ELECTIONS ’88 : ORANGE COUNTY : Irvine Candidates Agree on Basic Issues but Split on Solutions

In the Irvine City Council race, the candidates all agree on the basic issues: that congested traffic arteries desperately need to be unclogged, that runaway growth needs to be better controlled and that the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station should not be opened to commercial aviation.

But the harmony ends there. The five candidates for council and two for mayor on the June 7 ballot in Irvine are split into two clear factions over how to remedy the problems.

One faction supports growth-control measures such as the Citizens’ Sensible Growth and Traffic Control Initiative and the city of Irvine’s decision to sue the county over some development agreements approved for nearby unincorporated areas.

All but one member of the other faction, however, opposes the initiative, saying it would drive business out of the county and not really address the critical problem of traffic. And all the candidates in the second faction oppose spending Irvine money on lawsuits involving developments outside the city.

Instead, they favor measures such as a proposed citywide traffic ordinance that would regulate the flow of traffic in Irvine.

City’s First Mayoral Race

In the city’s first mayoral race, appointed incumbent Larry Agran, 42, a lawyer, is identified with the faction favoring strong growth-control measures and supporting the court battle against the development agreements. His opponent, aligned with the other faction, is Barry Hammond, 36, a business analyst.

The faction of council candidates generally identified with the point of view shared by Agran is made up of Cameron Cosgrove, 30, an insurance executive and city planning commissioner, and Paula Werner, 40, a community volunteer and city transportation commissioner.

On the other side are William A. (Art) Bloomer, 55, a retired Marine Corps general who sits on the city’s Finance Commission and is the only member of this faction who supports the countywide slow-growth initiative; incumbent Councilwoman Sally Anne Miller, 50, a real estate agent, and Michael Shea, 39, a businessman and city finance commissioner.

The five council candidates are running for two--and possibly three--seats on the five-member council. The council posts, two of which are being vacated by outgoing incumbents Ray Catalano and C. David Baker, are for four years each.

If Agran defeats Hammond in the mayor’s race, the remaining two years of Agran’s council term will go to the council candidate garnering the third highest vote total. If Hammond wins, Agran will keep his council seat. The mayor’s term is two years.

Measure C on Ballot

Irvine voters are also being asked on June 7 to decide the fate of Measure C, which would add 5,000 acres of permanent open space--including hillsides, canyons, orange groves and agricultural land--to the city’s general plan.

Also on the ballot is Measure D, a charter amendment that would allow citizens to petition for an election to fill any council seat that is vacated when an incumbent council member is elected mayor. That would change the current procedure, which calls for the runner-up council candidate to fill the position.

Although no one has taken any polls, Newport Beach political consultant Harvey Englander gives the overwhelming edge in the mayoral race to Agran. He has served on the council since 1978 and was appointed to the mayor’s post by the council in 1986.

The mayor of Irvine has always been appointed by the council. That was changed through a ballot measure approved last year that provided for direct election of the mayor.

“My feeling is that Agran will sweep anybody against him,” Englander said. “Agran’s in good shape to be mayor.”

Challenger Hammond hotly disputes that analysis. Hammond, whose campaign theme is “teamwork,” says he will use his business negotiation skills to more effectively operate the city if elected.

“I will be a hands-on, accessible mayor,” Hammond said. “My number’s in the book, and I recommend you call me.”

Agran Cites Record

Agran cites his record on social issues as one reason he should be elected mayor. During the past year, he has supported plans to provide more child-care assistance for citizens, to convert kennels and farmhouses into shelters for the homeless and to enact an ordinance to protect the civil rights of all minority groups, including gays.

“Together, we’re urban pioneers building the city of our dreams, and I’m happy to be a part of that,” Agran said.

Hammond said he, too, is interested in helping the needy. He said he began assisting the homeless in 1980 through his work in church organizations. But he disagreed with Agran’s proposals to, as Hammond put it, subject the homeless to the “indignity” of living in dilapidated farmhouses or abandoned kennels. He suggested instead that the nonprofit Irvine Temporary Housing agency be relied upon to accommodate the homeless through a subsidized apartment rent program.

In the council race, Cosgrove and Werner say their commitment to more open space for the city is evidenced by their roles as co-chairs of an 11,000-name petition drive that resulted in Measure C being placed on the local ballot.

If elected, Cosgrove said, he would see to it that “the promise of a planned community can be kept.”

Cosgrove, a former city finance commissioner, also vowed to protect Irvine from becoming overly built up in the next few years. He pointed out that the city is only halfway developed and that careful planning is needed for the remaining development.

Werner said her other priority as a council member would be to work with business so that new traffic-management plans can be implemented. She said business cooperation in using van pools, shuttle pools and flexible work time to ease traffic would help ease the city’s traffic congestion.

Werner Cites Experience

Werner said her diverse experience in school, church and community organizations, as well as her lack of attachment to any special interest groups, makes her well qualified to become a council member.

“I have the time, the energy and the interest to do this job,” Werner said.

Bloomer said his solution to the traffic problem is to use regional transportation corridors to remove traffic from Irvine’s streets.

Bloomer said he is also an advocate of more open space. A 31-year career Marine and former commanding general of the El Toro air station, Bloomer said open space is especially needed beneath the flight path of military jets operating out of the base.

He said the increasingly crowded sky over El Toro increases the potential for accidents like the Aug. 31, 1986, midair collision over Cerritos. An Aeromexico jetliner plummeted into a residential neighborhood, killing 82 people, including 15 on the ground. Bloomer advocates an annexation plan that would give Irvine land-use control around the air station.

“I feel the people of Irvine are willing to accept a leader like myself,” Bloomer said.

Miller cited her proven ability as an Irvine council member the past four years and her 10 years of experience before that as a member of the city’s Community Services Commission.

Among her proudest accomplishments, she said, are development of the Irvine community park system, the Aquatics Complex in Heritage Park and programs such as the Irvine Arts Alliance, Art in Public Places and the soon-to-be-built Irvine Theatre.

Miller, also committed to open space, said she has led the fight to prevent commercial aviation use of the El Toro base as the city’s representative to the Coalition for a Responsible Airport Solution.

“Why elect me?” Miller asked. “So I can maintain an independent representation on the City Council.”

Would Repeal Tax

Shea said his top priority as a council member would be to repeal a 1.5% utility users tax levied on Irvine businesses last year when it appeared the city would experience a budget shortfall in the current fiscal year. Recent city figures showed that the city will actually have a budget surplus of $1.5 million to $3 million. The utility users tax raised about $2.5 million, Shea said.

Bloomer said he, too, would seek to repeal that tax.

Shea said he supports resurrecting the city’s traffic circulation task force, which was used in the 1970s to make sure roads were in place before development took place.

Shea said he would fight the human rights ordinance backed by Agran, which is under study by city staff. He said he does not think it appropriate that homosexuals be given special protection “in a family community” and added that, as a businessman, it would provide more rules that he does not need.

“I think what I can offer to the council, quite frankly, is a businessman’s perspective,” Shea said. “There are no business people on the council right now.”