Homeowners Impacted by COVID-19: Apply for Mortgage Relief
If you are homeowner who has been financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be...
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Irvine Mayor & Council Majority Rejects Plan for a Veterans Memorial Park on the 125-Acre Great Park “ARDA” Site
During the February 8th Irvine City Council meeting, Councilmember Larry Agran outlined his proposal to build a beautiful Veterans Memorial Park on the 125-acre Great Park “ARDA” site.
Agran’s proposal calls for a vast park filled with a forest of trees, walking trails, memorial gardens, reflecting ponds, and an aviation museum to honor the City’s six-decade military history and our local veterans. (A botanical garden is part of Agran’s proposal.)
After nearly an hour of public comments about Agran’s plan — which included unanimous support from veterans — Mayor Khan and Councilmembers Kuo, Kim and Carroll rejected the proposal and voted instead to build a botanical garden on the entire ARDA site.
After the meeting concluded, one veteran who had spoken in support of Agran’s proposal stated: “Mayor Khan and her Council majority have once again betrayed veterans. First, they took away our Veterans Cemetery that we were promised, and now they want to erase any memory of the El Toro Marine base and those of us who served there.”
Orange County Power Authority Update
In April, all businesses in the City of Irvine will automatically be transferred from their current provider of electricity, Southern California Edison (SCE), and enrolled in the new Orange County Power Authority (OCPA).
Six months later — in October — Irvine’s residential customers will be automatically transferred from SCE to the new OCPA plan.
The success of the Power Authority will depend on Irvine businesses and residents choosing to remain in the OCPA program and not opt-out and return to SCE.
The Power Authority originally told cities that joined OCPA that their residents would be receiving cleaner energy at less expensive rates than SCE. A Fullerton staff report from November 2020 promised “the program would bring millions in savings to residents every year.”
However, OCPA released residential rates on January 11th of this year, it was discovered that Irvine households will pay between $4.25 and $6.38 per month more than they currently pay for energy provided by SCE.
Irvine City Council Establishes a Permanent Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee
At the January 11th Irvine City Council meeting, the Council voted to make the temporary...
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All American Asphalt Plant in North Irvine Receives Sixth Notice of Violation
In January, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) issued two new Notice of Violations (NOV) to the All American Asphalt (AAA) plant in north Irvine, for causing odors that impacted the public.
There have now been six NOVs issued to the AAA plant in the past two years.
Since 2019, there have been more than 1,200 complaints filed against the AAA plant, and hundreds of north Irvine families continue to express concerns regarding the health risks associated with living so close to a plant that emits known human carcinogens.
Two community groups — Non-Toxic Neighborhoods and the Stop Toxic Asphalt Pollutants in Irvine — have been leading the charge advocating on behalf of the affected residents.
On the City side, former Irvine Mayor and current Councilmember Larry Agran has repeatedly called for the City of Irvine to take bold legal action to shut the asphalt plant down in Irvine and relocate it to a safer, remote location.
Irvine Resident Melody Chang Designs First Public Health Patch Program for Girl Scouts
Irvine resident, Melody Change — a high school senior at the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana and Girl Scout Ambassador — has been recognized for creating the first public health patch program for Girl Scouts through her work designing a Girl Scout Gold Award project: Let’s Learn About Public Health.
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Orange County Power Authority Board Votes to Set Residential Electricity Rates and Approves Expensive Benefits Plan for CEO
Once the OC Power Authority (OCPA) launches later this year, Irvine businesses and residents will be transferred from their current provider of electricity, Southern California Edison, and automatically enrolled in the new OCPA plan.
When that happens, residential customers will pay between $4.25 and $6.38 per month more than they currently pay for energy provided by SCE.
The cities of Irvine, Huntington Beach, Fullerton and Buena Park are part of the OCPA, but only Irvine has agreed to fund the agency through 2022. In fact, $7.7 million of Irvine taxpayer money has already been advanced to the OCPA.
This week, the OCPA board approved an executive employee benefits program that provides 10 weeks of paid leave and a $500/month auto stipend to the agency’s CEO Brian Probolsky — a longtime political operative in County government with no energy sector experience, who was hired to run the Power Authority at an annual salary of $239,000.
Another Horrible Week in Irvine as COVID-19 Cases Continue to Surge
During the second week in January, the Orange County Health Care Agency reported 55,815 new cases of COVID-19 among our County’s residents.
The number of hospitalizations also sharply increased, with 1,154 hospital beds filled with COVID-19 patients across the County. That is an increase of 379 since this time a week ago. And, we lost another 15 Orange County residents in the past week.
Here in Irvine, there have been 5,555 new cases of COVID-19 reported among our Irvine neighbors this past week.
State Senator Dave Min Sends Strong Letter to Irvine’s Mayor and City Council Regarding the All American Asphalt Plant
Since taking office last December, Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan and her Council majority — Vice Mayor Tammy Kim and Councilmembers Anthony Kuo and Mike Carroll — have downplayed the more than 1,000 complaints lodged by north Irvine residents regarding toxic and noxious emissions from the nearby All American Asphalt (AAA) plant.
On November 8th, the City sent a letter to California State Senator and former UCI Law Professor Dave Min requesting legislative help from Sacramento.
Senator Min responded to the City in a remarkable letter — which was almost a legal brief — disputing claims by the Mayor and her Council majority that there was nothing the City of Irvine could do to help residents impacted by the asphalt plant. Min explained that “the City of Irvine possesses broad and sweeping authority to act immediately and decisively in addressing the problems created by the AAA plant.”
Irvine City Councilmember Larry Agran Holds Press Event on His Proposed Veterans Memorial Park on the ARDA Site
The Great Park ARDA site makes up about 10% of the land that was transferred to the City of Irvine from the U.S. Government when the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station was decommissioned after nearly 60 years of operations.
The ARDA site is also a very valuable piece of land that developer FivePoint has long coveted for massive office, industrial, and commercial projects.
Councilmember Larry Agran has a plan for how the City can preserve the ARDA site forever … and add a beautiful new amenity to the Great Park. Agran is proposing that the City begin building a Veterans Memorial Park on the ARDA site — a vast park filled with trees, trails, and memorial gardens that honor our City’s rich military history and our veterans.
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