Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/larry-agran/)
Agran is one of the most controversial figures in Irvine politics and his return to the main stage of Irvine politics could see a 4-1 Democrat majority take over.
After over seven years of debate, the body could choose to begin the process of preparing a veterans cemetery without confirmed state financial backing.
The state senate’s Veteran Affairs chair is looking to examine multiple sites for the cemetery weeks after the Irvine City Council chose a location.
The Irvine council approved the initiative without sending it to the ballot and can now search for funding, but the city attorney raised concerns that the initiative is not binding.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva’s bill allowing a cemetery to be built on one of two sites in Irvine, which could ultimately be decided by Irvine voters if a citywide ballot initiative is successful.
The city of Irvine has a national reputation as a safe, well-planned and well-run city, but problems are brewing. A no-growth movement is gaining steam, the city’s fire protection is up for grabs and residents have protested against a homeless facility. Are things coming unhinged in this model city? Mayor Donald Wagner gives his views.
The location of Orange County’s first veterans cemetery remains unclear after the Irvine City Council directed staff to identify a site in or around the Great Park and put the project through the planning process. Councilman Jeff Lalloway brought a motion Tuesday night to reinstate original cemetery site near the heart of the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, adjacent to the Great Park. But, before it could go to a vote, Mayor Don Wagner introduced a substitute motion that directs different commissions and city staff to start studying the original site and explore other city-owned land. “Give me a site,” Wagner told Voice of OC after the meeting. “You tell me where it can be … is it a golf course (that’s slated to be built in the Great Park)?
Arnold Forde, one of California’s most influential, longstanding and controversial political consultants, died Saturday after two years of illness. He was 82.
Voters June 5 could give Orange County its first veterans cemetery but in the political infighting leading up to the election, some veterans fear people have lost sight of who the cemetery is about—veterans.
Irvine voters will decide June 5 whether Orange County’s first veterans cemetery will be near the heart of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro or on the edge of the onetime base near the interchange of the 5 and 405 freeways.