I witnessed firsthand on August 30 an amazing display of calm,
deliberative and ultimately decisive leadership by Irvine Mayor Sukhee
Kang. The only agenda item was a major
development project-Great Park Neighborhoods by FivePoint Communities. At stake, nearly 5,000 homes surrounding the
Great Park, transportation improvements, bringing 16,500 jobs to the City and
contributing more than $865 million in local infrastructure investment.
Three people testified in support: business leader Tom Nielsen, former State
Senator Marian Bergeson, and yours truly on behalf of OCBC. Not one person appeared in opposition, yet
the public hearing lasted for more than six hours with two council members out
of the five taking the majority of time peppering staff with questions about
the plan.
Questions they already knew the answers to. Questions they would have already asked in
personal council briefings. Questions that, to this ear, seemed to be "gotcha"
questions. But they were questions
well-answered, I might add, by a well-prepared city staff and development team. City staff had done its homework and
represented the residents of Irvine very well, assuring the public of the
significant public benefits of the project.
Mayor Kang heard it all.
He skillfully led his fellow council members into a thoughtful motion to
approve the project, subject to conditions to satisfy most of the questions
asked, and called for a vote. Amazingly,
the council voted three to two to support the project, with two
Republicans-Steven Choi and Jeffrey Lalloway-supporting Democrat Mayor Sukhee
Kang!
I suspect that is the first time bi-partisan support occurred
in Irvine over the Great Park. An
historic vote and none too soon.
The project deserved unanimous council approval.
California’s economy is suffering, and so are its people. We
have the second highest unemployment rate in the nation at 12.4%. And it is no secret that Irvine is the heart
of Orange County’s economy. As Orange
County leads Southern California out of the recession, a lot of credit goes to
Irvine, a jobs magnet, a housing innovator.
Nationally recognized investment advisors PIMCO (Pacific
Investment Management Company) visited OCBC recently and shared a dire
prediction: there is a 30-35% chance of re-entering the recession. They
emphasized that recovery of the housing market is critical to the nation’s
recovery. Irvine, of course, is ground
zero for housing: not only has The
Irvine Company started successfully building and selling new homes again, but
FivePoint Communities’ project furthers the objective, and these companies then
give confidence to other communities to begin to dust off the plans and start
building again-a major boost to any economy.
Equally as important, said PIMCO: politicians need to stop bickering
and start working together on practical solutions to the country’s economic
problems. We need to replace the
"teenagers leading our country with adults," they said.
The back-and-forth political carryings-on are still daily
fodder for the press in Sacramento and Washington. Fortunately, here in Orange County, we have an
example of an elected official who understands what it means to lead in tough
times. He and his council brethren know that
in this economy, with so many folks out of work, those who have the ability to
create a job have a duty to do so.
Kudos to Mayor Kang. And thank you.