Irvine City Council Approves New Public Participation Measures After Months-Long Debate
Government
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Members of the public will be able to speak with the panel live for the first time in nearly a year during council meetings.
Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/larry-agran/)
Members of the public will be able to speak with the panel live for the first time in nearly a year during council meetings.
The rule now permanently require at least two council members move to agendize an item for discussion, residents fear that voices in the council political minority will be silenced.
The City Council race has also been a stiff competition, with each party backing three candidates apiece and an additional eight candidates throwing their hat in the ring.
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)?