Month: January 2023

Here we are, less than three months since the November 2022 election, and Irvine has already been served a big helping of 2024 political drama, from City Hall to the U.S. Senate.

Where to begin? Let’s start with the fairly predictable — though extremely early — maneuvering of ambitious politicians eyeing higher office and then move to the unpredictable wild card that is Melahat Rafiei.

In late December, Treseder was the swing vote against Councilmember Larry Agran’s proposal for Irvine to give notice of its intent to withdraw from OCPA, effective July 1st, with the caveat that the withdrawal would be rescinded if OCPA has taken concrete steps to address the many agency problems identified in the Orange County Grand Jury report. At the time, Treseder said she wanted to fix the troubled agency.

By not adopting Agran’s proposal in December, the City is now locked into OCPA until at least 2024.

The meeting included plenty of prodding, cajoling and sweet-talking the other Councilmembers to move forward with new policies addressing old issues.

The Council unanimously endorsed Councilmember Agran’s conceptual plan for the long-promised Veterans Memorial Park.

In spite of fierce opposition from Councilmember Tammy Kim, who has been a longtime opponent of district elections, the Council voted 4-1 (Kim voted NO) to proceed with the transition to district elections.