If they build it, people will come — but how many?

During the last Council meeting, a large contingent of Live Nation management and employees, construction union officials, music industry workers, and out-of-town music fans turned out to support the 14,000-seat outdoor venue, while a bevy of Irvine residents spoke in favor of the smaller alternative. The residents cited noise and traffic concerns, with those from many areas of the City saying they are disturbed by concerts at the current temporary amphitheater operated by Live Nation.

The Irvine City Council put off discussions and decisions on its three heftiest agenda items during its February 14th meeting, but still managed to approve measures to finally begin clearing derelict buildings and structures from the Great Park “ARDA” site that will be home to the Veterans Memorial Park.

While the Councilmembers decided to postpone a vote on the amphitheater, they did take action on the City’s long-delayed Climate Action Plan and unanimously approved a demolition plan for the long-promised Veterans Memorial Park & Gardens.

Think of the two most beloved amphitheaters in Los Angeles — the Hollywood Bowl and the Greek Theatre. Essentially, that’s the choice being put before the City Council on February 14th, as they once again consider what kind of music venue to create as a centerpiece of the Great Park.

In the meantime, Live Nation has rejected the Council-approved deal and proposed numerous changes that would shift tens of millions of dollars in costs to the City; eliminate the City’s ability to regulate sound and noise emanating from the amphitheater; and create new income streams for Live Nation — including the ability to sell naming rights to the venue.

It’s been 14 months since the Great Park Board of Directors — comprised of Irvine’s Mayor and four Councilmembers — threw aside the City’s standard “Request for Proposal” (RFP) process and, instead, voted to award a multi-million-dollar contract for vehicle electric charging stations to a company that was not recommended by City staff.

Kim stated that Noodoe should be selected because the company was an Irvine-based business that would bring a boon of manufacturing jobs to the City. In fact, that same month Noodoe was relocating its administrative office to Houston while laying off its Irvine staff … and all manufacturing takes place at Noodoe’s factory in Taiwan.

Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) general counsel Ryan Baron resigned this week — just ahead of a board meeting called to consider terminating him and his firm, Best Best & Krieger (BBK), as the agency’s legal advisors.

Baron was involved in the formation of the OCPA and was instrumental in the hiring of Probolsky. He has been criticized by present and former board members for acting more as the CEO’s personal attorney than the board’s legal counsel. For example, Baron advised the board that they could ignore the OCPA bylaws and have Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner, a Probolsky ally, included as a voting board member — even though the County was not yet drawing electrical power from the agency. (Orange County has subsequently withdrawn from the agency.)

Irvine City Councilmember and Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) board member Kathleen Treseder has requested a special meeting of the OCPA Board for Friday (February 10th) to consider terminating its legal services contract with the Best Best & Krieger (BBK) law firm, whose partner Ryan Baron currently serves as general counsel for OCPA.

Critics have said that Baron functions more as Probolsky’s personal attorney than as the legal representative for the agency. And, according to Treseder, BBK’s billings are more than double OCPA’s budget for legal services.

The case of former Orange County Democratic Party Executive Director and political consultant Melahat Rafiei continued to roil Irvine politics this past week, as the press and public strained to figure out which former City Councilmembers Rafiei allegedly tried to bribe in 2018 while the current City Council grappled with the issue of starting its own investigation into Rafiei.

Last May, it was revealed by the FBI that Rafiei — who managed the campaigns of Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan and Councilmember Tammy Kim in 2020 — was a “cooperating witness” in its investigation of corruption in Anaheim, secretly recording meetings she had with Anaheim officials. The FBI noted in an affidavit at the time that Rafiei agreed to cooperate after being arrested in 2019 for allegedly attempting to bribe two Irvine Councilmembers on behalf of a client who wanted to establish a cannabis business in the City.

You probably thought the 2024 election campaign would be in … well, 2024. Wrong!

Irvine’s just re-elected Congressional Representative, Katie Porter, is running for the U.S. Senate. Our State Senator, Dave Min, is running for Porter’s House seat; and two of our City Councilmembers (Larry Agran and Tammy Kim) are running for Mayor.

At her first meeting since joining the OCPA board, Irvine Councilmember Kathleen Treseder wasted no time in telling the board that “In order to reform the OCPA … we need to replace the CEO.”

As a new board member and Vice Chair of OCPA, Treseder is calling for the removal of the Power Authority’s CEO and the agency’s general counsel.

Re-elected Irvine City Councilmember Larry Agran and newly elected Councilmember Kathleen Treseder got to work during an 8-hour marathon meeting of the new Council.

And, at midnight, the Council voted 5-0 in support of Councilmember Treseder’s motion to have City staff draft an ordinance that will require most newly constructed homes and buildings in Irvine to be all-electric, with no new gas hookups.