Irvine city council elections and your home value/quality of life.

[Irvinecommuter]

I'm a liberal. In the past 20 or so years, I don't recall ever voting for a Republican (when I first registered to vote, I registered as a Republican and initially would vote Republican, but my views changed as the years went by). However, I'm so turned off by the Larry Agran campaign that I'm seriously considering and probably will vote for Republican Choi.

I hear ya brother. I was going to reject both Choi and Agran's candidate (Gaido) by voting for Daigle. Then I googled Daigle and found her facebook page with Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly listed as favorites. She should take that crap down as it is likely doing her more harm than good.

We received a fairly sleazy mailer from the Agran/Gaido campaign accusing Choi of being anti-Chinese. The mud being thrown back and forth in this campaign is pretty astonishing.

Actually I think it was Choi campaign that accused Agran/Gaido of being anti-immigrant (which by extension means anti-Chinese). The flyer I got even had Chinese translation of certain comments.  BTW, I thought it was really a weird ad considering the target audience probably does not care and cannot vote.

 

[qwerty]

whats the lifecycle of political views? when you are young you are with no money you vote democrat, when you get older and have money you vote republican.

That's not really true at all.

well its true for me, so that is all that really matters

though in general i would say i am socially liberal and fiscally conservative.

 

[ak]

Which side is telling the honest truth???  Both sides say they are for slowing development and housing/population growth in Irvine.  Does anyone have real accurate stats on which side actually did what they said?  It seems the Irvine council are all just pawns and does what TIC wants them to do. 

 

[eyephone]

Which side is telling the honest truth???  Both sides say they are for slowing development and housing/population growth in Irvine.  Does anyone have real accurate stats on which side actually did what they said?  It seems the Irvine council are all just pawns and does what TIC wants them to do.

In my eyes, slow growth is not a valid reason to vote for a person. I think the use of GP funds should be the most concerning.

 

[ps99472]

I got a chinese flyer saying Choi is anti chinese, didn't want to establish sister cities in China, only in Korea.  Some printed testimonials from chinese folks saying that's not right, yadda yadda.  I still don't know who to vote for.

 

[Irvinecommuter]

I got a chinese flyer saying Choi is anti chinese, didn't want to establish sister cities in China, only in Korea.  Some printed testimonials from chinese folks saying that's not right, yadda yadda.  I still don't know who to vote for.

Wow...that's pretty brutal.  Can we just have a vote of no confidence?

 

[jmoney74]

anti Chinese?  lol

man these local politicians.  It's getting crazy.  All I know is.. Argran wasted a bunch of money and fought hard to not have things audited.  That is good enough for me not to vote for him. 

 

[irvinehusky]

That's about it for me as well.  He had ample time and many opportunities to correct anything that was not true.  Reading his rebuttal/propaganda through the Irvine Community News does not count.

His cronies in the "Agran group" gets a black mark in my eyes just because they are associated with him, although not enough to outright drop them.  But they already have an uphill battle for my vote.

All I know is.. Argran wasted a bunch of money and fought hard to not have things audited.  That is good enough for me not to vote for him.

 

[Arman]

That's about it for me as well.  He had ample time and many opportunities to correct anything that was not true.  Reading his rebuttal/propaganda through the Irvine Community News does not count.

His cronies in the "Agran group" gets a black mark in my eyes just because they are associated with him, although not enough to outright drop them.  But they already have an uphill battle for my vote.

All I know is.. Argran wasted a bunch of money and fought hard to not have things audited.  That is good enough for me not to vote for him.

Irvine Community News and Views is an Agran-supported publication. There's nothing independent or objective about it. I pointed this out on their FB page (without saying anything negative about Agran) and my comment was deleted and I was blocked from posting anything further on their site. With this action, Agran pretty much blocked me from voting for him and his minions for the board.

 

[Irvinecommuter]

That's about it for me as well.  He had ample time and many opportunities to correct anything that was not true.  Reading his rebuttal/propaganda through the Irvine Community News does not count.

His cronies in the "Agran group" gets a black mark in my eyes just because they are associated with him, although not enough to outright drop them.  But they already have an uphill battle for my vote.

All I know is.. Argran wasted a bunch of money and fought hard to not have things audited.  That is good enough for me not to vote for him.

I guess my problem is what is Choi's plan for Irvine and GP going forward.  Bashing Agran is the lowhanging fruit. 

 

[calimark]

I' ll vote for whomever will screw up Irvine the least...

 

[eyephone]

That's about it for me as well.  He had ample time and many opportunities to correct anything that was not true.  Reading his rebuttal/propaganda through the Irvine Community News does not count.

His cronies in the "Agran group" gets a black mark in my eyes just because they are associated with him, although not enough to outright drop them.  But they already have an uphill battle for my vote.

All I know is.. Argran wasted a bunch of money and fought hard to not have things audited.  That is good enough for me not to vote for him.

Irvine Community News and Views is an Agran-supported publication. There's nothing independent or objective about it. I pointed this out on their FB page (without saying anything negative about Agran) and my comment was deleted and I was blocked from posting anything further on their site. With this action, Agran pretty much blocked me from voting for him and his minions for the board.

Don't ask questions or say anything negative. Only positive comments - okay? (Coughs)

 

[jmoney74]

I' ll vote for whomever will screw up Irvine the least...

Choi's plan is 5Ps plan.  What's the alternative?  A lot of residents here wanted something else.. but we won't get it.  Now what? 

 

[calimark]

Lots of unanswered questions...

Does Irvine Co. dictate development decisions (so local govt is limited in their abilities to influence development)? 

Could 5p's plan be reversed?

Could a non-Choi council actually reverse the 5p plan? 

With Choi in office, would he support a change if residents voiced objection to 5p plan?

Good question: what's the alternative? 

Could the agran team stop development at GP?  If so, what's their plan?  use taxpayer money for more balloon rides?

Who could we really trust?  (Relatively speaking... )

 

[Irvinecommuter]

Lots of unanswered questions...

Does Irvine Co. dictate development decisions (so local govt is limited in their abilities to influence development)? 

Could 5p's plan be reversed?

Could a non-Choi council actually reverse the 5p plan? 

With Choi in office, would he support a change if residents voiced objection to 5p plan?

Good question: what's the alternative? 

Could the agran team stop development at GP?  If so, what's their plan?  use taxpayer money for more balloon rides?

Who could we really trust?  (Relatively speaking... )

Irvine Co. is obviously an elephant in the room but personally I can find no fault in their planning.  They have done an excellent job planning the community and bringing in commercial properties as well as schools. 

I feel like 5P is learning on the fly.  The whole school thing is a prime example.  TIC would never let that happen. 

Again...Agran's bad track record speaks for itself but he at least has a "plan".  Choi's only tactic is to blast Agran.  What does he want to do with GP? 

 

[The Motor Court Company]

Choi's plan is 5P's plan, a sports complex + a golf course, in exchange for 5000 additional homes

Agran's plan is cemetery, and stalling the development/wasting tax payers' money so he can keep lining up his people's pockets

If Agran is elected, you are essentially paying for him to do nothing, in a way it is kind of slowing development

Lots of unanswered questions...

Does Irvine Co. dictate development decisions (so local govt is limited in their abilities to influence development)? 

Could 5p's plan be reversed?

Could a non-Choi council actually reverse the 5p plan? 

With Choi in office, would he support a change if residents voiced objection to 5p plan?

Good question: what's the alternative? 

Could the agran team stop development at GP?  If so, what's their plan?  use taxpayer money for more balloon rides?

Who could we really trust?  (Relatively speaking... )

Irvine Co. is obviously an elephant in the room but personally I can find no fault in their planning.  They have done an excellent job planning the community and bringing in commercial properties as well as schools. 

I feel like 5P is learning on the fly.  The whole school thing is a prime example.  TIC would never let that happen. 

Again...Agran's bad track record speaks for itself but he at least has a "plan".  Choi's only tactic is to blast Agran.  What does he want to do with GP?

 

[Irvinecommuter]

Choi's plan is 5P's plan, a sports complex + a golf course, in exchange for 5000 additional homes

Agran's plan is cemetery, and stalling the development/wasting tax payers' money so he can keep lining up his people's pockets

If Agran is elected, you are essentially paying for him to do nothing, in a way it is kind of slowing development

Lots of unanswered questions...

Does Irvine Co. dictate development decisions (so local govt is limited in their abilities to influence development)? 

Could 5p's plan be reversed?

Could a non-Choi council actually reverse the 5p plan? 

With Choi in office, would he support a change if residents voiced objection to 5p plan?

Good question: what's the alternative? 

Could the agran team stop development at GP?  If so, what's their plan?  use taxpayer money for more balloon rides?

Who could we really trust?  (Relatively speaking... )

Irvine Co. is obviously an elephant in the room but personally I can find no fault in their planning.  They have done an excellent job planning the community and bringing in commercial properties as well as schools. 

I feel like 5P is learning on the fly.  The whole school thing is a prime example.  TIC would never let that happen. 

Again...Agran's bad track record speaks for itself but he at least has a "plan".  Choi's only tactic is to blast Agran.  What does he want to do with GP?

Actually no...Choi's plan is basically whatever 5P wants to do.  All they did was to downgrade the original plans for the site to an "average" regional park.  Honestly, it's the realistic option with the state pulling out of the funding but I don't see what Choi has done in his first term
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2013/12/orange_county_great_park_irvin_2.php

OCRegister is supporting him:

Mr. Choi told us that a focus of his first mayoral term was getting the park built, something past mayors promised but never delivered on. In his second term he plans to keep the park on track and hopes to press forward on those gains. He also hopes to complete a forensic audit into how $200 million was spent at the Great Park under past mayors.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/choi-635746-park-city.html

Has he delivered on that promise?

I dislike the planning for the Great Park from the start.  It was basically an alternative to fighting off the airport (which I appreciate).  After that, people just got too giddy about the possibilities. 

The anti-Chinese/Pakistan thing is quite disturbing for me.  It set up a "us" versus "them" mentality.
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2014/10/steven_choi_irvine_mayor_chinese.php

I think the sister city program has become way to politicized.  If you are going to do it, do it out of mutual respect for each city...not the national government.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

I'll vote for whoever will bring back 3CWGs.

 

[The Motor Court Company]

Whether it is 100% 5P or Choi/Lalloway had some influence, at least there is a new plan and the construction just began (breaking down the runways and Pavilion Park is almost done...etc).

To me it is not unreasonable to take 2 years to clean up the mess left by Agran and come up with a new direction, especially after the funding went away. If you recall there was a lawsuit against California to get the re-development fund back. That's quite a bit for 2 years: cleaning up the mess, doing audit trying to recoup some millions (also politically motivated), lawsuit against California (and settled), and negotiation with 5P for a new plan.

Agran had 10 years and Choi now has 2. I will give Choi (or 5P) a couple years to see if they can carry through their promise.

Agran has had his chance and proven he is either corrupt or incompetent.

 

[Arman]

Agran opposes term limits? Yet another reason to vote against him. Damn, the more I find out about him, the more I dislike him. Unfortunately, except for my dislike of Agran, I don't have a pro-reason to vote for Choi. When I was an undergraduate at UCI over 20 years ago, Agran was Irvine mayor. He's still in office. Time for him to go, which is why I'll be voting for term limits.

Here's an OC Register article from today.