For most of us, the beginning of the year brings a renewed sense of optimism and hope. When it comes to the Irvine City Council, I am cautiously optimistic that many of the contentious items from last year may soon be overcome.Last year, the City Council — on a 4-1 vote with Vice Mayor Larry Agran voting NO — approved cramming more than 57,000 apartment units and houses into Irvine, even though massive development on this scale would devastate our City with gridlocked traffic and overcrowded school classrooms. The previous Council voted to support the disastrous plan without first having it reviewed by the public or the City’s own Transportation Commission. After backlash from the community, the new Council appears to be more receptive to listening to constituents (and the City’s commissioners) before pushing forward.
Concerns voiced by residents and businesses regarding the forced enrollment in the corrupt Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) were ignored last year by the City’s two paid representatives on the OCPA board: Councilmembers Tammy Kim and Kathleen Treseder. Over just the past two years, Irvine ratepayers have been overcharged millions of dollars by the OCPA for the same electricity that Southern California Edison (SCE) provides its customers. Now that Kim is out of office, the new Council voted unanimously to transfer all OCPA customers in Irvine to the least expensive energy tier. That vote will save Irvine taxpayers and ratepayers tens of millions of dollars annually. And, if customers want to enroll in the higher-priced electricity tier, they can do so (without being forced).
Now Mayor, Agran has proposed an ambitious plan to address climate change by planting thousands of trees throughout Irvine to clean the air and cool our City. He also wants to dramatically expand solar rooftops by creating a City program of low-interest loans to homeowners to install rooftop solar and battery systems, which would lower their energy costs by a significant amount immediately and take those costs to near-zero when their loan is paid off. Agran says his plan to solarize tens of thousands of the City’s rooftops in the next five to ten years would result in real and measurable reductions in the use of energy produced by fossil fuels. So far, his Council colleagues appear to support Agran’s environmental proposals.
Councilmember and Great Park Chairman Mike Carroll has been working with Agran on a host of amenities now under construction at the Great Park: new museums, retail stores, restaurants, lakes, gardens, and walking paths. Construction of the Veterans Memorial Park & Gardens and the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum — which former Councilmember Kim spent years trying to defeat — is also moving forward quickly, without opposition from the new Council.
We’ll have to watch the next few Council meetings to see if this new Council really will work together on behalf of the City’s residents to deliver on the promises they have made. Stay tuned!
Franklin J. Lunding is the founding Publisher and Editor of Irvine Community News & Views. An experienced elections attorney, Mr. Lunding was General Counsel for the Illinois Elections Law Commission and served as Chair of the Illinois State Board of Elections. After moving to Irvine, Mr. Lunding became Chair of the City's Transportation Commission and served on the Irvine Planning Commission.
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