Month: May 2022

NOTE: As a community college trustee, I have the good fortune of meeting some amazing people. Over...

NOTE: As a community college trustee, I have the good fortune of meeting some amazing people. Over...

During the May 10th Irvine City Council meeting, Councilmember Larry Agran used his 3-minute time allocation during the “Announcements” portion of the Council meeting to publicly state his concerns regarding the lack of transparency at the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA).

Agran has repeatedly requested that a full report be provided at a public City Council meeting regarding the status of OCPA. Due to Mayor Farrah Khan’s unpopular “Rule of Two” — requiring support from a second Councilmember — Agran’s latest request didn’t make it onto the May 10th Council meeting agenda, which is why Agran said he was forced to voice his concerns publicly during the Announcements portion of the Council meeting.

For more than four years, the national non-profit Non-Toxic Neighborhoods (NTN) and an Irvine resident-led organization, Stop Toxic Air Pollutants (STAP), have been fighting for air safe to breathe for north Irvine residents from what the South Coast Air Quality District says is the largest polluter of carcinogens in Orange County — the All American Asphalt plant.

Councilman Agran is a Harvard-educated public interest attorney who served as Chief Legal Counsel for the California State Senate Health Committee and later wrote a book, The Cancer Connection, which includes two chapters on a very similar situation where residents were exposed to industrial carcinogens.