February, 2023 - Irvine Community News and Views

Publisher’s Perspective: Vice Mayor Kim’s Self-Serving Call for “Investigation”

There is an ongoing FBI investigation into public corruption at Irvine City Hall involving disgraced political consultant Melahat Rafiei.

So, why is Vice Mayor Tammy Kim calling for a separate City investigation? At the January 24th Council meeting, Kim stated that she wanted a quick 30-day City investigation to “clear my name.” (Rafiei ran Kim’s 2020 City Council campaign.)

It should be obvious to everyone that it would be a conflict of interest to have the City investigate itself … with the Council directing and overseeing the investigation. A friend who teaches legal ethics and is an expert witness in these matters told me that any internal investigation by the City that was controlled by the Council would itself be unethical, lack credibility, and viewed as highly questionable.

Sports Injuries in Irvine: Are We Prepared?

On January 2nd, NFL football player Damar Hamlin suffered a sudden cardiac arrest on the field after a tackle during the Bills-Bengals NFL game. If this had happened to one of our Irvine youth or adult recreational sports players, are we confident that the individual would have had the same life-savings emergency medical treatment that saved Hamlin’s life?

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Environmental Experts Say the Ozone Layer is On-Track to Recover, Thanks to Two UCI Scientists & Irvine’s Bold Action in the 1980s

The City of Irvine has a long history of leading when it comes to protecting the environment. In...
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OCPA May Hold Special Board Meeting This Week

Irvine City Councilmember and Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) board member Kathleen Treseder has requested a special meeting of the OCPA Board for Friday (February 10th) to consider terminating its legal services contract with the Best Best & Krieger (BBK) law firm, whose partner Ryan Baron currently serves as general counsel for OCPA.

Treseder has publicly stated that the removal of Baron and OCPA CEO Brian Probolsky are necessary first steps in reforming the troubled power agency.

Critics have said that Baron functions more as Probolsky’s personal attorney than as the legal representative for the agency. And, according to Treseder, BBK’s billings are more than double OCPA’s budget for legal services.

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Irvine Rocked by News of Ongoing FBI Investigation Connected to Attempted Bribery of Irvine City Councilmembers

The case of former Orange County Democratic Party Executive Director and political consultant Melahat Rafiei continued to roil Irvine politics this past week, as the press and public strained to figure out which former City Councilmembers Rafiei allegedly tried to bribe in 2018 while the current City Council grappled with the issue of starting its own investigation into Rafiei.

Last May, it was revealed by the FBI that Rafiei — who managed the campaigns of Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan and Councilmember Tammy Kim in 2020 — was a “cooperating witness” in its investigation of corruption in Anaheim, secretly recording meetings she had with Anaheim officials. The FBI noted in an affidavit at the time that Rafiei agreed to cooperate after being arrested in 2019 for allegedly attempting to bribe two Irvine Councilmembers on behalf of a client who wanted to establish a cannabis business in the City.

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