ELECTION WATCH
Behind Irvine Election: Projects, Agran Vision
By MATHEW PADILLA
The contentious rift that’s divided former allies on Irvine’s City Council is the hottest political story in Orange County.
The row, replete with charges of political corruption and ethics lapses, has thrown the upcoming election for mayor and two council seats up for grabs.
Just a few months ago, Councilwoman Beth Krom seemed likely to replace termed-out mayor and political ally Larry Agran.
Agran himself was thought to be a shoo-in for an open council seat, keeping him as the driving force behind the council’s Democratic majority.
Enter Councilman Chris Mears, a longtime Agran ally turned spoiler. Mears has led an attack against Agran, charging that a political supporter of the mayor’s stands to benefit from the proposed formation of a city utility.
Politics aside, how the controversy plays out in the vote could mean a lot for business. At most, Irvine’s council could swing from a Democratic to Republican majority, changing the tenor of how business is done in the city.
Agran, a big-thinking idealist as mayor in the 1980s turned pragmatic liberal, has been good for developers and homebuilders.
Irvine has approved some of the largest projects in its history under Agran, including the redevelopment of the El Toro Marine base, The Irvine Company’s Northern Sphere project and high-rise housing along Jamboree Road.
Above all, Agran has brought a vision to Irvine,one of a bigger city with an urban core and a Great Park rather than an airport at El Toro.
City Hall’s leadership under Mike Ward, a councilman, former mayor and challenger to Krom for the top job, would be different.
Gone would be the activism of Agran, who astutely fought an El Toro airport, championed a more urban Jamboree and pushed for a city utility to serve new developments.
In its place would be a more laissez-faire approach. Ward doesn’t disagree on the whole with Agran or Krom on Irvine’s big issues. But he doesn’t stand to be the visionary cheerleader Agran’s been. The politically damaged utility plan could be a goner.
Take Ward’s approach to high-rise housing along Jamboree. Where Agran’s philosophy was zone it and they’ll come, Ward seems more content to let developers come to him with high-rise projects.
“The way I look at it, I am a very big believer in property types,” Ward said. “If people were not wanting to buy these types of production, they wouldn’t build it.”
As for Krom, she calls Jamboree “an exciting part of city” but doesn’t see homes mixed with shops and businesses as a good fit for other parts of Irvine.
Ward’s tack could please many businesses weary of Agran’s history of big city projects and his bent toward regulation. But big developers, including the Irvine Co. and Miami-based Lennar Corp., could find themselves reminiscing about the Agran days.
One councilmember who’s staying on and is likely to align with Ward is Christina Shea. For the past few years, she’s served as a counterpoint to Agran, raising questions about Northern Sphere, a long-term development calling for more than 12,000 homes and apartments.
The risk for the Irvine Co. is that criticisms are raised during phases of Northern Sphere’s development and City Council members come under pressure to act on them.
That could mean fewer homes are built than planned, or requests are made to pay for more roads and other improvements.
Even though Northern Sphere was approved in 2002 as an amendment to the city’s general plan, the company could face tweaks down the road.
Ward was part of a unanimous vote in favor of the Northern Sphere general plan amendment two years ago. Traffic needs to be studied at each stage of the project, he said.
“Then we can make changes as we go, rather than look up one day and realize you have a traffic problem,” Ward said.
Krom’s take seems more accepting: “The Northern Sphere is slated to be developed over the next 20 years. We have to be very attentive to the balance of development to the city. But the Irvine Co. generally has put that kind of thoughtful planning behind its developments in the past.”
Newport Beach-based Irvine Co., which has worked on the planning and approval of Northern Sphere for years, declined to comment on the election race.
Krom is running as part of a slate that includes three candidates for City Council: Agran, Sukhee Kang and Debbie Coven.
“We leverage our resources better as a team,” said Krom, who at the same time was quick to add: “I will be running on my own reputation.”
If Krom is elected mayor, it would free up her council seat to the third highest vote-getter. Mears isn’t seeking re-election. Ward is termed out as a councilman.
Ward himself is a businessman. He manages a family business, South Gate-based ICM Inc., which makes sand blasting gear and dust collecting systems.
He served two terms as mayor in the 1990s and was elected to council in 2000. Much of the Irvine Spectrum was developed during Ward’s time as mayor.
Krom worked for nine years as office manager and marketing coordinator for her husband’s optometry practice. From her home in 1997, she started a creative consultancy for businesses, dubbed All Things Creative.
She was elected to the council in 2000 and again in 2002.
No matter who is elected to City Council and as mayor, Irvine’s track record of growth and careful planning should hold, said Pamela Sapetto of Irvine’s Sapetto Group Inc., which works with developers seeking city approval for projects.
Beyond that, though, the council candidates have different priorities, Sapetto said. When it comes to affordable housing, Ward said he believes more in the efficiency of the free market. Agran has supported more regulation.
Those differences came to light in an August vote. An unlikely alliance of Ward, Shea and Mears voted for an Irvine Co. plan for 2,000 affordable homes. The plan also included 1,000 homes at market prices.
Krom and Agran voted against it.
Krom said she doesn’t oppose the project, but she and Agran would like to see guarantees that the affordable units will stay affordable for years. A requirement that people must live in the moderately priced homes for at least two years isn’t enough, she said.
The project is on 125 acres north of El Toro near Sand Canyon Avenue.
Both candidates for mayor so far approve of the city’s plan to transform El Toro into the Great Park, as do most Irvine residents. The project involves 3,700 acres that are mostly zoned for parks and other public uses.
“I do think this is a wonderful opportunity to come together and really create a space that defines and coalesces this county,” Krom said.
Irvine also has zoned the former base for 3,625 homes and 3 million square feet of commercial space, making the Great Park one of the county’s bigger development projects.
The plan’s reliance on developer fees,not taxes,is key, according to Ward.
