Meet District 2 Councilmember: William Go

District 2 Councilmember, William Go

Go is also the first Irvine Councilmember of Chinese Filipino heritage. He was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the U.S. with his four siblings and his mother, who raised them. He credits her with instilling in him the value of hard work and perseverance.

Go was the first in his family to graduate college, getting a BS in computer engineering and then an MBA, both from UCI. He began his career as a software engineer but moved into business and grew a real estate and hospitality portfolio that includes more than 30 properties nationwide.

He has served on the City’s Transportation Commission and Great Park Task Force and has been a part-time City employee as a lifeguard and instructor at the Woollett Aquatics Center where, he says, he’s “never seen an unhappy face.” He’s a triathlete and avid cyclist.

Go says he decided to run for the Council last year when the City made the change to district elections as a result of the passage of Measure D by the voters in the March primary election.

“I never thought about it until that election,” he said. “But then I looked at it. I thought about the concerns in this district, especially the building up of the Great Park.”

He noted that many of the residents in District 2 are paying for the construction of the Great Park through an assessment on their properties, but until now they were not represented on the Council, which guides the development of the Great Park.

At the same time, Go said, he has lived in other parts of town, “so I understand what’s going on around the City.” He mentioned working with another new Councilmember, James Mai, on getting improvements to Heritage Park in District 3.

Now that he’s on the Council, he says, he’s found that “even though we went to districts, [Councilmembers] still have 300,000 people they’re responsible for and answer to. People might think we have less to do, but it’s not true. We’re really busy.”

Besides the Great Park — with an early focus on building a new shopping center for the Great Park Neighborhoods — Go says he’s keenly interested in transportation in the City, especially new infrastructure for cycling and public transportation.

“We can’t put 100,000 new cars on the streets” as the City builds out, Go says. “We need to enhance our biking infrastructure.”

Specifically, he said, he’d like the City to build out a network of protected bike lanes, so that cyclists can feel safe on the City’s streets. He also mentioned some new best practices like BikeHub and Bike Docking to encourage bike sharing.

In addition, Go said, “expansion of Irvine Connect [shuttle service] is very important — making sure we have mobility for seniors and for students.”

Now a month into his term, Go says he’s learned “there’s a lot to absorb. I know real estate, I know tech, and I know Irvine in general, so I already get a lot of what’s going on, but you really need to be well-rounded. You need to not be afraid to ask questions and learn what you don’t know. You’re a student every day.”

And, he says, “You have to remember who you are and who you serve. I’m here for the people, for my neighbors. I have to keep them in mind always.”