In my 30 years in Irvine, I’ve been privileged to serve the public — first as president of my homeowners’ association, then as Chair of the Irvine Transportation Commission and, later, on the Irvine Planning Commission. I’ve seen good development, bad development and, recently, lots of overdevelopment. But I’ve never seen anything like what’s going on now.
Plied by massive campaign contributions and promises of more financial help, three members of the Irvine City Council — Mayor Don Wagner, and Councilmembers Christina Shea and Melissa Fox — appear determined to give away 125 acres of our Great Park to developer FivePoint Communities. Why? So FivePoint can build huge commercial and residential projects (generating more than 10,000 cars per day and hundreds of millions in profits!) on land that was set aside for a State-approved Great Park Veterans Cemetery.
What’s more outrageous, these three City Councilmembers announced their Great Park giveaway scheme on June 6th, just 9 days before the State was set to send $30 million to Irvine to immediately begin construction on the Great Park Veterans Cemetery. By the way, the State had agreed to maintain the Veterans Memorial Park and Cemetery in perpetuity — forever — at absolutely no cost to the City of Irvine.
THIS FIGHT IS NOT OVER! Join your neighbors in signing the Veterans Cemetery online petition — and stay tuned!
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