Recently, three Irvine residents — Alice Ziyi Zhao, Angela (Yilin) Liu, and Leigh Chien — competed in the United States Golf Association’s (USGA) Women’s Championship tournament held at the Chambers Bay Golf Club in Washington state.
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Mayor Farrah Khan and Vice Mayor Anthony Kuo — joined by Councilmembers Tammy Kim & Mike Carroll — have taken a first step in adopting a Great Park “framework” development plan, despite numerous unanswered questions regarding cost, traffic, noise and other concerns associated with the proposed construction projects.
The new Great Park framework includes three troubling items: A massive 14,000-seat amphitheater; a $250 million aquatics & water polo facility for elite athletes; and a super-sized botanical garden.
The proposed amphitheater will seat 14,000, slightly smaller than the Hollywood Bowl. Given the fact that the amphitheater will no doubt affect so many neighborhoods here in Irvine, why wasn’t the City’s Planning Commission asked to conduct a thorough review of the project before the Council pushed it forward?
The $250 million water polo complex does not seem to offer much in the way of everyday use by our City’s residents. And, it’s still unclear who would be paying for this facility’s construction and upkeep.
The super-sized botanical garden is about the same size as Huntington Gardens in Pasadena that attracts 800,000 visitors annually. How will Irvine handle that kind of traffic every weekend? And, where are these out-of-town visitors going to park? Who is going to pay the hundreds of millions of dollars to build a botanical garden? And, who is going to pay the tens of millions of dollars in annual maintenance fees?
A contract rushed to a vote — in a surprise move by a 3-2 majority of the Irvine City Council back in December — has now come under scrutiny for irregularities in the bidding process and promises by the contractor that have failed to pan out.
Casco Construction was awarded a multi-million dollar contract to install, maintain and operate vehicle charging stations in five large parking lots at the Great Park, despite the fact that two other firms had been recommended by City staff following a formal bid process.
“Out of the blue, a couple of Councilmembers said they were interested in another bidder that was farther down the list,” Councilmember Larry Agran recalled of the December meeting. That bidder was Casco and, said Agran, “on the spot they voted to give the deal — a big deal — to Casco.” (Councilmember Agran and Mayor Khan voted against the deal.
The embattled Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) continues to rush ahead with plans to begin residential electricity service in Irvine on October 1st, even as questions about the agency’s viability remain unanswered.
This year, all electricity customers in Irvine (residential and business) are being transferred from their current provider — Southern California Edison (SCE) — and automatically enrolled in a new OCPA electricity plan at a higher monthly rate.
As Irvine Community News & Views has reported, a Grand Jury investigation into OCPA revealed the following: OCPA is being led by a political insider with zero experience in the energy sector; OCPA bylaws and policies to promote transparency have not been properly implemented; there has been a lack of oversight of contractors with not enough checks and balances in place; and OCPA lacks the in-house staff to develop and implement strategic plans to mitigate economic risks.
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In October, all Irvine residents will be transferred from their current provider of electricity —...
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