When he ran Irvine Apartment Communities for Irvine Company, Max Gardner was in charge of more than a thousand people. As new permanent CEO of OC United Way, he has a staff of 32. “It’s a whole different environment,” says Gardner.
He says he is impressed with the energy and desire of his nonprofit team but wants to add some Irvine Co.-style structure: “Hopefully we can be more organized.” A key member of the United Way board, Gardner stepped in as interim CEO in December after the departure of longtime CEO Maria Chavez-Wilcox. Gardner, 59, was working on his golf game after leaving IAC.
How much time will he have now to play? “Less time than when I retired, but more time than when I was at Irvine Co.” …
Chris Welsh, the local explorer teaming with British billionaire Richard Branson to explore the ocean depths, says there’s been a dramatic increase in blue whales around Newport Harbor in the past two years. He says he’s now typically spotting three or four of them while flying planes along the coast. He doesn’t know why there are more whales, but suggests it could be a peg for tourism …
Cheyenne, the 125-foot catamaran that Welsh and Branson will sail around the world, has become a Newport Harbor attraction for paddleboarders, Duffies and other craft. Google is on the side as a sponsor. The excitement should increase soon when Welsh starts testing his new one-seat sub off the coast …
UCI has received a $10 million anonymous gift—a $9 million endowment to support scientific research and $1 million toward a new b-school building …
Chapman U forecasts a slow housing recovery—OC prices down 3.9% this year, flat in 2012—but irreverent economist Essie Adibi says there’s a way for government to speed things up: “Subsidize divorce.” He told an amused gathering of 820 at the Hilton OC/Costa Mesa that divorce is “very good” for the housing market because it turns one household into two and said one of the presidential candidates should make it a campaign cause. “You heard it here first.” And probably last …
For another look at the housing market, the OC Forum hosts a luncheon with Five Point Communities’ Emile Haddad, Standard Pacific’s Scott Stowell and UCI’s Kerry Vandell June 29 at the Hilton Irvine. Info at www.ocforum.org.
