Jeff Lalloway, a new blogger for Red County, posted this rant recently. Lalloway’s first Red County post is dedicated to attacking Larry Agran over the Great Park. Agran has his share of critics, but Lalloway’s post is remarkably devoid of attribution. Or facts.
PowderBlue Blogger Allan Bartlett identified Lalloway as a possible 2010 city council candidate. Motive is nice. But a Google search revealed more information on him. Lalloway was one of the official opponents of Measure S on the Irvine ballot last November, a ballot measure designedto protect the personal information and privacy of residents who sign up for classes in the City. Measure S was overwhelmingly passed by Irvine voters.
But for his opposition to Measure S, Lalloway was rewarded with an appointment to the Irvine Finance Commission our favorite term-out (don’t-let-the-door-kick-you-in-the-ass-when-you-leave) lame duck Council member Christina Shea. Without Shea’s request to access nearly 180,000 personal records of Irvine residents to use for “an informational newsletter” there would be no need for the ballot measure.
to restore one of the hangars for an aviation museum, Lalloway is off base in attacking Larry Agran on a claim that Agran promised no tax dollars would be spent on the project. Agran promised that without new local
taxes. There have been no new taxes levied on Orange County residents to build the park.
Lalloway is a lawyer. And no one in Irvine needs more legal advice than Shea, Council member Steve Choi, former Council member Greg Smith and failed Council candidate Rodgers; Shea and Choi are seeking legal reimbursement for a lawsuit against the Great Park Board which was denied, and Smith and Rodgers lost in a lawsuit to the City over a development project and need to reimburse the city’s taxpayers for tens of thousands of dollars in a politically motivated lawsuit.  These Republicans have never minded wasting taxpayer dollars in pursuit of politically-charged lawsuits so they can grab headlines for use in their campaigns.
Lalloway’s post has no attribution and is short on detail. Hew asserts that “all the money has been spent.” For the record, no. There’s about $100 million in the bank. And as the park progresses forward, there are plans to grow the assets by $10 million a year. While Senator Boxer is bringing in few million dollars in federal funds that John Campbell won’t
Agran did write a column in the LA Times on how stimulus funds can and should be used to help develop the Park; and as a taxpayer, I’m happy to see some of my tax dollars coming back home for a sustainable local use. But Agran begging for a bailout from taxpayers is just hogwash. You’d think these Irvine Republicans would figure it out by now. Attacking Larry Agran and whining about the Great Park (Shea wants to slow development down now after asking for it to speed up last fall) were a recipe for political success, then Shea would be Mayor and Choi would be in the State Assembly (God help us). Â
Irvine voters are smarter than that.
Wasn’t the park supposed to be funded 100% by developer fees? What will be the balance of those funds at the end of this next fiscal year?
One would think there would be more to show for what was originally something like $240MM.
It’s like the money’s burning a hole in their pocket or something.
In the January 2003 press release for the Park, Agran said:
“The Great Park will be developed and maintained in perpetuity by private landowners without placing an additional burden on federal, state, or local
taxpayers.”
Federal stimulus money is paid for by federal taxpayers.
And the additional federal money from Boxer is directed towards an aviation museum not yet conceived of in the 2003 press release.
But since you’re here Jeff, perhaps you’d like to address yoru charge that Agran has blown the whole budget or is “begging” for a bailout. Neither is true and you know it.