Author: Roger Bloom

During a special meeting on Tuesday (June 14th), the Irvine City Council voted to initiate an audit of the embattled Orange County Power Authority (OCPA), as pressure mounted from other cities in the Power Authority for a housecleaning of OCPA’s executive management.

Four hours after Irvine’s action, the City Council of OCPA-member Huntington Beach voted to support Irvine’s audit and also passed a motion of no-confidence in the Power Authority’s CEO, Brian Probolsky. Those votes were 5-0 and 4-1, respectively, with two members absent.

Melahat Rafiei, a prominent Democratic Party official and political consultant who is a close confidante of Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan, was arrested in 2019 for allegedly trying to bribe two Irvine City Councilmembers, court documents recently revealed.

Mayor Khan’s re-election campaign this year is being run by Progressive Solutions, and Rafiei’s colleague in the firm, Cory Allen, is Khan’s 2022 campaign manager. Allen was also hired by Khan in September to be her Chief Executive Assistant, a City-paid position, raising ethical concerns.

After months of repeated requests for a City Council meeting to publicly discuss the troubled operations and finances at the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA), Irvine City Councilmember Larry Agran has successfully been able to agendize the issue at a special Council meeting, scheduled for next Tuesday (June 14th) at 3pm.

Nov. 28, 2020: The previous Irvine City Council, at the urging of then-Councilmember and now-Mayor Khan, forms OCPA. Khan and other supporters promise OCPA will deliver cleaner electricity at lower costs than Southern California Edison (SCE). (The City has loaned OCPA $7.7 million so far to cover start-up costs and initial operations.)

This is the third of a three-part series on the Irvine Business Complex, or IBC, and the unique...

How IBC Became an Imperfect Urban Island in a Suburban Area This is the second of a three-part...