In the wake of a growing structural budget deficit, several candidates running for a seat on Irvine’s city council are embracing the idea of an independent auditor for the city.
Candidates running for different spots on Irvine’s city council spoke to voters last Saturday in a candidate forum hosted by the South Coast Chinese Cultural Center, Irvine Watchdog and nearly a dozen local nonprofit organizations.
The forum comes as the city is on pace to reach an estimated $37 million budget deficit in two years – an issue that has left voters questioning how the candidates would go about fixing the shortfall.
In addition to budget issues, last week’s forum also saw lots of attention on the future of Oak Creek Golf Club – finding the right balance of open space preservation and housing construction.
While all candidates running for a spot on the council were invited, John Park – a candidate for district one – was not in attendance.
Who are the Candidates Calling for an Independent Auditor in Irvine?
Irvine’s budget dilemma dominated much of the election forum with most candidates agreeing it was their top priority, making a promise to voters that fixing the city’s budget shortfall was something they would be able to hold the potential mayor and council members accountable for in their first year in office.
Mayor Larry Agran, who’s running for another term in office, admitted that the city needs to make some structural adjustments to fix the deficit, proposing raising taxes on businesses and transient occupants.
“We have to have enough revenue coming in. That’s why, with respect to taxes, I want to be straightforward with this,” he said. “We can’t promise our children they can have everything they want and it won’t cost anybody anything. Let’s get real. We’re grown-ups.”
Maksim Egorov, Agran’s opponent, agreed with Agran that the budget is his top priority, but he said he would oppose any new taxes or fees to curb the deficit if he was elected.
Candidates were asked what changes they would make to how the current city budget is managed to make sure each district receives a fair amount of money for improvement and development.
Anthony Kuo, candidate for district five, called for more transparency at city hall, which the rest of the city council candidates agreed with. He added that the notion of a city auditor is “a wonderful idea.”
“We need to know where our money is going. You want to put a 2,000 page budget in PDF form on the city website? People aren’t gonna read that. They need to know where we are with the budget, how much things are costing,” he said.
Byron Salvaterria, another candidate for district five, posed the question of how Irvine can be more transparent, saying it’s a great idea for the city to have an independent auditor.
Incumbent City Councilwoman Kathleen Treseder, who is running for reelection in district six, agreed with Kuo, saying that the city needs an independent auditor. She explained that some of the members on city council were surprised about the projected shortfall, saying council members didn’t find out in time to fix it.
“An independent auditing office would change that. We would save a lot. Not only would they be looking at the budget and making sure that it was pointing at what council said but they can also pull the budget and find ways to save money and be more efficient,” Treseder said.
Treseder promised if she was reelected, she would introduce an item to the city council to ask for the approval of an independent auditor.
Melinda Liu, incumbent and candidate for district one, said the city should have targeted audits to find out what went wrong with the budget before bringing an independent auditor to the table.
“I also introduced a proposal to have targeted audits. Before we are able to have it with an independent auditor for the city, we should have targeted audits to find out what went wrong before so we can change the structure of our government spending,” she said.
Do the Candidates Support the Development of Oak Creek?
Candidates had mixed opinions on the development of the Oak Creek Golf Course.
Kuo avoided giving his opinion, saying that if the audience wants the candidates to answer the question specifically, they’re asking them to disqualify themselves from voting on the item when it gets to council.
Julie Glossbrenner, candidate for district five, saying she is the only candidate that has gone to several council meetings to voice her opposition for the development of Oak Creek.
“Nobody wants to take a stand on it. I have taken a stand on it. I’ve also written to the senior city planner against Oak Creek and I will continue to do so,” she said.
Treseder said she was in support of the future housing development and nature park, explaining that Irvine needs more housing.
However, Treseder added that she wants to ensure 15% or more units are affordable housing, saying the Irvine Company has not committed to that as of now.
Sara Leon is a Voice of OC reporting fellow. You can reach her at admin@voiceofoc.org
