Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/melissa-fox/)
Irvine City Council members voted to establish a new tax district in the Orange County Great Park on Tuesday night, expanding the total potential bond amount in the park neighborhoods to just over $1.1 billion.
While Democrats state wide comprise a lion’s share of lawmakers in Sacramento, Republicans currently hold seven of Orange County’s state-level offices while Democrats hold five.
Laguna Beach and Costa Mesa pushed back last week with resolutions opposing the expansion by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), as Irvine and Newport Beach gear up for similar votes Tuesday night.
City Manager John Russo could be fired at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, with no reason stated publicly yet, according to one City Council member.
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.
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.
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 residents now will have 12 days to study regular agendas for the City Council, Planning Commission and other city bodies after the Council voted Tuesday to strengthen its transparency ordinance.