Irvine Mayor Steven Choi announced a plan to revise Irvine’s term limits rules and send them to the voters, but while trying to limit long time council member Larry Agran’s ability to serve, Choi is trying to extend his own time as mayor to three consecutive terms.
The Voice of OC has all the details here. From the story:
Yet while the proposal would implement a hard term limit — a lifetime maximum of two four-year council terms and two, two-year mayoral terms — it can’t be applied retroactively. That means such a measure’s immediate effect would be to extend term limits already in place for the current council.
For example, Choi, who is in the middle of his first two-year term as mayor, is allowed to serve two consecutive mayoral terms under the current system. If he wants to stay on council at the end of a possible second mayoral term, he would have to run for a council seat.
Choi’s proposal would restart the clock and actually grant him the ability to run for a third consecutive mayoral term, Agran noted at the meeting. He said he didn’t object to the idea, but wanted to see the measure written to close “as many loopholes as possible.”
At the meeting, all three Republican members of the council voice support for the plan while exposing themselves as hypocrites. Choi is hoping to extend his time as mayor from four to six years while Shea has been on the city council almost as long as Agran. If they had any sense of shame, they’d resign their own long term tenures on the council immediately. Would Shea or Choi announce that neither will seek re-election beyond their next term. Or perhaps everyone reboots and starts fresh? Our position all along is term limits already exist – they are called elections. Re-election is not guaranteed. Just ask Chris Norby.
The meeting was telling for voters in watching Mayor Choi in action. Mayor Pro Tem Lalloway was practically Choi’s seeing eye dog guiding the mayor from point A to point B. Councilmember Christina Shea had to poke Choi and a pencil to keep him on point. The emperor has no clothes.
We received an email from one meeting attendee worth republishing:
“I was wondering if anyone thinking for himself else has been questioning the Mayor Choi? I notice how many times Pro tem Mayor Lalloway asked for point of order to feed Mayor on what to do he would go off rambling in different direction and then watch other side as Councilwoman Shea pokes him with her pencil to get his attention to do something. Then he goes back to his tech city rambling which I think amounts to all the text he is reading instead of paying attention to what is going on in front of him how many meeting had he said something about I just got text and refereed to it like someone feeding him what he needs to do or say?”
Video doesn’t lie.
Choi’s been on the city council nearly 10 years; you’d think he’d have a clue about running a meeting. It’s clear, he doesn’t. And you have to wonder who’s pulling Choi’s strings to extend his own term on the council. I fear for how this mayor will behave himself if he has the chance to meet President Obama at the UCI graduation ceremony.
Dan, under Steven Choi’s tenure as Mayor, there has been more progress in both City and Great Park afairs made than in ten years under Krom and Agran. Point the finger and make your little slurs against Steven about the way he talks and his verbal presentations, but frankly you are spinning your wheels in the sand.
On the term limits, you forgot to mention that it also restarts the clock on Agran and Krom as well. Frankly, I find twelve more years of those two to be unthinkable at best. After November, I believe Larry will be sent into forced retirement, so term limits is a moot issue. When the Great Park Audit Report hits around August or September, any slight credibility people may still have with Agran and Krom will be gone like a thief in the night.
Sorry to break the news to you Dan but “Darth Vadar” Agran and the Evil Empire have folded and are on their way out the door. Keep spinning though as it gives me something to comment on.