City Election 2014

I was here since the initial ballot to vote for a park over international airport, and I have been disgusted by the lack of progress in the Great Park. There has been a lot of propaganda (especially near the election season) than actual developement.

All I know is that Agran was in control of the city council when 200+ million dollars were spent.

Like I said, for 200+ million dollars and the lack of progress, Agran is either incompetent or corrupted.

It does not mean Choi is better, but his block has been in power for 2 years and the jury is still out.

oc_dreamer said:
As a newcomer to Irvine, my head is really spinning trying to figure out how to vote in this city election. I've never lived in a place where a local election was so contentious. Agran is accused of corruption for steering over $200 million in Great Park funds to his cronies. Choi and his crew are accused of selling out to Five Points by allowing them to build houses in the Great Park. Is the Great Park audit a genuine attempt to find out what happened or just a smear campaign against Agran?

I've got 2 mail-in ballots (mine and my wife's) sitting on my desk here and no idea how I'm going to vote them.
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Wow, anyone watching the  irvine mayor candidate forum on COX channel 3 tonight?

Stephen Choi and Katherine Daigle are rather poor public speakers, imo. I understand public speaking can be difficult but I consider this a major part of their profession. They both were literally reading their scrips with minimal eye contact and stumbling through their presentations.  Choi pulled it together at the end but overall was Embarrassing to watch.

The host was even worse and appeared nervously unprepared. Hopefully all are better prepaired for the next debate.
 
Dhayes05 said:
Wow, anyone watching the  irvine mayor candidate forum on COX channel 3 tonight?

Stephen Choi and Katherine Daigle are rather poor public speakers, imo. I understand public speaking can be difficult but I consider this a major part of their profession. They both were literally reading their scrips with minimal eye contact and stumbling through their presentations.  Choi pulled it together at the end but overall was Embarrassing to watch.

The host was even worse and appeared nervously unprepared. Hopefully all are better prepaired for the next debate.
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In this case, it's the track record that should do the taking. People are nervous. (Who knows)
 
eyephone said:
Dhayes05 said:
Wow, anyone watching the  irvine mayor candidate forum on COX channel 3 tonight?

Stephen Choi and Katherine Daigle are rather poor public speakers, imo. I understand public speaking can be difficult but I consider this a major part of their profession. They both were literally reading their scrips with minimal eye contact and stumbling through their presentations.  Choi pulled it together at the end but overall was Embarrassing to watch.

The host was even worse and appeared nervously unprepared. Hopefully all are better prepaired for the next debate.
Click to expand...

In this case, it's the track record that should do the taking. People are nervous. (Who knows)
Click to expand...

This is why Obama got elected, people only look at the outward appearances.
 
  I've already casted my vote absentee, and honestly I really didn't want to vote for the Choi team because of the not so "great park" that they've forced down the resident's throat. Golf courses and tennis courts really ?  Before I was about to ink in the box for Gaido, I did a quick due diligence check on their stance, Agran corruption accusations aside, I just wanted to see where the opposition team stands today @ the end of 2014. 

  It turned out that behind the whole "slow growth team" facade, their agenda was to push for the veteran cemetery to be built somewhere in the great park next to the newly planned homes and the high school.  Now their supporters are spewing a whole lot of borderline non-PC nonsense that only wealthy Asian buyers are profiting from the great park and only they care about the whole "feng-shui" crap. 

    As an Asian-American and a former federal law enforcement officer, I know where my allegiance and loyalty lies, I find the Agran team's insinuation that only Asian foreign investors and Asian residents are against the Great park cemetery as an insult. 

    Stop making this a race issue please, just google "would you buy next to a cemetery" and within seconds you'll find that most people will either not consider or would expect a much bargained price.  People just don't want to be reminded about the inevitable arrival of "death" every time they drive home or open their windows, it's just common sense, kinda like don't live in a rainy city if you don't want to be depressed all the time. 

    We are stuck with the not so "great park" already, A national cemetery is a sad and somber place, and I want my kids to be happy and worry free @ the park, plus I doubt if any of these wealthy city politicians would buy a home next to the cemetery, so stop being a hypocrite please.  Gaido, Agran and fox, if you guys would have just stuck with the whole "slow growth" agenda, that would have locked in my vote. 

    Having your supporters spewing anti-Asian sentiments and how un-patriotic it is to not support a cemetery in the great park is just not helping.  Sigh Choi it is then, even though I really wanted to slow down the Irvine growth, sigh...
 
@trouble - actually I think a golf course and tennis courts are a good idea. It's good for the community.
 
troublet said:
  I've already casted my vote absentee, and honestly I really didn't want to vote for the Choi team because of the not so "great park" that they've forced down the resident's throat. Golf courses and tennis courts really ?  Before I was about to ink in the box for Gaido, I did a quick due diligence check on their stance, Agran corruption accusations aside, I just wanted to see where the opposition team stands today @ the end of 2014. 

  It turned out that behind the whole "slow growth team" facade, their agenda was to push for the veteran cemetery to be built somewhere in the great park next to the newly planned homes and the high school.  Now their supporters are spewing a whole lot of borderline non-PC nonsense that only wealthy Asian buyers are profiting from the great park and only they care about the whole "feng-shui" crap. 

    As an Asian-American and a former federal law enforcement officer, I know where my allegiance and loyalty lies, I find the Agran team's insinuation that only Asian foreign investors and Asian residents are against the Great park cemetery as an insult. 

    Stop making this a race issue please, just google "would you buy next to a cemetery" and within seconds you'll find that most people will either not consider or would expect a much bargained price.  People just don't want to be reminded about the inevitable arrival of "death" every time they drive home or open their windows, it's just common sense, kinda like don't live in a rainy city if you don't want to be depressed all the time. 

    We are stuck with the not so "great park" already, A national cemetery is a sad and somber place, and I want my kids to be happy and worry free @ the park, plus I doubt if any of these wealthy city politicians would buy a home next to the cemetery, so stop being a hypocrite please.  Gaido, Agran and fox, if you guys would have just stuck with the whole "slow growth" agenda, that would have locked in my vote. 

    Having your supporters spewing anti-Asian sentiments and how un-patriotic it is to not support a cemetery in the great park is just not helping.  Sigh Choi it is then, even though I really wanted to slow down the Irvine growth, sigh...
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Them Democrats are racists and race baiters.  You didn't know that?
 
I actually support the golf course.. and the sports park is a great idea.  Yes there will be more homes but that idea of the great park turning into a Central Park.. always a low probability. 
 
Great Park could've only been built if California is not so bankrupt and had to dissolve the redevelopment agency. So a compromised version is the only realistic option.

Personally I prefer a cemetery  over golf course and sports parks. It was a former military base and it is good way to honor our military members. Plus it promotes diversity in the area; less Asians and more budget constrained whites is a good thing.
 
The California Court Company said:
Great Park could've only been built if California is not so bankrupt and had to dissolve the redevelopment agency. So a compromised version is the only realistic option.

Personally I prefer a cemetery  over golf course and sports parks. It was a former military base and it is good way to honor our military members. Plus it promotes diversity in the area; less Asians and more budget constrained whites is a good thing.
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There is a slippery slope when you say since it was a former military base it should have a cemetary. (You did not say that, but indirectly you did. Correct me if I'm wrong.) If you do a web search for closed US bases there will be a lot. So do all those closed bases deserve a cemetary honoring veterans?

 
Dhayes05 said:
Wow, anyone watching the  irvine mayor candidate forum on COX channel 3 tonight?

Stephen Choi and Katherine Daigle are rather poor public speakers, imo. I understand public speaking can be difficult but I consider this a major part of their profession. They both were literally reading their scrips with minimal eye contact and stumbling through their presentations.  Choi pulled it together at the end but overall was Embarrassing to watch.

The host was even worse and appeared nervously unprepared. Hopefully all are better prepaired for the next debate.
Click to expand...

I recall Choi handling out fliers at Trader Joes and for some reason, I never got that image out of my head for better or worse.   

I don't actually think anyone is going to do the job properly.  Agran is bad but everyone else who has been in charge has done next to nothing. 
 
The California Court Company said:
Great Park could've only been built if California is not so bankrupt and had to dissolve the redevelopment agency. So a compromised version is the only realistic option.

Personally I prefer a cemetery  over golf course and sports parks. It was a former military base and it is good way to honor our military members. Plus it promotes diversity in the area; less Asians and more budget constrained whites is a good thing.
Click to expand...

See, there it is again, why is it an Asian thing when it comes to not wanting to live next to a cemetery, I just did a quick poll today @ lunch with my co-workers, all non-Asians expressed that they'll either not consider or consider with a huge discount when it comes to buying next to a cemetery.  I agree diversity is great, and I certainly don't want another rundown Monterey Park forming here.  Using cemetery to somehow dissuade Asian buyers, hence encouraging a larger white populace sounds a bit troubling to me, certainly not a good campaign slogan and it probably won't work.

I don't know where this notion of budget consciousness lies only with whites comes from ? I thought Asians are among the most frugal group there is, don't let a handful of millionaire foreign nationals waving all-cash offers fool you to think that somehow that's the norm or the majority. 

If you put a cemetery in and ends up somehow hurting the bottom line of the developers, they'll just shift that cost to the city of Irvine by skimping on the promised sports park or other public space projects in the great park area or even the high school and that doesn't help anyone or any ethnic groups.

I would totally support a national cemetery there if there's no plan of park or housing development nearby, heck, they could take the whole marine base for all I care, which would be great for traffic on Irvine Blvd !!! 

But did Agran do that in the 1st place ? Noooooooooo, they promised this grand master plan of hiking trails and canyons. If a cemetery was what they wanted, why not push for that years ago and save us the 200 million $.  The idea of pushing for a cemetery in spite of the developers or purposely trying to push out a certain demographics of residents is not appealing. 



 
Sure Agran screwed up (stupid balloon) but what has Choi and the gang done since they took over two years ago?  Basically nothing.

I would like for candidates to tell me what they are going to do rather than tell me how bad the other guy is. 
 
oc_dreamer said:
As a newcomer to Irvine, my head is really spinning trying to figure out how to vote in this city election. I've never lived in a place where a local election was so contentious. Agran is accused of corruption for steering over $200 million in Great Park funds to his cronies. Choi and his crew are accused of selling out to Five Points by allowing them to build houses in the Great Park. Is the Great Park audit a genuine attempt to find out what happened or just a smear campaign against Agran?

I've got 2 mail-in ballots (mine and my wife's) sitting on my desk here and no idea how I'm going to vote them.
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@OC_Dreamer, I'm a newcomer too but I've worked in Irvine for > 8  years and that great park master plan sure woed me when I first decided to move here, imagine the disappointment now with five points moving in and the cemetery being approved.  Hey, at least it's not an international airport right, lol..

Much like you, I had the ballot on my desk for a week, not able to decide who to vote for because both sides have major issues that really bothers me, in the end I chose the lesser of the two "evils", and I think that's probably what you've gotta do in the end as well. I didn't want to pen in someone cause that's like not voting at all,  didn't want to get marginalized voluntarily.

Good luck !
 
Honestly, now I'm thinking about it, maybe it would have been a good thing for Irvine if the marine base was just left alone undeveloped, used for farm land and open space. Then everyone can focus on the issues with the city itself. 

Putting an international airport there or cemetery,  both are common sense detriments to the surrounding communities much like a busy freeway, but somehow we actually had to debate about it... Maybe we should just leave it alone. 
 
troublet said:
Honestly, now I'm thinking about it, maybe it would have been a good thing for Irvine if the marine base was just left alone undeveloped, used for farm land and open space. Then everyone can focus on the issues with the city itself.  It seems like everytime someone or group wanted to do something with the land, it was aimed to provide a net negative effect on the city. 

Putting an international airport there or cemetery,  both are common sense detriments to the surrounding communities much like a busy freeway, but somehow we actually had to debate about it... Maybe we should just leave it alone. 
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Choi and company have spent over a million $$$ and have wasted over a year on this Great Park forensic audit.  Hey, if there's a crime, get the damn federal indictment and be done it.  Otherwise, shut up already and actually get something done (other than making huge deals with the development companies). 

What I'd love to see more than anything is where Choi's campaign funding is coming from.  That, to me, would paint quit an alarming picture.
 
Joe Irvine said:
Choi and company have spent over a million $$$ and have wasted over a year on this Great Park forensic audit.  Hey, if there's a crime, get the damn federal indictment and be done it.  Otherwise, shut up already and actually get something done (other than making huge deals with the development companies). 

What I'd love to see more than anything is where Choi's campaign funding is coming from.  That, to me, would paint quit an alarming picture.
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Hmm. Joe Irvine sounds like a fake generic account and all four posts are anti Choi. I'm not for Choi, but I would certainly take anything this poster says with a big grain of salt.
 
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