Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/christina-shea/)
Irvine Mayor Christina Shea told residents at a private townhall meeting July 18 that the golf course site was a diversion so the state doesn’t force the veterans cemetery at the original site. But she said, on Wednesday, she was talking about diverting the residents’ anger over the original site.
The Irvine City Council picked a planned golf course within the Great Park as the future home of the state-run veterans cemetery, but a state bill looking to name another site conflicts with Irvine’s decision.
Irvine City Council members could end a two-year battle over where to locate Orange County’s first veterans cemetery if they decide on a site Tuesday.
Orange County’s first veterans cemetery got $20 million in state funding when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the budget, but the cemetery has yet to find a site in Irvine after battles between the city and the state legislature.
The official location of the proposed Southern California Veterans Cemetery in Irvine remains unclear after the California Senate Veterans Affairs Committee moves legislation naming one site, while Irvine is looking at another one.
The State Legislature is eyeing the original site near the heart of the old Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Irvine, while city leaders, concerned about funding, also are eyeing a golf course site.
Harvey Liss, who is Editor of Irvine Community News & Views, writes that it is time for the Irvine City Council to finally fulfill the will of the people and move forward with the Southern California Veterans Cemetery at the original 125-acre ARDA site in the Great Park.
Irvine Mayor Christina Shea wants Gov. Gavin Newsom to visit her city to review competing properties to establish a veterans cemetery. Shea is opposed to the current site advocated by State Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk Silva in her recent legislation on the issue and instead argues a nearby golf course site should house the proposed veterans’ cemetery site.
Irvine voters will have to wait until at least late April before they know how a vacancy on the City Council will be filled after council members, while moving parts of an appointment process forward, rejected the appointment mechanics recommended by staff.
Irvine will grapple with a City Council vacancy when Mayor Pro Tem Christina Shea succeeds former Mayor Don Wagner, who resigned Tuesday after winning a special election to become a County supervisor.