hit pieces couldn't decide if it was a county or federal grand jury supposedly investigating Bilbray.)

Of course, if there is no grand jury investigation into whether Bilbray lied on his residency forms when filing to run for office,

then Busby didn't violate confidentiality laws. If that's the case, then she simply lied.

-- Contact staff writer Jim Trageser at (760) 631-6628 or jtrageser@nctimes.com.

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