Lately, Irvine City Council members have been struggling to finish their public meetings – abruptly ending three of them this year.
It comes after months of continued pressure from a coalition of activists and residents to get them to call for a ceasefire in Palestine and Israel.
The activists and residents say the abrupt adjournments and early departures are part of an effort by some council members to silence their voices on an issue impacting a county home to tens of thousands of Arab American and Jewish residents.
But some council members say the situation isn’t a local one, pointing to a slim majority vote earlier this year against formally weighing in on Israel and Palestine and instead focusing on local issues.
[Read: Irvine Officials Won’t Formally Weigh in on Palestine and Israel]
In recent months, Councilmembers Tammy Kim, Mike Carroll and Kathleen Treseder have either left meetings early, voted to end meetings or stepped out amid or ahead of public comments on the issue.
Tuesday’s meeting abruptly ended due to a lack of quorum after Treseder and Kim left and Carroll didn’t show up.
It all happened before council members could discuss a controversial ordinance to curb protests outside of homes.
[Read: Another Orange County City Considers Curbing Protests at Homes]
City council members also didn’t consider a proposed policy to bar city officials from listening to public comments after a meeting had been adjourned – something that happened earlier this month.
What Happened?
Treseder, who asked for both items, said in a phone interview Tuesday night that she left the meeting after Mayor Farrah Khan had asked her, through City Manager Oliver Chi, to continue her proposals to a later date because the agenda was already stacked.
She said that she agreed to the mayor’s request, but that she heard from Chi that Khan changed her mind at the last minute.
“Every other time, when someone has agreed to have their item continued they have not been forced to discuss it,” Treseder said.
“I don’t know what kind of game she is playing, but I am not going to play it and so that is why Tammy and I walked out because I had agreed to withdraw the item and I’m keeping to that agreement.”
But Khan said differently.
In a Tuesday phone interview after the council meeting, Khan said Treseder doesn’t speak to her, adding the councilwoman had an opportunity to pull both of her items at the start of the meeting.
“The fact that she did not pull her items at the time where you are supposed to meant that she wanted to continue with her items and that’s all there is. I have not spoken to her about these two items,” she said.
Khan said she told the city manager that Treseder’s items were unconstitutional and undemocratic and that the councilwoman should pull them before the meeting.
“She didn’t do that,” Khan said.
Chi did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning.
In a Tuesday night text message, Lulu Hammad, co-founder of Yalla Indivisible, said officials walked out after her group organized a letter campaign and sent the council over 1,000 emails against Treseder’s proposals.
Irvine Officials Struggle With Israel & Palestine Debate
Since November, both Irvine and Santa Ana City Council meetings have become Orange County’s center of debate on the violence in Israel and Palestine as a coalition of activists have regularly shown up to pressure officials to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
At the same time, a host of residents and rabbis have called on officials in both cities to stay out of foreign affairs and focus on local issues instead.
Public comments on the issue have dominated recent Irvine City Council meetings – at times pushing them into the early morning hours.
Last month, Kim, Treseder and Carroll voted that what is going on in Israel and Palestine is not a local issue and decided against formally weighing in on the matter after months of constant pressure.
Tuesday’s meeting comes after Santa Ana City Council members deadlocked on a similar demonstration ordinance last week following a series of protests outside Congressman Lou Correa’s home in Santa Ana as part of an effort to get him to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Treseder said that she intends to bring back her proposals in May.
Kim and Khan both said that there are no planned city council meetings in April as Ramadan comes to an end and Eid starts for Muslims near the beginning of the month and Passover starts for Jews near the end of the month.
Adjournments & Walk Outs
After Kim and Treseder left Tuesday, Khan and Agran decided to stay as they have done in the past to listen to residents who came to weigh in on the proposals – some of whom are Muslims observing the month of Ramadan and broke their fast that night at city hall.
Many of the people lambasted Treseder’s proposals, criticized the abrupt walkouts from council members and vowed to continue protesting.
Treseder said she has listened to people on all sides of the Middle Eastern issue and that the council already voted that it was not in their jurisdiction to weigh in on.
She also said that her life has been threatened in direct communications and Instagram posts and said she has reported the threats to the police.
“Once someone threatens my life over an issue, then I will not engage with that issue anymore on their behalf and so that is another reason why I am leaving. It is not our jurisdiction we have decided this as a body,” she said.
Earlier this month, the OC Register reported that police have been patrolling and monitoring the homes and social media of both Kim and Treseder and that police have found no credible threats against them.
In a Tuesday night phone interview, Kim said she has left meetings after city business was concluded when asked about her departures ahead of comments on Palestine and Israel.
“The same people had been speaking since November. I’ve heard them over and over again. I’ve had private meetings, I’ve had one-on-one meetings and I’ve heard them every single time,” she said.
Kim said other items have had to be pushed from meetings because of the debate and there are city issues they have to focus on.
“It’s not saying that it’s not impacting the lives of residents on both sides, but at the end of the day, we have city business to do. I’m not in Congress. City Council at the end of the day is a part time position that meets twice a month,” she said.
“That is the only time we have to discuss all the things that we need to do within the city of Irvine.”
Khan said Treseder and Kim are neglecting their roles as elected officials.
“Your job is to represent everyone and that includes holding the public forum to hear everyone out. That is one of our rules and you don’t get to shut that down just because you’re uncomfortable with what you’re hearing or you disagree with it,” she said.
Councilman Larry Agran called the early adjournments and walkouts by his colleagues “very serious mischief” at Tuesday’s meeting.
“It can, if persistently pursued, deprive us of the ability to do business as a political body. That’s totally irresponsible,” he said.
Agran said they may have to change their rules on adjournment if “this nonsense continues” and did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday night.
Carroll also did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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