The City of Tustin continues to seek reuse of the giant South Hangar at Tustin Legacy. The writer recounts his dealings with the now-burned down North Hangar and suggests that looking to Moffett Field’s success by teaming with Google could provide a path forward for Tustin. Also, some little known history about the hangars is included.
Tag: Michael Stockstill
Posted inCommunity Opinion
Stockstill: Crunching the Numbers in Irvine
The Irvine City Council will consider ordering an audit of selected past city spending after learning that the city faces a $6 million budget shortfall this fiscal year and the potential for a larger one next year. The audit request comes after several members of the council expressed substantial concern about past city spending, and is an echo of a similar audit that took place two decades ago related to spending at the Great Park.
Posted inCommunity Opinion
Stockstill: The Trojan Horse of Oak Creek
The Oak Creek Golf Course continues to be an issue in Irvine. Plans to create a fifty acre nature park as a centerpiece of planned development there has engendered both praise and concern. Many residents continue to complain that any plan for development there must be sent to the voters for consideration per the city’s 1988 Open Space Agreement.
Posted inCommunity Opinion
Stockstill: What Makes A Bill Important?
Some local political commentators believe the 900 new bills signed into law on January 1 should never have been considered, let alone passed. Our writer believes otherwise, and submits three major policy issues that were, and are, critical to Orange County that came about as a result of bills being passed in Sacramento.
Posted inCommunity Opinion
Stockstill: Open Space in Irvine, Will 1988 Promises Be Kept in 2025?
In 1988 Irvine voters enshrined a deal between the city and Irvine Company setting aside various parcels of land for permanent open space in return for intensified development elsewhere.
No one thought much about this until a proposal to build a new village at Oak Creek Golf Course was raised. Many people pointed out the obvious–Oak Creek was one of the open space areas protected by the 1988 vote. The council has been grappling with how to reconcile the need for more housing with the public vote requirement (which the city attorney says may not actually be necessary).
Posted inCommunity Opinion
Stockstill: To Dream the Impossible Dream; Public Transit in Irvine
Since it was planned by William Pereira, the new town of Irvine has been considered an ideal place for a comprehensive public transit system. But that has never happened, and now the city council is considering yet another effort with a shuttle system. Initial efforts show some level of acceptance, but will a fully functioning system for the entire city ever work?
Posted inCommunity Opinion
Stockstill: Some Not too Serious Advice for Hiring a New CEO for the OC
Hiring a new county CEO should be a priority, but to do so the OC needs to accentuate the positive and tell candidates what a fabulous workplace they will be moving to.
Posted inCommunity Opinion
Stockstill: Can Orange County Get Out of DOGE?
Two billionaires have been tasked with reducing the federal workforce and budget. What will this mean for Orange County, where millions of dollars of grants are regularly received for research, the arts and infrastructure, as well additional millions for health care and assistance to the poor? Here’s an overview of what might happen in the OC.
Posted inCommunity Opinion
Stockstill: Democracy in the Mailbox
In a city with multiple hotly contested political races, mail arrived by the pound. In one Irvine neighborhood the count in the mailbox was over 100 pieces of full-color flyers extolling the virtues of candidates for city council to the House of Representatives.
Posted inCommunity Opinion
Stockstill: A Short History of the Irvine General Plan
Irvine residents recently learned that more than 50,000 housing units could be built in town in the future. That’s a lot of new houses, and at 1.5 persons per unit, close to 80,000 more residents.
