Later this year, Irvine will celebrate its 50th anniversary. Historically, voters and City leaders in Irvine have shared a mutual respect for one another. Voters have trusted that the people they send to City Hall to represent them will do just that … represent the will of the people. And, previous City leaders have respected the voters enough to implement the will of the people.

However, respect for voters and respect for our local democracy seems to be disappearing in Irvine. For example, the Mayor’s undemocratic “Rule of Two” — requiring two Councilmembers to put matters on the Council agenda — has resulted in the Council refusing to even talk to the voters about critical issues that directly impact thousands of Irvine residents.

Three months ago, at the March 23rd Council meeting, Mayor Khan said that honoring veterans with a Veterans Cemetery was a “top priority” for the Council, stating: “We are in a unique position as a City to actually get this done. I see it happening in May or June….We are all committed to making this happen!”

Khan, Kim, Kuo and Carroll have now unilaterally decided — contrary to the expressed will of the people — that Irvine no longer wants a Veterans Memorial Park. (Councilmembers Kim and Carroll even attended a July 1st press conference in support of the newly proposed “Gypsum Canyon” site which is located just past the 241 toll road and the 91 freeway connector.) This latest freeway site is 23 miles from Irvine, just 5 miles from Riverside County.

Through my decades of work as an attorney specializing in election law, I have unfortunately witnessed a few politicians who will say one thing to voters during a campaign and then do another thing once they are in office.

Call me old-fashioned, but I expect elected officials to follow-through on promises they make.

Last year, in the midst of his City Council election campaign, Councilman Mike Carroll violated Irvine City policy when he transferred tens of thousands of dollars — originally allocated for his Council staff — to instead cover the cost of promotional mailers he sent to Irvine residents.

This year, Mayor Farrah Khan — with the help of Councilmembers Anthony Kuo and Tammy Kim — made Carroll’s violation “go away” by changing the City policy Carroll had violated. Now, Khan, Kim and Carroll have doubled the office budget of each individual Councilmember while removing key restrictions and oversight on how they spend that money.

Last year, Farrah Khan campaigned for Mayor of Irvine, promising to bring transparency, ethics, and democratic values to City Hall.  In just the first few months in office, she’s broken those promises.

Every election cycle, candidates for City Council talk about how much they support our local veterans. Yet seven long years after the City agreed to donate the ARDA site for a beautiful State-built and State-operated Veterans Memorial Park & Cemetery, construction still has not begun.

Since she ran for the Irvine City Council in 2018, now-Mayor Farrah Khan has insisted that she supports the proposed Veterans Memorial Park & Cemetery.  This past year, she has publicly and repeatedly endorsed the placement of the Veterans Cemetery on the 125-acre “ARDA” site at the Great Park.

However, since being elected Mayor, Khan has displayed no interest in moving forward with the project. 

The old political “bait-and-switch” seems to be alive and well in Irvine.  Say one thing to get yourself elected, and then do another thing after you’re elected.

Newly elected Mayor Farrah Khan and Councilmember Tammy Kim seem to be the latest practitioners of the bait-and-switch in our City.

The beginning of a new year offers a fresh start.  On the COVID-19 front, the challenge for 2021 will be getting life-saving vaccines into the arms of Irvine residents.  So far, Orange County and Irvine are off to a slow start.  But we look for City Council leadership in the weeks ahead to dramatically accelerate vaccinations in Irvine.

2021 promises to be the year that construction begins — by this Spring — for our long-promised Veterans Memorial Park & Cemetery on the originally-approved 125-acre “ARDA” site at the Great Park.