Roger Bloom - Irvine Community News and Views

Council Reviews Cost Analysis Report for Veterans Cemetery

The Veterans Cemetery proposed for Gypsum Canyon in Anaheim is estimated to cost some $100 million more than the previously proposed site in Irvine’s Great Park, according to a City review of available public reports on the plans.

In January, Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva and State Senator Tom Umberg released a report from the California Department of General Services estimating the direct costs of the Gypsum Canyon plan at $126 million. In an accompanying press release, Quirk-Silva invited public analysis of the report.

As part of the public analysis, Irvine Vice Mayor Larry Agran asked City staff to review the report and compare it with projected costs for development of the Great Park site, which was approved by the City’s voters in an election in 2018 and again in 2020 by the City Council when the Council adopted a citizen initiative that had garnered some 20,000 Irvine resident signatures.

Vice Mayor Larry Agran Proposes a “Living Wage” for the City’s Lowest Paid Workers

During the June 11th City Council meeting, Vice Mayor Larry Agran proposed a pay increase for the City’s lowest-wage workers.

Many of the City’s workers who perform critical services — including childcare workers, maintenance workers, and seasonal park & recreation workers — currently earn about $16.50 an hour. Under Agran’s proposal, those workers would earn a “living wage” of $20 per hour.

Agran estimated the cost to the City for the pay raise to be between $200,000 and $300,000. That money would come from the City’s reserve fund, which currently stands at nearly $70 million — which is a very healthy 24% above the City’s annual operating budget.

Agran — who established the City’s reserve fund when he was previously Mayor — wants the fund to be drawn down to 21% or 22%, allowing for those dollars to be “invested in our workers and city services.”

Proposed Asian American History Museum at the Great Park

The Irvine City Council has given an enthusiastic thumbs-up to the development of an Asian American History Museum (AAHM) in the Great Park.

The proposed museum will be one of the main attractions of the Cultural Terrace West area of the Great Park, adjacent to the existing Sports Complex.

The museum will total some 220,000 square feet — including 94,000 square feet of exhibition space and a 125,000 square-foot sculpture garden and plaza.

It will also feature a 300-seat auditorium, a gift shop and conference rooms, and an Asian Food Hall, which will be added in the second phase.

The AAHM will be privately funded, with no City funding.