Author: Roger Bloom

While questions continue to be raised regarding whether the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) is actually moving Irvine towards its goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2030, residents are beginning to take matters into their own hands.

To help, the City has been encouraging homeowners to transition to solar with its Solarize Irvine program, which in the past 18 months has ramped-up and facilitated 170 solar installations throughout Irvine. The program, a joint venture with OC Goes Solar, uses a citizen panel to vet solar installers to recommend, who then charge a discounted rate to homeowners.

With the state primary election coming up on March 5th, proponents of district elections for the Irvine City Council are wasting no time in taking their case to the voters.

If passed by a majority of Irvine voters in the March 5th election, Measure D will amend the City Charter to have Councilmembers elected from districts instead of citywide, which is the current system. Measure D would also expand the Council from the current five members to seven — six Councilmembers elected from districts (each with about 50,000 residents) plus the Mayor, who will continue to be elected citywide.

And then there were two. At the January 9th Irvine City Council meeting, many dozens of residents turned out to air their anguish over the Israel-Hamas war and the mounting mass casualties. Many spoke of relatives or friends either dead, injured or endangered.

However, Mayor Farrah Khan and Vice Mayor Larry Agran volunteered to stay and hear out the remaining speakers. In the end, everyone got their say and the meeting concluded without incident about 45 minutes later.

And silence fell upon the land. The Irvine City Council has voted to get a jump on state law and...

As the City moves to eliminate single-use plastics from its operations and considers an ordinance to ban them citywide, it doesn’t have to look far for a model: since 2018, UC Irvine has phased out plastic drinking cups, straws and convenience bags, replacing them with recyclable or compostable alternatives.

“Certainly, in developing our program to eliminate these items from our own City facilities quickly, and then working with the community to transition in the coming year or two, the UCI exprerience can be our guide,” Councilman Agran says.