irvine city news 7.2016

Business Education Life Sports Community FeatureCity Opinion

Many of us who make visiting the Orange County Great Park a part of our weekly

routine are seeing significant signs of progress and improvement. Benchmarks of progress at the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro are continuing, with the

The June 7 primary is now in the rear-view mirror, so it’s time for the fall election sea-

son. Now that Assemblyman Don Wagner has announced his candidacy for Irvine mayor, the races are taking shape. With other mayoral candidate signs up since spring and pe-rennial city council candidate blogs never going away, some would argue Irvine has been

ARTIST’S RENDERING OF THE NEW ORANGE COUNTY GREAT PARK SOCCER STADIUM THAT WILL SEAT APPROXIMATELY 2,000 FANS

THE HOT SEATSAS THE WEATHER HEATS UP THIS SUMMER, SO WILL THE RACES FOR IRVINE CITY OFFICES.

SPORTS FIELDS AND NEW ROADS ARE KEY BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE GREAT PARK’S BRIGHT FUTURE

by Irvine City News staff

FEATURE


FEATURE

JULY 2016

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 >> CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 >>

IrvineCityNewsWHAT REALLY MATTERS

irvinecitynews.com

One of Irvine’s best parks is also a place to honor heroic veteranspage 10

COMMUNITY

Engineers are key players in creating our successful city

BUSINESS

page 5

SEE AND BE SCENE SEAFOOD THE CROWD IS COOL AT EMC SEAFOOD & RAW BAR,BUT HOW IS THE FOOD? page 5

transformation of the 688 acres that are fully funded leading the way.

The recent closing of Marine Way, the major point of entry into the Great Park for the past several years, is one symbol of progress at the park. The two-lane road at Sand Canyon Ave.

and the 5 Freeway meandered under freeway overpasses as one entered the Great Park, and some found the access hard to find at first. The road will be closed for the summer as it’s improved and eventually extended.

Now, the main entrance into

Great Park Progress Report

JULY 2016

2 irvinecitynews.comIrvineCityNews

Publisher’s Note

SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SUMMER

Unless your child at-tends one of Irvine’s year-round schools, many Irvine residents

are now wondering what to do with kids suddenly faced with endless free time. On our Facebook page we suggested many Irvine activities for fami-lies with and without kids and the response was considerable. Judging from the numbers of “shares” and comments, people were really happy to explore more of what makes Irvine so wonderful: the open spaces, the interesting places, and the people. See more comments on page 10.

Speaking of school, Irvine residents overwhelmingly voted to approve the IUSD school bond that will sell bonds to fund rehabilitation and modernization of facili-ties in the district. Whether you have kids in the district or

not, many Irvine voters know that high-quality schools are important to the fabric of our city and to maintaining our high property values.

We can hardly believe that after the State of California and the Irvine Unified School District Board found the Por-tola High School site to be safe, YET AGAIN, the Larry Agran/Mary Ann Gaido/Irvine Com-munity News & Views group is still out trying to convince people that the site is unsafe. We here at the Irvine City News have received email after email and Facebook comment after Facebook comment. And the message is clear: people over-whelmingly are tired of the mis-statements designed to create a public scare for political gain.

Enjoy this issue and good luck with bored kids! n

Jacob LevyEDITOR AND PUBLISHER

Editor and PublisherJacob Levy • [email protected]

5319 University Drive Suite #440

Irvine, CA 92612

[email protected] • 949.296.8338

Irvine City News is a monthly publication serving the city of Irvine, CA. Irvine City News distributes 60,000 copies

monthly via direct delivery and at news racks in select locations throughout Irvine.

IrvineCityNews

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 >>

GREAT PARK FROM PAGE 1

the Great Park is Trabuco Road. Or rather it used to be Trabuco—in late May the Irvine City Coun-cil voted unanimously to rename it to Great Park Boulevard for the stretch between Sand Canyon and the Great Park.

Opening new entrances and renaming roads may not seem like major points of progress to some, but city planners and de-signers aren’t the only ones who know the importance of access, not to mention first impressions. We all do.

The changes in the access to the Orange County Great Park also represent deeper and more fundamental progress at the park. The milestones being met aren’t as immediately obvious, since they involve the less glam-orous work of demolition of four million square feet of the run-ways, and the engineering and construction of infrastructure.

To date, FivePoint has report-edly invested more than $28 mil-lion on land improvements that include grading, laying piping and utilities.

There are additional roads

being built and expanded, major drainage and water improve-ments underway and other significant construction projects that will serve as the foundation for all the progress to come.

Those visiting the Great Park Carousel, the 5,000-square-foot Visitors Center Pavilion or the cool Kids Rock Playground or other Great Park amenities can’t miss the earth moving equipment at work on the other side of the green fence. Of course, to get a drone’s eye view of the changes, the best vantage point is the Great Park Balloon.

In October 2014, the de-molition of major runways commenced with a Turning Runways into Greenways cel-ebration attended by some 3,500 people. Sponsored by Great Park master planner FivePoint, the party commemorated the start of a process now well under way.

The phases now in progress and planning include includes a 176-acre sports park approved by the city and to be built through FivePoint, with soccer fields, vol-leyball and tennis courts, as well as baseball and softball fields and

stadium seating for spectators of the sports.

The city of Irvine website sum-marized the plan for this portion of the park thusly:

“The approved proposal in-cludes a 175-acre sports park that will complement the Great Park’s existing North Lawn and South Lawn Sports + Fitness Complex. The sports park will become a pre-mier recreational and competitive location with 18 new additional soccer and multi-use fields, 25 tennis courts, 4 sports courts, 12 baseball/softball fields, and 5 sand volleyball courts.

“In addition, plans include a 188-acre golf course and golf practice facility and clubhouse, 71-acre agriculture component, a 40-acre Bosque area near the Trabuco entrance, 36-acre Upper Bee Canyon area and improve-ments that will connect the Great Park to Irvine Boulevard, as well as the 178-acre Wildlife Corridor. The proposal does not impact the Cultural Terrace, which remains part of the Great Park Master Plan and will be developed at a later date.

FIVEPOINT HAS REPORTEDLY INVESTED MORE THAN $28 MILLION SO FAR ON THE NEW GREAT PARK SPORTS PARK INFRASTRUCTURE, INCLUDING, GRADING THE LAND, LAYING PIPES AND UTILITIES.

JULY 2016

3IrvineCityNewsirvinecitynews.com

“The five-year development of the 688 acres was part of three motions approved by the city council on November 26, 2013.”

According to a recent OC Register story, “FivePoint agreed to spend $172 million to develop just over half of the 1,300-acre Great Park. [FivePoint CEO Emile] Haddad expects Five-Point’s expenditures to go over that amount by $100 million.”

The story went on to re-port that, “Haddad expects to complete the first sports fields by the end of the year. Infra-structure for a soccer stadium is under construction.”

That stadium is described as including “professional-level sports amenities, and 10 support buildings for soccer, baseball and softball stadiums. State-of-the-art wireless entertainment sys-tems, unique high-end canopies surrounding each building, and robust media and press facilities with rooftop lounges are also part of the scope,” according to Berg-man KPRS, the firm constructing the stadium.

The Register story went on to say that “If FivePoint gets all its permits on schedule, [Haddad] predicted the sports facility will

be done by the fall of 2019. The 40-acre bosque, a wooded area with recreation and trails, and 36-acre Upper Bee Canyon also will open by the end of 2016, Haddad said.”

And remember the improve-ments to Marine Way mentioned earlier? FivePoint is paying for that, too, as part of its agreement to plan, fund and develop the 688 acres explained at the city of Irvine’s website:

“The adjacent landowner agreement sets in motion Five Point Communities’ proposal to build the 688 acres along with additional public benefits that have an estimated gross value to the city of Irvine of more than $200 million. Among these public benefits, Five Point Com-munities agreed to provide an additional $10 million to the city toward improvement of Marine Way, the main entrance into the Great Park. Five Point Communi-ties is already obligated to fund major improvements to Marine Way through previous agree-ments with the city of Irvine.”

To better imagine the scope of the sports park FivePoint is creat-ing, take a look at the athletic fields already enjoyed by athletes, fans and families at the Orange

County Great Park. Kids from all over Irvine, and beyond, enjoy the Sports Park North Lawn, a 19.5-acre sports and recreation field, and the 30-acre South Lawn Sports + Fitness Complex. Those fields feel expansive when walking to and playing on them. But compare those 50 acres to the 176-acre park that will debut in coming months.

Another major sports-related element of the Great Park an-nounced in recent months is an Anaheim Ducks ice complex said to be opening in January 2018. Reports say that the facil-ity will include four ice rinks for hockey, public skating, competi-tions and seating for 2,500 fans. According to reports, the Irvine Ice Foundation, a nonprofit created by the owners of the Anaheim Ducks, will lease the land on which the new ice facility will be located for 30 years, with ownership transferring to the city of Irvine at the end of the lease.

FivePoint’s agreement with the city covers 688 acres of the Great Park’s total of 1,300 acres. Some 200 acres of that are already de-veloped. So what of the rest?

Again, the city’s website is in-structive: “The Cultural Terrace, a 260-acre portion of the Master

Plan for the Orange County Great Park, is envisioned by the Great Park Board and City Council as the next major project at the Park following the 688-acre public-private project area now under construction. The vision for the Cultural Terrace area includes a variety of culturally oriented amenities, located near the Irvine Transportation Center in the southeastern portion of the park.”

There has been much debate about and many proposals for the Cultural Terrace, including a new outdoor amphitheatre to replace Irvine Meadows, which is closing after this season; a grand public library; a variety of differ-ent museums, including a new

location for Irvine’s Pretend City, and more.

There is a buzz among some Irvine insiders that progress on the Cultural Terrace portion of the Orange County Great Park seems to have slowed down. Some cite concern over plans for a County of Orange-owned parcel near the Irvine train station. Oth-ers see it as related to politics and the election.

While progress and politics always seem to be part of the process in creating the Orange County Great Park, Irvine citizens will soon be able to enjoy a greatly expanded Great Park experience. And isn’t that a nice thing to think about, after all these years? n

GREAT PARK FROM PAGE 2

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ARTIST’S RENDERING OF THE FUTURE BASEBALL STADIUM AT ORANGE COUNTY GREAT PARK

JULY 2016


in November election mode for months.

The Measure E vote is one of the few clear results from the primary election. The school facilities improvement measure, placed on the June 7 ballot by the Irvine Unified School District Board of Education, passed with nearly 60 percent of the vote.

There has been a buzz build-ing on message boards and neighborhood websites question-ing why it’s so hard to find an official list of candidates for the November city council and may-oral races. The answer is in the California Election Code: there are no candidates yet.

Sure, several have declared their intention to run (see the list below). But that list isn’t binding. According to Election Code Section 10220, “Candi-dates may be nominated for any of the elective offices of the city in the following manner: Not earlier than the 113th day nor later than the 88th day before a municipal election during nor-mal office hours, as posted, the voters may nominate candidates for election by signing a nomina-tion paper.”

That nomination period for the November 8 election is July 18, through Aug. 12. So between now and close of business in the City Clerk’s office on Aug. 12, Ir-vine residents will have a not-so-quiet period that will no doubt be rife with speculation about who will and who won’t run for mayor and city council.

Here’s what we know for sure: In accordance with the City Char-ter, the next General Municipal Election in the City of Irvine will be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The purpose of the election is to elect a Mayor to a two-year term, and two members of the city council to a four-year term.

The terms of Mayor Choi and Councilmembers Beth Krom and Christina Shea expire in De-cember of this year. In the June primary Mayor Choi entered the

primary to represent the 68th Assembly District in Sacramento, replacing Don Wagner, who is termed out. If Choi came in first or second in the primary, he would run for Wagner’s seat in November and not seek a third term as Irvine’s mayor.

After appearing to have finished a close third in that race soon after the election, as we go to print Choi has moved into sec-ond place by .1% of the vote. So it appears probable that Choi will not run for an Irvine city office in November, leaving the mayoral race open. Assemblyman Don Wagner recently confirmed what insiders predicted: he’s running for mayor, joining Gang Chen, Katherine Daigle and Mary Ann Gaido as those who have declared so far.

In the primary for the 74th State Assembly District, Irvine resident Karina Onofre, for-merly a Republican running as a Democrat, came in first, beating out Matthew Harper, former mayor of Newport Beach. Irvine’s Katherine Daigle came in third, so she is out of the November election for that seat. Daigle, who also came in third in her 2014 run for Irvine City Council, has

self-proclaimed strong affection for and connection to the city of Santa Ana, as expressed during her primary run. Whether her eagerness to represent citi-zens of that city will affect how Irvine voters feel about her in future elections is a matter for another day.

With important issues facing the city and a critical national election at stake, it appears as if interest in November’s election is high. Whether that translates into higher turnout is another matter.

In 2014 Irvine citizens re-jected Larry Agran’s slate, which included him, Mary Ann Gaido and Melissa Fox. The latter two are running again in 2016.

Though it’s far too early to predict 2016 at this point, some would see the municipal races lining up along party lines, with Wagner, Shea and perhaps An-thony Kuo as the conservatives’ choice, with Gaido, Krom and Fox running on the liberal Larry Agran ticket.

Time will tell, and turnout (of-ten low in city elections) will be key as the national election draws voters to the polls. n

ASSEMBLYMAN DON WAGNER, WHO HAS ANNOUNCED HIS CANDIDACY FOR MAYOR OF IRVINE. IN A WRITTEN ANNOUNCEMENT, WAGNER SAID: “I INTEND TO DELIVER ON THE PROMISE MADE TO IRVINE RESIDENTS IN 2004 TO COMPLETE THE GREAT PARK... I INTEND TO ENGAGE THE WHOLE COMMUNITY TO GUIDE THE FUTURE GROWTH OF THIS CITY IN A REASONABLE AND BALANCED WAY, ENHANCING EVERYONE’S QUALITY OF LIFE.”

ELECTIONS FROM PAGE 1

Mayor Don WagnerGang Chen Katherine Daigle (third in 2014 mayoral race: 11.6% of vote)Mary Ann Gaido (second in 2014 mayoral race: 43.0% of vote)

City Council Anila Ali Dale Cheema Evan Chemers (fifth in 2014 city council race: 12.2% of vote)Ian Daelucian Matthew Ehorn Shiva Farivar Melissa Fox (third in 2014 city council race: 22.5% of vote)Farrah Khan Anthony Kuo Courtney Santos Christina Shea (elected in 2012 city council race: 19.9% of vote).

CANDIDATES DECLARED FOR NOVEMBER IRVINE ELECTIONS

THOUGH IT’S FAR TOO EARLY TO PREDICT 2016 AT THIS POINT, SOME WOULD SEE THE MUNICIPAL RACES LINING UP ALONG PARTY LINES, WITH WAGNER, SHEA AND PERHAPS ANTHONY KUO AS THE CONSERVATIVES’ CHOICE, WITH GAIDO, KROM AND FOX RUNNING ON THE LIBERAL LARRY AGRAN TICKET.

indicated she’ll file nomination papers to run for mayor of Irvine in November.

Councilwoman Lynn Schott, whose council seat is not in play in November, ran in the primary election for Loretta Sanchez’s U.S. House of Representatives seat representing Anaheim and Santa Ana. Had Councilwoman Schott placed first or second in that primary she would have been on the November ballot, but would not have to vacate her Irvine council seat unless she won that race. That’s not an is-sue, however, as she came in 5th in the primary.

What may be an issue in the future, however, is Schott’s

JULY 2016


DINING

When the Elephant Bar at Irvine’s Heritage Plaza closed its doors in 2014, we didn’t mourn the restaurant very much. But we were disappoint-ed that a reliable place to meet friends and colleagues for a happy hour cocktail or two was no more.

So when it was announced that EMC Seafood & Raw Bar would take the Elephant Bar’s place, we put it on our “must try” list. Friends who had visited the original location in L.A.’s Koreatown raved about the cool ambiance, happy hour prices (especially on oysters) and late night hours.

We drove by the location several times as it was under construction, and were im-pressed by the major makeover of the location. Finally, we heard it had opened, so we dropped in one afternoon. Sit-ting at the bar and looking over the then-empty restaurant, we were amazed by the well-lit and airy design. The bar area is raised up, providing a view of the raw bar chefs plucking lobsters and other seafood from the ice lining the glass cases.

The first negative was that

WAIT AND SEE ON EMC SEAFOOD

the vaunted happy hour menu was not available during the soft opening. So we ordered drinks and had a couple of appetizers to share. The bites we tried were OK, with the albacore carpaccio one of our favorites.

Despite our optimism about the place, we left with a decid-edly mixed opinion. We had expected to be blown away, and we weren’t. But the restaurant had only recently opened, so we decided to reserve judgment and maintain our optimism.

Now, after several more visits, we’re in the exact same place about EMC Seafood & Raw Bar, though perhaps with a tad less optimism. The open and bright dining area is loud and a bit charmless when the place is packed. The service is friendly but a bit scattered. Dishes we


ordered come out in no discern-able pattern.

We’ve tried many of the menu items, and have been only occasionally impressed. After sampling the happy hour oysters, we’ve decided that this is one dish we’d rather not go cheap on. The $22 lobster roll had a fair portion of meat, but the bun was dry and unappeal-ing. We quickly put in an order of the garlic noodles to keep the kids at our table occupied, but that only works if they get to the table quickly. It took 45 minutes.

There’s no mention of sustainability on the menu, or the provenance of the seafood (farmed or wild-caught), if that’s important to you. It is to us. For us, seafood is like steak: if it’s not amazing, it’s not worth it, no matter how much it costs. So far, we haven’t been amazed.

Still, the restaurant and bar are full of folks having fun. We will wait a few months, and hope the kitchen comes around.

It may be that EMC will serve as a more modern version of the Elephant Bar: a place we go for the happy hour and on a rare late night out. And that’s fine. But for now, it won’t be on our short list as a place to get great seafood in the city. n

emcseafood.com

Irvine is a unique place in the history of suburban and urban living. While many locals cher-ish the quiet and largely resi-

dential community they moved into decades ago, Irvine has evolved into an important engine of economic growth and prosper-ity for the entire region.

Long-time residents miss the hometown atmosphere they grew up with, while newer residents love the healthy economy, the vi-brant restaurants and open space that are the city’s hallmark. And of course we all love the safety, the schools and the weather.

How to balance those inter-ests is a challenge for planners, stakeholders and city officials as Irvine continues to evolve into one of the most dynamic places in which to live, to work and to visit in California.


BUSINESS The success of any city is based on many factors, but one that’s easily overlooked is the infrastructure that supports it all. In Irvine, that includes the vil-lages and parks; the roads, trails and railways; the office buildings and parking garages; the stores and shopping centers.

We often think of the mas-ter planners and landowners as those who helped build our city. But not to be overlooked are the engineers, whose scientific skill, problem-solving practicality and design imagination drive the way our world works.

The 20th century success of the Irvine Ranch owes much to an engineer named C.R. Brown-ing, who developed the com-pany’s innovative water manage-ment system, much of which is still in place today. Patrick Fuscoe of Irvine’s Fuscoe Engineering designed and built the village of Woodbridge when he was 27

Engineers build a better city

IRVINE SPECTRUM SKYLINE. PHOTO BY HUNTER KERHART ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY

JULY 2016


years old, as well as many other key proj-ects in the history of the city.

And the building that once symbol-ized Irvine circa 1970s-2000 is the former headquarters of Fluor Corp., a global en-gineering and construction firm that came of age in Irvine. Long an O.C. landmark, the Park Place buildings on Michelson Drive remain iconic.

Though it no longer has offices in Irvine, Fluor Corp. still sits solidly atop Orange County Business Journal’s 2016 Book of Lists. Among the top 25 engineer-ing firms in Orange County that make the OCBJ list, 14 have Irvine addresses.

Many of those firms are located in the Irvine Spectrum. And if the former Fluor headquarters was the 20th century landmark of the city’s economy, there seems no doubt that the twin Irvine Spectrum towers, one topped off and clad in gleaming glass, the other a steel superstructure rising into the sky, will be the Spectrum’s most visible landmarks for this century.

Named 200 Spectrum and 400 Spec-trum, when both are complete they’ll be the tallest buildings in the county, and approach Cesar Pelli’s silver skyscraper near South Coast Plaza as the most beautiful.

There are many types of engineers, of course. They don’t just help build build-ings. And The Henry Samueli School of Engineering at UCI has degree programs for most all of them, including 12 under-graduate degree majors and 10 graduate degree programs. The school, founded in 1965, was renamed The Henry Samueli School of Engineering in 1999 after Samu-eli, co-founder of Broadcom Inc., made a major donation.

As Irvine evolves, the Broadcom building now under construction between the Orange County Great Park and the Spectrum will no doubt also define Irvine’s future, along with the twin towers.

Those three projects will likely win many architecture and engineering awards over the next several years. A review of other Irvine projects honored in recent years by the O.C. chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers may serve as reminder about how much thought, planning and design goes into our city’s infrastructure, even when the projects aren’t the tallest, largest or pret-tiest buildings in the city.

Urban or and Development Project of the Year: Alegre Affordable Apartment Irvine-based Fuscoe Engineering provided comprehensive services for this outstand-ing development, an award-winning affordable LEED Gold-certified apartment complex on 3.5 acres in Irvine.

Architectural Engineering Project of the Year: Edwards Lifesciences Parking StructureDesigned and engineered by Irvine’s LPA, the parking structure has a largest liv-ing wall installed in California and has a vegetated swale surrounding the structure

to comply with the current stormwater requirements.

Construction Project of the Year: Bake Parkway and Lake Forest DriveThe roadways, bridges and infrastructure improvements of this project were com-plex, and completed on schedule and on budget by Irvine’s Hunsaker & Associates.

Water Treatment Project of the Year: Irvine Ranch Water District’s Michelson Plant ExpansionThe Michelson Water Recycling Plant

(MWRP) is the larger of Irvine Ranch Wa-ter District’s (IRWD) two water-recycling plants, and the expansion increased its 18 million gallons of wastewater per day capacity to 28 million gallons per day.

Land Development Project of the Year: Laguna AlturaA landmark coastal canyon village proj-ect designed and developed by the Irvine Company, the project presented number complex constraints which required a tremendous amount of collaborative work among numerous consultants and agencies to achieve design and construc-tion goals. n

200 SPECTRUM CENTER. PHOTO BY HUNTER KERHART ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY

ENGINEERS FROM PAGE 5

JULY 2016


It’s been a rewarding few weeks for Irvine’s public schools. Mea-sure E passed with some 60 percent of eligible voters voting

in support of a bond issuance of up to $319 million to modernize 28 aging schools in the Irvine Unified School District. The two newest and most technologically advanced schools in the IUSD, Beacon Park School and Portola High School, are nearing comple-tion in advance of the first day of school August 28, and ground was broken for construction of Eastwood Elementary, which will open in August 2017.

While school is out for stu-dents and teachers, a key support

The Foundation of educational excellence in Irvine


EDUCATION group for Irvine’s public schools is still hard at work. Irvine Public Schools Foundation raises money and serves students and parents throughout the year. The nonprofit founded in 1996 has contributed more than $50 million to fund critical education programs and classroom support, helping ensure public educa-tion in Irvine will continue to be world class.

The IPSF Summer Enrich-ment Academy is going on now, with programs for students in grades K-12 held at Irvine schools. There’s a strong emphasis on STEAM courses (science, technol-ogy, engineering, art and math), along with a wide variety of other fun and challenging classes.

The success of the IPSF would not be possible without the

support of parents, volunteers, the community, the city, busi-nesses and major corporations.

Upcoming opportunities to get involved, have fun, and help the cause of excellence in education include the 4th Annual Aces & Athletes Poker charity casino night on July 17 from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Shady Canyon Golf Club. The event draws current and alumni Angels for drinks, dinner, auctions and casino games, all that benefit both IPSF and An-gels Baseball Foundation.

And it’s not too early to volunteer to help plan, attend and/or sponsor, the 7th Annual Spirit of Excellence Gala. Pre-sented by FivePoint, the event held at KIA Motors Headquar-ters honors distinguished alumni of the IUSD while raising funds for Irvine classrooms. And this year the evening will also serve to celebrate the 20th anniver-sary of the Irvine Public Schools Foundation.

For more information about the events, or to donate or volun-teer to support Irvine schools, go to ipsf.net. n

Orange County is one of the world’s 50 great golf destina-tions, according to

Golf Digest Magazine. Irvine is a top draw for visiting and local golfers, too, with excellent courses both public (Rancho San Joaquin, Strawberry Farms, Oak Creek and nearby Tustin Ranch golf clubs) and private (Shady Canyon Golf Club). The city’s golfers enjoy year around playing conditions, and have easy access to teach-ing pros and golf academies, and golf businesses all located in the city.

The city of Irvine-approved plan for the Orange County Great Park includes a new 227-acre, 18-hole golf course with a clubhouse and practice fa-cilities, set within the 688-acre part of the Great Park funded and being built by FivePoint.

Recently the Great Park Golf Course has been mischaracterized as a Links-style course. Insiders and golf experts confirm that there are no plans to create that kind of course at the Great Park.

THE GREENS SCENE

SPORTS In fact, a true Links course should be “by the sea, built upon purely sand.” So says Irvine’s golf design expert, Todd Eckenrode, whose firm has created great new golf courses and restored many classic and historic ones.

The course proposed for the Great Park is actually a meadow course, which Eckenrode says is “a wonderful, natural look” for California courses.

Golf offers a life-long form of recreation and exercise. Golf is also “an excellent platform for teaching youth life skills and core values, such as respect, courtesy, honesty and integrity,” says Tim Casey, the retired city manager for Laguna Niguel.

As the president of the OC chapter of nonprofit First Tee, Casey has seen the benefit of golf as a teaching tool for at risk and underserved kids. In 2015, more than 3,200 OC kids participated in the First Tee programs. Irvine ranks third in the number of participants, Case says. “Our Board has often discussed the Great Park as an ideal permanent home for our chapter if it includes a new pub-lic golf course.” n

Parents, coaches and school officials may send results to: [email protected] City News is looking for freelance and student sports reporters. Submit writing sample and contact info to: [email protected]

OAK CREEK GOLF CLUB

JULY 2016


One of the many things that make Irvine such a special place to live is how passionate citi-

zens are about the city they call home. To honor civic participa-tion, the city of Irvine recognizes community leaders, volunteers, city staff, activists, organizations and others on the Wall of Rec-ognition in Colonel Bill Barber Marine Corps Memorial Park.

Dedicated in 2008, the wall includes hundreds of names

In today’s 24-hour news cycle, things often change from moment to moment, often faster than media can cover it. Irvine is no exception to this rule. See our feature on the election starting on page

1 (“The Hot Seats”). The story behind the scenes

and why your vote counts is this: On June 7, election night, as the County Registrar released results in the 68th Assembly District, Irvine’s Mayor, Steven Choi, a candidate for the seat, traded places with Harry Sidhu, a candidate for the same seat from Anaheim, several times.

In the following days, the

Registrar and his team counted provisional ballots and any votes that were not accounted for in the main counts.

During this process, Mayor Choi began to take the lead over Sidhu. Almost a full week later, he had moved from third place to second place overall with a margin of victory that seemed to grow every day by a few more votes.

For anyone who doesn’t think his or her vote matters, this race (and many others in the June pri-mary) prove that is just not true.

At press time, the margin of victory that Choi enjoys over Sidhu is just over 150 votes. For those that held their absentee ballots and wondered whether it was worth it to drive it to a poll-ing place or postmark it that day

and mail it in, these results have to prove that it really does matter.

On page 7 of this issue, we have a sports story about the munici-pal golf course being built at the Great Park by FivePoint as part of its agreement with the city of Irvine. Despite the fact that we get quite a few Facebook comments, emails, and letters about the ex-citement and need for this course, we have heard Councilwoman Krom repeatedly make the claim that there is “no support for a golf course at the Great Park other than Councilwoman Shea.”

As they typically do, the next week, the Irvine Community News and Views published an article about the golf course, first ques-tioning the need and then ques-tioning the quality of the course.

Community pride

What a difference a week makes

by Jacob LevyEDITOR AND PUBLISHER


COMMUNITY

Self- proclaimed sports expert (and former Democrat Party of Orange County field organizer) Joel Smith calls for a return of the Ken Smith-fantasy Canyon at the Great Park that Larry Agran, Beth Krom, and Mary Ann Gaido seem to never acknowledge that their own consultants deemed unbuildable. Smith has long written for The Liberal OC, a blog published by a PR consultant for Democrats and a megaphone for the various ideas that the old Ir-vine majority wish to corroborate with an article.

Smith labeled the course a “links” style course which he then labeled “unattractive.” Per our own coverage in this issue, the course is actually a “meadows” style course endorsed and supported by many in the community.

Incidentally, did Smith just label St. Andrews, the birth-place of golf unattractive? Or Pebble Beach? Those are just two of the world’s great links courses, known as some of the best and most challenging courses anywhere.

Krom, Agran, Gaido, and

Smith are all victims of believing that if they say something it must be true.

At Irvine City News, we deal in facts. For this and future is-sues, we interviewed a golf course designer who told us that this course style and design was of the highest quality (and attrac-tiveness) and we interviewed a former city manager (who knows a thing or two about running a city) and who volunteers for and leads a youth golf nonprofit.

He told us that there is a tremendous need for a course of this type where kids can learn the fundamentals of the game with-out having to go to much more expensive courses. We have also received numerous comments from readers who support the golf course.

Political life in Irvine used to be much simpler without a paper such as ours examining the facts. As we head into the November elections there will be much more fact checking by us. Check back often and don’t forget, every vote matters. Read Irvine City News to find out what really matters! n


Opinion

from A (Dan Aldrich, first chancellor at UCI) to Z (Andy Zelinko, a community leader and a driving force behind the Northwood Gratitude and Honor Memorial).

Honorees are from all walks of life, points of view and political perspectives in the city, including 15 new ones added this year.

Tim Burt For his dedicated service since 1984 as a sports writer with the Irvine World News and Orange County Register, highlighting Irvine sports and athletes.

Deanna Choi For over 20 years of volunteer service with Irvine Senior Ser-vices and as an active member of the Irvine Global Village Festival Steering Committee since 1999.

Boot Camp for New DadsFounded by Greg Bishop in 1990, the organization now has 200 locations and has helped more than 400,000 new fathers.

Boot Camp for New MomsFounded by Alison Bishop in 2012, it provides first-time moms with support and tools to start a family.

Bradley Erdosi For providing pro bono consul-tation and educational services to older adults through Irvine Senior Services.

George Faas For service to Irvine Multicul-tural Association and for his pro bono financial services through Irvine Senior Services.

Felicity Figueroa For her commitment to volun-teerism through OC Equality Coalition, Irvine United Con-gregational Church’s Advocates for Peace and Justice, and with Women for: OC.

Mike Filia For his leadership as president of the Irvine Chargers Youth football for 11 years, and for

encouraging and honoring young athletes who excel in the classroom.

Omid Gohardani For his exceptional academic accomplishments and as co-founder of the nonprofit Springs of Dreams, which is dedicated to enriching lives through knowl-edge and education.

Carolyn Inmon For her service to the Irvine community since 1975, includ-ing a 40-year career in educa-tion, reaching over 10,000 students, from kindergarten to community college.

Michael O’Connell For his vision and stewardship of the Irvine Ranch Conservancy that

JULY 2016


THE PLAY’S THE THING

SWIM FOR SAFETY

RECREATION

ENTERTAINMENT

There’s something about open-air productions of Shakespeare plays that seems very cosmopolitan and cool. It feels like what one does during summer in a sophisticated city. And so it is in Irvine, thanks to the New Swan Shakespeare Festival, which has been pro-duced at UCI since 2012.

This is the 400th anniver-sary of the death of William Shakespeare, so its especially exciting that UCI does its best to make the experience imme-diate and modern, in an authentic setting. The New Swan Theater seats only 130, and its innovative al

fresco design puts everyone un-der the stars and close to and sur-rounding the actors. The theater is itself a movable work of art, a mini-Elizabethan playhouse put in place near the school’s library each summer.

This season’s main plays are everyone’s favorite existential ghost story known, “Ham-let,” and a Depres-sion-era presenta-tion of “As You Like It” that will see Rosalind hopping a freight train to the Forest of Arden.

But those two

productions are just part of the story at the festival, which runs from July 7 to August 28. The New Swan Theater also features three Musical Mondays.

Shakespeare’s Fool features the Bard as a songwriter. Those familiar with the plays know that there are many lyrics on the pag-es, but what about the music that goes with them? Musician Jason Feddy has written modern tunes for 10 of Shakespeare’s most well-know songs, and on July 25 he will perform them, accompanied by musicians and actors.

On August 2, the female mariachi band Las Colibri will repeat last year’s popular perfor-mance as one of the most unique ensembles of its type.

The final Musical Monday is all about Mozart, as members of the L.A. Philharmonic are among the classical musicians that form the New Swan String Quartet for one performance. nnewswanshakespeare.com

Everyone knows about Irvine’s admirable record of public safety. But there’s one area in which we can do much, much better: preventing drowning. According to the Orange County Fire Author-ity, Irvine has the second-highest drowning rate in Orange County. Drowning is the leading cause of accidental injury and death for O.C. kids under 5 years old.

Children are most likely to die in a home swimming pool. In fact, a residential pool is 14 times more likely to cause a death than an automobile. No kids live at your house, so you think your pool isn’t a con-cern? Some 35% of drowning occurs at someone else’s pool,

and not at the victim’s home.But it’s not just kids. Adults

over 50 (a third of all drownings, some studies show) and anyone who swims alone are at risk.

The statistics are scary, which is why the city of Irvine and Irvine Unified School District are partnering with the Orange County Task Force for Drown-ing Prevention, including a $25,000 grant to support the ef-forts that the city council recently approved unanimously.

The 24-member task force includes the representatives from public health, public safety, government, nonprofit organiza-tions, parents of victims, and OC Olympic swimmers Janet Evans and Aaron Peirsol.

How can we prevent drowning deaths? Education is key. Swim-ming lessons and close supervi-sion are among the layers of safety recommended. Never rely

on water wings, noodles, rafts, or other swimming aids. Learn first aid and CPR. Always keep a phone nearby to call 9-1-1.

For those with home pools, California Building Officials recommend a well-maintained, nonclimbable fence surrounding the pool with self-closing and self-latching gates. And since 46% of childhood drowning victims were last seen inside the home and not by the pool, it’s recommended that homes have self-closing, self-latching doors with automatic sliding door closers.

Irvine Unified School Dis-trict has more about the ABCs of drowning prevention, available in several languages: newsflash.iusd.org/2016/06/important-water-safety-reminders/

And Orange County Fire As-sociation has more information here: ocfa.org/SafetyPrograms/DrowningPrevention.aspx n

manages 50,000 acres of protected wildlands and parks, including Irvine’s open space reserve.

Lissa Pestolesi For her leadership, dedication and passion as the chairwoman of Host Town Irvine for the 2015 Special Olympic World Games.

Barbara Quinlan For her dedicated service of more than 25 years as the “volunteer in charge” of the Christmas Adopt-A-Family program at Saint Eliza-beth Ann Seton Catholic Church.

PK Wong For his valuable leadership and volunteer work with multiple organizations, committees and programs supporting seniors,

the cultural community and the Chinese community.

David Maggard While Irvine’s chief of police from 2003 to 2015, the city was named “America’s Safest City” eight consecutive years. He received the Ambassador of Peace Award from the Violence Prevention Coalition of OC and the Department of Defense Freedom Award on behalf of the police department.

For a complete list of honorees on the Wall of Recognition, and for more information on eligibility guidelines and how to nominate future honorees, go to:legacy.cityofirvine.org/services/public_recognition/honorees/wall_of_recognition.asp n

COMMUNITY FROM PAGE 8

JULY 2016


Comments

In the June issue of Irvine City News, in the story about ways to improve Irvine, item #22 suggested that we “study Irvine parks to see how senior-friendly

they are,” citing studies that say parks need walking paths and other accessible ameni-ties to help keep older residents healthy.

At Colonel Bill Barber Marine Corps Memorial Park at least, no further study is needed, as all ages enjoy the outdoors at Irvine’s central park. An early Saturday sees cyclists using the park as a base to circle the city; young women playing softball on the park’s four fields draw crowds of family and fans to cheer them on; kids have already started their play day on the imaginative bridges, ladders and monkey bars in the creative central playground; and seniors can be seen strolling and power-walking around the miles of paths that circle the park, and connect to bike and walking paths that extend throughout the city.

The park is home to many civic events throughout the year, including Global Village Festival held in September; the


COMMUNITY

There’s lots going on over on our Facebook page. Check it out at facebook.com/IrvineCityNews

The following comments were posted in response to our story in the June issue: 25 ways to Improve Irvine.

Irvine’s Heroic Park

Irvine is beautiful! A lovely place to work and live! I agree with most of these but for number 17, as part of sharing the roads, cyclists need to remember they are much smaller than a car! If they are sharing the road, they are sharing the rules! I would love to see the police of-ficers ticketing those cyclists who weave in and out of the bike lane, drastically slowing the flow of traffic and running the red lights.Elle Ford

Spot on! Irvine’s infrastructure is the envy of every city across America.Karen Pan

Glad to see that Irvine wants to get cre-ative as that’s a beautiful direction! I love that mural on the Tilly’s building! I hope it is saved and your public art program soars!Cathy Bartels

I’ve read the General Plan. The admin-istration really has it together. I use it as an example interchangeably during my graduate studies and reference it often! They really do want to hear from residents. So let them know what your issues are! I agree with George, way too many apartments and not enough opportunities for condos (at least to purchase). It’s either million dollar homes or apartments.Yvonne Rodriguez

I just love the stories and business sup-port The Irvine City News is garnering; i.e., excellent, relevant city based stories that will continue to earn the respect of its city readers, and those of us who are interested in bringing the city it serves issues all cities care about. Well done!Marissa Marie Leon

Alan Dugard Softball Classic and other tournaments; and the Memorial Day Ceremony in the Formal Garden, to name some of the largest events.

While we all look forward to the evolu-tion of the Orange County Great Park on the south side of the city, we can be happy in the knowledge that we already have a pretty darn good central park right next to the Irvine Civic Center.

Though we can’t expect everyone visiting the park to take time to read the plaque that only begins to explain why the place honors its namesake: “To commemorate Colonel Bill Barber, Irvine resident and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient for heroism under fire at Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, November 28th through De-cember 2nd, 1950, and to the USMC whose presence in and around Irvine symbolized the security of our Nation. Thank You. The Residents of Irvine.”

Bill Barber died at age 82 in Irvine, where he and his family moved soon after he retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1970, after 30 years of service in three wars. His service to his country is legend-ary. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Korea, at what’s known

as the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir. U.S. and British forces were trapped

and woefully outnumbered by 120,000 soldiers from the People’s Republic of China. Barber and 220 Marines under his command held an icy mountain pass for six days against a division of 1,400 soldiers. On the second day, Barber was shot in the leg and ordered to evacu-ate. He refused: “We will hold, sir,” he famously responded.

And the Marines did hold, repelling multiple attacks. At the end of the battle, 82 of his men were able to walk away, and 1,000 Chinese solders were dead. Had they failed, 8,000 Marines in his division would have been trapped.

Barber’s Medal of Honor cites his “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.”

At Bill Barber’s park, flags wave in the breeze and the playground is packed with kids. Cyclists and seniors enjoy the warm weather, and the sound of softballs hit-ting mitts fills the air. The diversity of Ir-vine’s population is apparent at this park, all drawn by the freedom that Barber and his fellow Marines helped ensure. n

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COUNCIL WATCH

Steven Choi, MayorLynn Schott, Mayor Pro Tem Councilmember Jeff Lalloway

Councilmember Beth KromCouncilmember Christina Shea

MAY 24, 2016 COUNCIL MEETING1.1 Wall of Recognition Nominees (see Page 8)

3.1 Request to Rename Trabuco Road to Great Park Boulevard.Name change from Sand Canyon into the ParkMoved by LallowaySeconded by Schott5-0

4.1 Short Term Rentals in Irvine.A discussion of how to deal with short-term rentals.Moved by ChoiSeconded by Krom5-0 to study the issue

JUNE 14, 2016 COUNCIL MEETING3.14 Community Partnership Fund Grants:Krom:AIDS Services Foundation Orange County ($500)Assistance League of Irvine ($500)California Presenters ($500)Fisher House ($500)Friends of Outreach ($700)Human Options ($500)LGBT Center OC ($500)Orange County Children’s Therapeutic Arts Center ($500)Orange County Human Relations Council ($500)Orange County Women’s Chorus ($500)Solace Foundation of Orange County ($500)Working Wardrobes ($500)Choi:Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast in the amount of $500Lalloway:Human Options ($500)Temple Beth Sholom ($500)Schott:American Youth Soccer Organization Region 213 – North Irvine ($500)Boys & Girls Club of Irvine ($1,000)Irvine Swim League ($500)Orange County Rescue Mission ($1,000)Shea:American Cancer Society – Relay for Life of Irvine ($500)Human Options ($500)

5.2 City of Irvine Fiscal Year 2016-2017 BudgetApprove comprehensive budget with over $12m surplus.Moved by ChoiSeconded by SheaVote – 5-0

Compiled by Irvine City News staff from City of Irvine website: cityofirvine.org/city-council

WHAT REALLY MATTERS

JULY 2016


Through 8.14Smile: Expressions of Orange CountyA photographic journey through O.C.’s cities and communities. Orange County Great Park Gal-lery includes the work of some 50 photographers. cityofirvine.org/orange-county-great-park

Through 10.6A Summer Idyll: Picturesque Views of CaliforniaThe Irvine Museum exhibit is a celebration of summer in the Golden State by California artists painting over the past 100 years.irvinemuseum.org

Things To Do in JulyTop

7.3-7.30The final season at Irvine Mead-ows Amphitheatre continues with July shows that include Bryan Adams, Rascal Flatts, Di-xie Chicks, The Dirty Heads and Duran Duran.livenation.com

7.4Irvine Police Association Concert on the Green and FireworksCelebrate Independence Day at Irvine High School with this 32nd annual event featuring food trucks and live music from Derek Bor-deaux Group. Tickets ($15 adults; $10 kids and seniors; cash only) may be purchased at the gate.cityofirvine.org/play/communi-ty-services-department/special-events

7.7-8.28New Swan Shakespeare Festival The festival at UCI’s outdoor Elizabethan theater includes “Hamlet” and “As You Like It.” newswanshakespeare.com

7.8-7.9Movies on the Lawn@Great ParkBring chairs and a picnic for the last two free outdoor movies at OC Great Park on Friday and Saturday nights, the classic “State Fair” and “Kung Fu Panda 3.” Movies begin at dusk.cityofirvine.org/news-media/news-article/movies-lawn

7.9The All-American Boys Chorus Enjoy the choir at Irvine Barclay Theatre as it presents the very best of America’s rich musical heritage. thebarclay.org

7.10-8.14Sunday Summer ConcertsEnjoy the “sizzling” scene at Mike Ward Community Park in Wood-bridge, with food trucks and country, ’80s and R&B bands, all to benefit Irvine 2/11 Marine Adoption Committee and other Irvine nonprofits.cityofirvine.org/play/communi-ty-services-department/special-events

7.15-7.17U.S. Open of Water PoloEnjoy a weekend of H2O excel-lence at William Woollett Aquat-ics Center, with both men’s and women’s divisions competing.

7.31 Pacific Symphony in the CitiesEnjoy a free outdoor concert fea-turing the Pacific Symphony, led by Music Director Carl St. Clair, at Mike Ward Community Park in Woodbridge. pacificsymphony.org/education/community_concerts

RED AND GREEN, BY JOSEPH KLEITSCH. COURTESY OF THE IRVINE MUSEUM “KUNG FU PANDA 3.” COURTESY DREAMWORKS ANIMATION

irvine city news 7.2016

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