Betty Martinez Franco Joins the Irvine City Council

Betty Martinez Franco was sworn in as the Irvine City Council’s newest member on May 13th, and got a good taste of what she’s gotten herself into during the meeting that followed.

Martinez Franco was the winner of a special election last month to fill the District 5 Council seat left vacant when incumbent Larry Agran was elevated to Irvine Mayor in the November election last year. She brings the seven-member Council up to full strength for the first time, capping the expansion from five to seven members after the shift to district elections that was approved by the voters in March 2024.

“You complete us,” said Mayor Agran in welcoming Martinez Franco to the dais after she took the oath of office.

Martinez Franco then addressed her new colleagues and the audience in the full Council Chamber. She recalled that when she first started her campaign she was largely written off, but she and her supporters ran “a grassroots campaign powered by heart, by hustle and by the belief in what is possible when the entire community shows up — and it worked.”

She said she is very proud to be the first Latina and Mexican immigrant to be elected to the Council, but added, “I am not here to only represent one group or demographic. I am here for everyone. . . . .In what other city can you enjoy Korean barbecue, Persian kabobs, Greek food, and Mexican tacos all in the same day? That is Irvine’s magic.”

She closed by saying, “I am ready to get to work, to collaborate with our Mayor and my fellow Councilmembers to build an Irvine where diversity is not just tolerated but celebrated, where equity is not just a promise but a practice, and where inclusion is not just a buzzword, it’s how we govern.”

And then it was time to get to work.

First up were a couple of presentations by the City staff to update the Council on Irvine’s new Water Safety Season Floatie Exchange Program and progress on development of an Urban Forest Master Plan.

After public comments, City Manager Oliver Chi provided updates on a couple of pending infrastructure projects in the City before it was time for Martinez Franco to cast her first vote — in favor of approving the consent calendar, which passed 7-0, as it almost always does.

After a couple of other 7-0 procedural votes, Mayor Agran quipped: “The Council is working together beautifully,” referring to weeks of speculation around City Hall about how the full seven members would function as a group.

Finally, after more uncontroversial and legalistic matters that led to 7-0 votes, and three hours into the meeting, The Big One hit: an Irvine Company proposal to redevelop the Oak Creek Golf Club and some adjacent parcels into a new 3,100-unit residential village.

This involved a lengthy staff report, a parade of more than 80 sometimes heated public commenters, and then a Council discussion involving many questions of the staff and Irvine Company representatives. By the time the Council voted 7-0 to have the staff continue to talk with the Irvine Company and begin environmental and traffic studies, Tuesday had become Wednesday. Mayor Agran continued the rest of the agenda to the next meeting and the Council adjourned at about 12:30am.

As the Councilmembers, staff and the remaining members of the public milled about and prepared to leave, Councilmember Melinda Liu joked with Martinez Franco, “Well, you got the full treatment — this is how we roll!”

For her part, Martinez Franco was unfazed, saying: “I thought it went fine.” Asked if she felt comfortable on the dais, she answered: “At first I was a little like, Is it OK if I ask a question here? But then it was, Yeah, I have a question and I’m going to ask it.”