TUSTIN

By a 3-2 vote Monday, the City Council joined the Orange County Regional Airport Authority, thus becoming the pro-El Toro Airport group’s 13th member. The majority said the decision to join was based more on information-gathering reasons than to show support for the airport.

Council members Tracy Wills Worley and Jim Potts, both El Toro opponents, cast the dissenting votes. Councilman Jeff Thomas, who personally opposes the proposed international airport, vowed to stick with his constituents, who in 1994 and 1996 favored the airport via ballot measures.

Mayor Tom Saltarelli, an airport proponent, said the city must be wise in its decision. After all, he said, if El Toro is halted, there is a strong chance that John Wayne Airport will be expanded. Tustin’s west side is under that airport’s flight path. Information on the issue can be obtained online at https://www.eltoroairport.org.