New Year’s Message from Irvine Community News & Views Publisher

As we begin the new year, I want to thank our readers for your continued support.  In less than five years, our community newspaper has become a trusted source of information for thousands of residents across the City.  In addition to our printed paper, thousands of Irvine residents receive our weekly email messages and nearly 24,000 follow us on Facebook.

I also want to express my gratitude to our readers for their input.  Every week, Irvine Community News receives messages from residents asking us to investigate stories that impact our City.  And, when we ask readers to take our Irvine Community Poll to let us know how you feel about an issue, we receive hundreds of responses and insightful comments.

One of the most important stories we have covered this year — and over the past three years — is the Veterans Memorial Park & Cemetery.

Irvine Community News has proudly supported and spotlighted the efforts of Irvine citizens who are using direct democracy to stand up to a billion-dollar-developer (FivePoint) and the Irvine City Council (led by unelected Mayor Christina Shea) to make sure that the long-promised Veterans Cemetery becomes a reality at the original (“ARDA”) site at the Great Park.

Scores of volunteers are gathering signatures for the citizens’ “Build the Great Park Veterans Cemetery” initiative petition campaign.  This all-volunteer effort has gathered nearly half of the 15,000 signatures required to qualify their initiative for the ballot.  If passed, the initiative would designate and rezone the ARDA site as the citizens’ once-and-for-all choice for the Veterans Cemetery.

Be sure to include “Sign the Initiative Petition” on your 2020 To-Do List.  If you have already signed it, encourage your friends and neighbors to sign.

If the signature-gathering process is successful and Irvine voters approve the ballot initiative, construction for the state-built and state-operated Veterans Memorial Park & Cemetery can begin in 2020!

We all have a part to play in making sure that 2020 is the year when the long-promised Veterans Cemetery becomes a reality.  Irvine Community News & Views will continue to do our part by supporting and spotlighting the civic activism centered around this important community issue.

Publisher