P.K. Wong completes The Agran/Krom Slate in Irvine

P.K. Wong, a finance professional and a former executive with the Singapore Futures and Options Exchange, will join the slate featuring Council members Larry Agran and Beth Krom for Irvine City Council. Wong would be the first Chinese-American elected official and his background and experience in finance would like make him the County’s most knowledgeable elected official in matters of finance.

Wong was introduced by both Krom and Agran at a busy signature gathering party at the Stonefire Grill in Irvine. All three candidates had their petitions signed in about 15 minutes.

A number of members of Irvine’s Pan-Asian communtiy came out with enthusiastic support for Wong who also serves as a volunteer for some of Irvine’s senior citizen organizations. Several residents spoke of voter registration drives to target the city’s large Chinese-American community. While Wong is a relative newcomer to Irvine politics, he played a key role on Irvine’s Save Our Schools Initiative; enough to make a bigger contribution to the direction of the city to move it forward.

The Team Irvine slate, which consists of three candidates who lost their last elections — two in 2010 and one in 2008 — seems more focused on equating Irvine’s fate with Costa Mesa. We have Steven Choi, who embarrassed the city by wearing a Tea Party sign of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi as Josef Stalin on his back; Christina Shea, who has already committed the first lie of the campaign saying in a Facebook comment today she’s never threatened city employees (until I linked an LA Times article about her threatening Irvine’s then police chief); and Lynn Schott, a Tea Party candidate who couldn’t win an election to the OC GOP Central Committee and lost a bid for city council last year. Tea Parties are for little girls with imaginary friends.

Irvine voters in attendance tonight found Frank Mickadeit’s depiction of them as “ignorant” for continuing to elect Agran to office laughed at the columnist and chided him for his lack of research. One asked, “so where is he?” Great question…

Irvine voters have a stark choice; a slate that thinks the sky is falling and wants to go backwards compared to a slate that wants to take 12 years of positive change to keep the city moving forward. Since the progressive took the majority of the city council in 2000, Irvine has a great balance sheet, been the safest city in America eight years running, gives more money to local schools than any other municipal government in OC, and is the county’s greenest city — both only environmentally but economically. And that is the record the Republicans on the Irvine First Team have to run against.

P.K. sent us his bio:
Personal Background

My family moved to Irvine about 10 years ago, primarily for its excellent schools. We have two sons, Eric and Kevin. Eric is married to Mandy and both are residents at UC Davies Medical Center, Sacramento. Kevin has recently graduated from UCSB majoring in Pharmacology.

Civic Involvement

Actively involved with the Irvine Senior Centers for about 6 years. I am the Chair of the Senior Citizens Council and sit on the Facilities, Leadership and Donor committees.

I have served as Vice President, Irvine Evergreen Chinese Senior Association for the last 2 years.

I am also a Board member of South Coast Chinese Cultural Association/Irvine Chinese School (was Vice Chair, July 2011- June 2012)

I am a member of Steering Committee, Irvine Global Village Festival and Chair, Merchants sub-committee.

Work Experience

I have over 30 years of corporate experience in banking & finance, information technology, sales & marketing and real estate. I have held several senior management positions including:

Senior Vice President, Operations, Singapore International Monetary Exchange, Singapore (a futures and options exchange).

General Manager, Financial Services Industry, Tandem Computers San Jose

Assistant General Manager, The Development Bank of Singapore, New York & Los Angeles branches.

Vice President, Continental Bank, Singapore branch

IT Far East Regional Manager, Smith NuCourt, plc, Singapore (British stock broking firm)

Irvine is well known internationally for its diverse community. My work has brought me to many parts of the world – China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Australia & UK, and I believe that my experience with dealing with people from different cultures and societies will help me serve Irvine residents,

29 Comments

  1. While I am not a fan of Larry Strange because of his antics with the Not-So-Great Park, he and his allies have managed to keep their city afloat in fiscally austere times and has kept it one of the most desireable cities to live in in Orange County. Irvine could do a lot worse.

  2. Dan, I don’t know Mr. Wong but if he were as knowledgable and intelligent as you give him credit for being, he never would have hooked his horse to the Agranista wagon. The reward for becoming an Agranista is vote in lock step with King Larry, never have an original thought of your own and if you do, be prepared to have your ears slapped back. Doubt that, ask Beth Krom what happened to her on the few times she dared to think on her own. So Team Agran has now been selected and you all can get busy laundering those campaign contributions in excess of the legal limit through your bogus SOS Initiative. Despite your cheap shots at Team Irvine, I suspect they, backed by the Republican Party might just give you liberals a run for your money this year. Team Irvine only needs two of the three positions to take control of the Council. We might as well take out the local trash while doing it at the national level? What a refreshing thought, America without the Pied Piper of Chicago and Irvine without Larry Agran?

  3. Pat — I don’t have a problem calling you a fool for your notions which have no basis in fact. Anyone who knows Krom, Agran and Kang knows that while they might certainly vote the same, to suggest that any of them are puppets or a puppet master is false and wrong.

    My cheap shot? Did I state anything factually incorrect Pat? The truth is Republicans expect progressives to roll over and play dead. You guys can’t handle it when someone beats you at your own game. The difference is, we use facts instead of rumor.

    Irvine’s Chinese-American community is quite energized by Wong’s candidacy. We had several inpromptu speeches of praise for Wong last night long after we thought the program was over.

    For Irvine voters, who would you rather have veiwing a balance sheet or budget: an executive with a major stock exchange or Christina Shea?

    Irvine is NOT Costa Mesa Pat.

    • I will take Christina Shea any day because at least I know she is honest and her own person. While Mr. Wong might be loooking at the balance sheet, it will be King Larry who is calling the shots, just as he always has. Having lived and worked in both Costa Mesa and Irvine, I understand the difference between the two better than you? Frankly, the City Council in Costa Mesa is everybit as screwed as ours in Irvine. Both are on power and ego trips and they all need to be fired. Question is, will the voters wake up, smell the java and get the firing done, or will it be more of the same? I believe this just might be the year the voters wake up? Hope springs eternal doesn’t it? Tell Larry I send my regards and ask him how his houekeeper is these days?

      • Hey ltpar. Is it true the Irvine cops set up Shea’s daughter for that meth bust? You were an Irvine cop then and that’s what Shea said. Do Irvine’s cops do politically motivated arrests?

        • Nope, no set up on that one or any other kind of arrest in Irvine. The kid was young, hanging with the wrong people and cin the wrong place at the wrong time. That was a tough time for Christina as it would be for any of us. Parents have a tendancy of bleeding for their kids when they are in trouble. We have never done a politically moticvated arrest that I am awre of, although there were some corners cut back in the early history when former Mayor Art Anthony shot his wife. More common are ego driven politicians who think their position gives them the right to cross the line and throw around their influence. One such incident happened when an unamed Council Member used his influence to get someone he knew released from custody on a Felony and then the charges fell between the cracks at the Police Department and were never filed with the D.A. That incident pissed off a lot of Cops, but what can they do when the decisions come from the top. Hope that answers your questions?

            • I wasn’t involved in that incident and don’t know all the facts involved. I do recall an internal affairs investigation happening due to the accusations Christina made. Based on those accusations,an objective person could conclude that she atually believed that we had set her daughter up for the arrest. Not sure what the end result of the internal investigation was, since those things are usuall confidential. So, the question is if a person elieves something has happened and states so publically, are they lying? My interpretation is that lying is an act of intent and no they would not be lying, just mistaken in their belief.

    • Dan, better have your boy, Larry Agran call ahead to use his political influence like he always does. As you should know, City personnel matters are confidential and not open to the media including wantabees. While you are talking to the PIO, ask him for a copy of Irvine Police Department Case No. 07-05250. The answer will be “No,” but if you could get it, the incident would be nteresting because it is a real story. Happy Trails.

      • Actually Pat, if it was an internal affairs investigation that led nowhere, I will likely get what I want.

        • It is still a personnel matter and not open to public consumption, unless your your bud, Larry throws his weight around. You would do better reading the case I suggested. It was not an IA case, but rather a Crime Report Access to that case will also take some doing since the report is not in the Records Bureau where it belongs. It is locked up in the Internal Affairs files to keep the public and media from having access to it. I am sure a call from Larry to the Police Chief would enable you to see it. No one dares to say “No” to the King.

  4. Pat — Both Shea and Choi have demonstrated they have either early onset of Dementia or just want to ignore basic facts. I called into question Shea’s record of going after Irvine’s then police chief and she went into a rant about her daughter who I did not mention. Her daughter, by all accounts, has turned her life around and that’s wonderful. But it doesn’t change Shea’s behavior while she held office.

    As far as Choi goes, he was the subject of legal action from Doug Davert, who was Jerry Amante’s pit bull in the 2010 election cycle. I provided a link to the site Davert set up to refresh Dr. Choi’s bad memory. And Dr. Choi used a letter to voters from blogger Art Pedroza to promote his candidacy for the Assembly seat; Mr. Pedroza was on the losing end of a lawsuit this blog filed against him for cybersquatting, copyright infringement and unfair business practice; Mr. Pedroza’s defense was his routing of domains he acquired to gay porn and NAMBLA were parody; does Dr, Choi think NAMBLA which advocates sex between man and young boys is funny?

    Liek I said Pat, this election is about do we move Irvien forward or do we move things back.

    • Dan, for the sake of not repeating myself, just let me restate, that on occasion parents get put in the inevitable position of having to defend their children when they are in trouble. As I recall, Christina defended her daughter vigorously, because she mistakenly thought the Police had set her up. She raised the kind of hell that most parents would do in a similar situation? To her credit, she never asked for nor received special treatment because of her position on the Council. I can personally relate to the frustration Christina felt because one of my boys was arrested by a neighboring Poice Department when he was 19 for DUI. I was not a happy camper, but kept my cool knowing my son was wrong and the Officer was merely doing his job. Instead of pushing the limit, which Christina may or may not have done, I took my son to see the D.A. handling the case. He was a prosecutor with whom I had worked for many years. We discussed the merits of the case and my son took the plea deal offered, which was the going rate for first time DUI’s. I asked the D.A. to make my son do weekends at a local jail to drive the seriousness of the violation home, but he wouldn’t do it. I realize your children are still young, but one day when older they will have to be turned loose and hope they hold to the values you taught them. I hope you never have to have such an experience? Moral of the story, being a parent is sometimes a tough job and we all react differently. By the way, that worthless Police Chief you mentioned, deserved that and a lot more. He caused Irvine P.D. a lot of grief during his ten years on the job.

      Wasn’t involved in Steven Choi’s Assembly Campaign but as I recall Davert was the director of dirty tricks for Amante in that race. I know you know Steven Choi well enough that politics aside, there is no one who is more dedicated to and cares about children than him. As you also know, Steven is sometimes easily led by others, but doesn’t come close to the Agranistas who are in lock step with Larry Agran. Steven has been in the minority for his entire time on the Council and who knows what he might have achieved had he been part of the majority? Again, Steven is not one who likes to throw his weight around, unlike his opponent Beth Krom. I still remember her cutting the under the table deal with Red China agreeing to tank our Sister City in Taiwan. Then she lied and denied it and made some poor City staffer fall on her sword to cover Beth’s butt. Then adding insult to injury, Beth and Sukee torpedoed the 17 year, very successful Irvine Sister City Program, which no longer exists. Of course, we know that Beth was just the puppet hatchet woman and was merely doing the bidding of Larry Agran. The Sister City Program crossed Larry and like he as done so many times in the past, cut their throats and left them in the gutter bleeding. Speaking of the Chinese, where does your newest Agranista come down on the mother country? Is he pro Nationalist or Pro Red China?

      As you said, the election is about moving forward and it is long since time for a new Council majority. By the way, did you ask the PIO about that P.D. Case I referenced. If you read it, I would be interested in your objective analysis.

      • Pat — you are an apologist for the misdeeds of Shea and Choi, and your ascertation that people march in lockstep with Larry is false. P.K. is from Singapore; look it up.

        • Dan, while none of us is perfect, except for your buddy, King Larry (in his/your mind), I can’t think of any “misdeeds” that Christina or Steven need to apologize for. Singapore will bring Mr. Wong down in the camp of the Peoples Republic. Guess he isn’t concerned about the Agranistas prior deal to sell out his Chinese counterparts in Taiwan, or even if he considers them to be legitimate counterparts. He can answer that question at some point during the campaign?

          • Not sure what a sister city program has to do with the daily lives of Irvine residents Pat. You can’t think of things for Shea and Choi to apologize for? I can help with that.

            When Krom was Mayor and Bush was president, the Mayor warmly greeted him with the courtesy according to the Leader of the Free World despite their political difference. Beth showed class and grace. Speaker Pelosi, the third highest ranking member of government at that time, comes to Irvine and Choi wears a poster depicting her as Stalin. The photos are on this site Pat if you want to dig to find them.

            Shea says she never attacked a city employee and we posted a link to an LA Times article saying she did just that. And she brough up her daughter, I didn’t. I merely pointed out the lie. Haven’t we moved beyond the point where Shea is always a victim no matter what.

            • If calling Nancy Pelosi any name in the book is a sin, I will be proud to join Steven Choi on the road to hell. Trust and respect is not automatically granted to any person. It has to be earned and maintained over time. Nancy Pelosi has done enough damage to America, not only to be called names, but to also be whipped in public. Of course, we don’t use that means of punishment, not even with contemptable politicans. Moving locally, I remember a time when a different Larry Agran had our respect and trust. That was before his alter-ego captured his body and we ended up with King Larry.

              On the Sister City Program, if my memory serves me correct, Larry Agran was the orginator of the Programin his early years on the Council. It was a communty based effort building bridges with other cities around the globe. The Program was a huge success and was one of the best managed programs in the United States. It provided exchanges between Irvine students, business people and citizens and our three Sister Cities. Because the Sister City Board did not back Agran, Krom and Kang in their effort to kiss butt on Red China by dumping our long time Sister City in Tiawan, the Agranistas destroyed the program. Dan, if you ever cross Larry, you too will get the same treatment and join Dave Christensen, Chris Mears, Mark Petracca and the Sister City Board Members as part of the “Former Friends of Larry.”

              As I have already repeated, there is a difference between defending your children and attacking someone maliciously. Of course no one in the Agranistas has ever done that have they? Sorry Dan, if you are going to try and throw the slime on the campaign wall to see what sticks, you will have to do better than this. Also remember, what goes aaround comes around. Happy Trails.

  5. The commenter calling himself “Pedroza for City Council” is not me. I hope that Dan will do the right thing and change that commenter’s name to something else. A blog that won a Press Club award shouldn’t sink to these levels.

    • Art,

      From a person who routinely changes both the names and content of the comments left on his blog, you are the last person from whom we would take advice.

      As you say so often Art, it’s freedom of speech. The comments left by Pedroza for Council do not represent that they are from Art Pedroza, and therefore do not violate our commenting policy.

      We do not change the content or names used by those leaving comments. That Mr. Pedroza would be unethical and not something a blog named best Political/News Blog of 2012 by the Orange County Press Club would do.

    • Tinajero, Martinez & Sarmiento support Benavides against Pulido – how do you like THEM apples Pedroza?

      signed,
      One Usual Suspect – junior

    • Poor baby. Shouldn’t you be approving comments about Claudio being a drunk or Chris giving people AIDS or calling Dan fat or Calling Tom Gordon a racist? Don’t back to downloading more kiddie porn NAMBLA-boy

      • There is no evidence Pedroza is into kiddie porn. And the comments referenced here are from commenters of Art’s blog not Art himself. But he does review and approve each cooment that gets posted. Art’s position is “free speech for me but not for thee.” just ask jeff Gallagher from Our Town Tustin who was banned from posting on NSA andOC Politics.

Comments are closed.