* Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan’s enthusiasm...

* Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan’s enthusiasm for an international airport at El Toro is suspiciously self-serving (Dec. 8).

It was a poor choice for the military to build the air base there in the first place. It would be a disastrous location for such a facility now. Given that recent air traffic radar problems are mounting due to faulty technology, it is frighteningly possible that two aircraft in such close proximity as the John Wayne and El Toro airports could fade into one image and create a midair disaster.

The very idea of a major airport squeezed into the middle of thousands of homes is beyond stupid. Riordan may consider the economic vitality of Southern California dependent upon such an ill-conceived facility, but that is nonsense. Just a suggestion, Mr. Mayor. Take care of the needs of the poor in your own backyard.

Oh, and one other thing. consider your political reputation permanently damaged on this side of the “Orange Curtain.”

PAT CUTKOMP

Laguna Beach

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The former March Air Force Base is ready and able to operate now as a cargo port. It is strategically located to not only serve Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties but has the potential to relieve congestion at San Diego’s Lindbergh Field as well.

This base-reuse option is supported by the surrounding communities and offers additional taxpayer savings, as it would operate as a joint-use facility with the Air Force Reserve. March Air Reserve Base is the most practical and economically viable site for a new airport in Southern California.

MARGARET STRACHAN

BARRY SHEINBAUM

Nuevo, Calif.