Year: 2025
Tammy Kim Exits Council Race
On Friday, Tammy Kim withdrew her name as a candidate in the special City Council election in District 5, in the face of a lawsuit and an Orange County District Attorney investigation over allegations she lied about her residency in that district.
Kim announced her withdrawal the day after a hearing in Orange County Superior Court on a lawsuit brought by Ron Scolesdang, a District 5 resident who, like Kim, ran unsuccessfully for Mayor in last year’s election.
Scolesdang petitioned the court to keep Kim’s name off the ballot, alleging she is not really a resident of District 5. The judge was set to rule on Friday, the last day before ballots were sent to the printer and could no longer be changed.
Shortly after Kim’s announcement, the court granted Scolesdang’s petition, removing Kim’s name from the ballot.
Irvine City Council Unanimously Approves Measure to Withdraw from OCPA
Tensions between the City of Irvine and the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) boiled over this week, as the new City Council unanimously approved a measure threatening to withdraw from the agency.
The Council’s action on December 12th came in response to the OCPA’s surprise request two weeks earlier that the City agree to move its 115,000 ratepayers from the agency’s top tier of 100% renewable energy to a middle tier of 55% renewable energy, so that OCPA could scale back expensive renewable purchases. Otherwise, the agency said Irvine customers would be hit with a rate increase of 49% on January 1, 2025.
Irvine Councilman James Mai made a motion to have the City draft a notice of intent to withdraw from the OCPA, but not send it until next year. His motion also included moving all of the City’s ratepayers into OCPA’s least expensive tier.
Advertisement
