About 300 people attended Saturday’s Irvine Candidate’s Forum at the Irvine Chinese School and, even though the program ran long, it appears as thought the city’s Chinese-American Community is coming out for Democratic candidates as evidenced by the line of questions asked and how they were answered, as well as the sustained and enthusiastic applause given to Democratic candidates after their statements were given.
The three school board candidates went first, but the real fireworks were for the mayor and city council candidates. As I greeted friends while taking my seat, I was asked about this blog’s URL. Why? Because word had gotten out about our post regarding the failed attempt to add a sister city in Baoji, China where the Mayor referred to China as a “terrorist country” and people in the audience had their smart phones out to look for the video. I mentioned the story was picked up by OC Weekly as well. It was clear that even before Cyril Yu welcomed the crowd to the forum, word had spread that Choi had referred to China as a terrorist country, the crowd knew it, and it was clear it was going to be worth watching the crowd as well as the debate. I was assured that everyone in the room was aware that Choi called China a terrorist country in advance of the forum. which is one of the reasons the crowd was so large.
The introductions were basic enough. Agran noted he and Gaido were at the groundbreaking ceremony for the very school everyone was and there was a lot of approving nods from the older members of the audience. Councilman Jeff Lalloway gave a simple greeting in Chinese. He was bested by candidate Evan Chemers who uttered a few sentences in *perfect* Chinese that got smiles from the audience. When it was Choi’s turn (and even though I was sitting directly across from Choi in the front row, please know he is very hard to understand), he talked about having a Chinese member on his staff, an appointed commissioner of his who was not there but is Chinese-American, and how Choi’s two children are either dating/engaged to/or married to Chinese-Americans (I honestly couldn’t tell, he rambled so). I was waiting for him to profess his love for Peking Duck for dinner too. Choi smiled a lot hoping it would disarm the crowd. It was kind of creepy and it didn’t work. I turned to the crowd and their faces were serious, but respectful as the mayor spoke.
When we got to the discussion about the sister/friendship cities program, Choi’s answer was that the last request — to add cities in China, Pakistan and Vietnam — wasn’t handled very well. And that if someone wanted to make the case for a sister city relationship, then they should approach him to discuss it. He did not apologize for calling China a terrorist nation. Lalloway focused on the suggestion of a sister city in Vietnam, not Baoji, China, and the thousands of Vietnamese protesters who showed up to criticize the selection (while neglecting to say most of those were from outside of the city of Irvine). Lalloway, who said from the dais then that the city council shouldn’t be engaged in Foreign Relations, suggested to the crowd that recommendations for sister city candidates and friendship candidates should come from the people, not the council (editor’s note: so pretend your Emile Haddad and tell Lalloway want you want…and bring your checkbook to fund IEs). Schott took the approach that it’s the people in the cities you want to seek a connection with not necessarily the governments there which is exactly the argument made by those who opposed Choi’s and the council majority’s decision to halt the program for further review; Schott, who looked bored or angry most of the time, must have lost her place in the message briefing book because her points sound more like Agran’s than Choi’s. Gaido used her time to remind the audience Choi said China was a terrorist country and compared Pakistanis to Al Qaeda and the Taliban; Irvine does have a sizable Pakistani population. She all but called Choi a divisive mayor, who’s not protecting Irvine’s master plan but amended it to favor the developers funding his campaign. And that got a large round of applause.
The discussion of the Veteran’s Cemetery was also illuminating. After Mayor Choi brought up the issue of Feng Shui in initially opposing the Cemetery and Memorial and even FivePoint backed away from it saying Feng Shui was a consideration in discussions about the Memorial, Lalloway tried to use Agran’s dismissal of Feng Shui as some sort of intentional disrespect to the Chinese American Community. But Lalloway made a big mistake and didn’t drop the other shoe. Choi used Feng Shui as a reason to oppose building the Cemetery and Memorial at the Great Park. Choi was bowing to the wishes of the developer and tried to suggest Federal Land north of the Great Park would be a better spot, citing a meeting he asked for with the FBI about a parcel for a cemetery and homebuyer objections to a cemetery so close to homes. Melissa Fox used her time to say she’d include input from the Chinese American community in the development of the cemetery. Katherine Daigle provided the most emotional and heartfelt answer of why the Veteran’s Cemetery and Memorial needed to be in Irvine; she was misty-eyed defining the freedoms we enjoy today were due to the sacrifice of men and women in uniform. How some of them came back and others didn’t. And she said opposition to placing this memorial at the Great Park should not be tolerated. It was Daigle’s best moment and one that made Choi look small-minded.
While there was some discussion of the Audit, most of the questions from the audience clearly indicated that overdevelopment, traffic and overcrowded schools were far more important issues to those in the audience. Oddly enough, it’s these issues that Chemers and Daigle are also running on. There was lots of applause for the Democrats. A small smattering of claps from Lalloway’s and Choi’s aides and Council member Christina Shea, but it wasn’t too much.
On the school board debate, it was clear that Sharon Wallin and Ira Glasky should be re-elected. Bob Vu’s only case was the school board needs new faces (three of the five members have been on board less than two years so his argument doesn’t fly). Wallin was clearly in command of her message and her experience showed (I wish the DPOC Central Committee was there to see her in action).
I’ll note this message on Facebook that showed up Saturday night from Stephen Chi-Ying Poo of Irvine, someone who promotes Mike Huckabee on his Facebook page, about the event.
In the afternoon today, in the debate in our Meet the Irvine Candidates Forum 2014 in the South Coast Chinese Cultural Center in Irvine I and my mom went to, th…e Democrat Irvine Mayor/City Council Candidates Mary Ann Gaido, Larry Agran, and Melissa Fox kept saying inspirational things and kept defaming the Republican Irvine Mayor Steven S. Choi and Republican City Councils Jeffrey Lalloway and Christina Shea and made many audiences clap their hands. After Mayor Steven S. Choi, City Council Jeffrey Lalloway, and the Republican City Council Candidate Lynn Schott told the truths and wrestled those Democrats’ smears, nobody clapped their hands at these Democrat Irvine Mayor/City Council Candidates again. Steven S. Choi, Jeffrey Lalloway, and Lynn Schott had done a great job in this debate, the Irvine Republicans are going to bring hopes to Irvine’s future
I don’t think Poo attended the same forum I did because that’s not what happened (though the Democratic ticket did say inspirational things). No one made anyone applaud. But I love that any criticism of Choi and his colleagues is considered defamation. Poo missed the fact Christina Shea didn’t speak at the meeting. I saw and heard lots of applause for Irvine Democratic candidates. I saw stern looks at the Mayor from the audience. I saw the Mayor seething as Gaido reminded him of his comments (I was in the front row for it too; pass the popcorn). I also saw many members of the crowd reading a “Agran is Racist” mailer published by a IE when so many of them know Agran personally and know he isn’t racist. A note for Poo: calling Agran a racist is a smear and that’s what your side did. Choi wearing a poster of Nancy Pelosi as a Nazi or Stalin is a smear and defamation. Your side practices it well. Lots of negative head-shaking over that flyer and it’s not good for the Irvine Republicans.
Choi has a lock on the Korean-American community in Irvine, not so much for his political views but his surname. This is his city first election without Sukhee Kang on the ballot. But there are significantly more Chinese-Americans in Irvine and many were filling out voter registration forms at the event. I anticipate this community will break for the Democratic side. If 300 people come out for a candidate’s forum, just imagine what they will do at the polls.
Dan, wasn’t at the forum, but sorry to hear that at least one of the conservative candidates didn’t give Larry Agran and Beth Krom public credit for destroying the successful Sister City Progam. I might add, had it not been for the Chinese government demand to eliminate our Sister City in Taiwan, Bejing would have been accepted and be in the program today.
Even if your Candidates got all three hundred votes of the Chinese at the forum, that would be a drop of H2O in the ocean of all the vtoes to end Agran’s reign of incompetency, once and for all. Keep criticising Steven Choi until the cows come home, but he will beat your “has been” Agranista Mary Ann Gaido. With the facts coming out on the taxes and seized businesses, I would be surprised to see even the liberals voting for the last Agranista candidate, Melissa Fox. Face it Dan, any way you spin the votes, you are looking at a 4-1 majority on the Council after the election.
Ltpar, how often do you see these many people in a city level candidate forum? The Candidates Forum was promoted by over 20 Chinese Organizations. Although there were only about 300 people attended the forum, the message will reach thousands of Chinese American Irvine residents. Any candidate ignoring their voice will regret for their mistake.
Oooo Pat, knew you’d chime in. Video doesn’t lie, does it? Choi said China was a terrorist nation. Can’t wait for the candidate’s forum at the Muslim Center. That’ll be fun.
Terrorism in China refers to the use or threatened use of violence to affect political or ideological change in the People’s Republic of China.[1][2] The definition of terrorism differs among scholars, between international and national bodies, and across time, and there is no legally binding definition internationally. In the cultural setting of China, the term is relatively new and ambiguous.
Many media and scholarly accounts of terrorism in contemporary China focus on incidents of violence committed in Xinjiang, as well as on the Chinese government’s counter-terrorism campaign in those regions.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_China
Source: Terrorist Sponsors – Saudi Arabia, Pakistan & China – http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/terrorist-sponsors-saudi-arabia-pakistan-china
Wow Pat. You just called China a terrorist nation. Wow.
At the Chinese Community Center Candidates forum in Irvine, sitting directly in front of Jeff Lalloway, Christina Shea was holding signs and Que cards to @jefflalloway how to answer questions https://twitter.com/IYADALOGY/status/523607094348754945. After she left, Lalloway was obviously clueless how to transition in his position on the issues. Mary Ann Gaido was the star of the show for the Mayoral Debate. She projected respect, wisdom, integrity, passion and the experience that is much needed to unify the city diverse community after years of Choi divisiveness. Melissa Fox on the other hand won the debate hands down over Lalloway despite his failed attempt to point out that he has a Chinese American executive staff member. Fox gained grounds when she pointed out that she was the most candidates by far who attended and had genuine interest in having the Chinese American input and inclusiveness to have a seat on the table when it comes to decision making regarding culturally sensitive planning. It was also evident that the audience did not buy in the corruption claims against Larry Agran. Lynn Schott seemed miserable and as in a hurry just to get out of their to get her moon pie that she just got introduced to only recently.
Careful, or Shea will call you to say that’s a lie and demand you take that Tweet down…..
She needs to prove otherwise. Also, my ears still ringing from her hulk type clapping to outnumber the enthused audience applause to the Democratic candidates. It sounded like she was beating a buffalo on a wild ride
With all due respect to the author of this commentary, they are expressing their personal opinion, which is their right. It was obviously writtten by a supporter of the Agranista Slate and that is ok as well, just as is my rebuttal supporting the Choi, Lalloway & Schott Slate.
While not being at the forum, I seriously doubt that Jeff Lalloway needed cue cards to speak or answer questions. Being an attorney, Jeff is an articulate speaker able to argue both sides of an issue. I am however, wondering what the thinking might be of the Chinese Community who would vote for Melissa Fox, a candidate who refuses to pay taxes and had three businesses in dutch with the State Franchise Board. I also have dificulty with the writers logic in discounting ten years of mismanagement, corruption and abuse of power by Larry Agran at the Great Park? While the Audit Report has not yet been finalized, depositions clearly outline the sorry conduct which transpired.
In the end, I suspect that the vast majority of people who attended this forum, knew who they were going to vote for before walking in the door. The candidate responses very likely changed no ones mind. If the Chinese community choses to vote for the Agranista Slate that is certainly their perrogative. I could be wrong, but being very intelligent people who want to maintain a strong community, I have dificulty seeing the majority voting for Larry Agran and more of the past. I supose on election day, we will know the answer?
Pat, I was at the forum as was Iyad; he saw Shea hold up cue cards for Lalloway. If Choi didn’t have his smart phone and texting functionality, he’d be in deep trouble for his inability to think on his feet.
You weren’t there so you are in no position to question what we saw and heard.
Not surprise I no longer agreed with Republican policy but Republicans outside of the Vietnamese community in OC have paid little attention to Asians. I think its not just Latinos because they are the largest minority in OC but also Asian groups will killed the Republican Party in OC by the 2020’s. I have told conservative Republicans that the same thing will happen in their favorite state of Texas because latinos, blacks and Asians are growing faster in the metro cities like Houston, Dallas and San Antonio and even Austin.
Also, Anaheim, Santa Ana and Irvine are cities form 250,000 to 350,000 more urban in some ways even though people complain about Irvine bein beige with lots of tract houses. Santa ANa is pretty much democrat and Anaheim is getting their slowly because of the whiter richer hills vote Republican. The largest white majority town in OC is Huntington Beach under 200,000. Up until 2003, Huntington Beach was the third largest city but Irvine grew very fast and shifted demographics in the county.
Not so soon yet. A trend is showing that newer generation of some Asian American immigrants are shifting to Republican party. At state level election, Republican candidates are getting strong support from many Asian Americans, especially Chinese Americans triggered by the already-shelved Senate Constitutional Amendment 5. In Irvine, Chinese Americans are very divided depending on the issues. Yes, some are not very happy about the friend city with China been turned down, but many others are furious at the approval of cemetery in Great Park. Although people are very supportive of building a cemetery for Veterans, they do NOT want it to built near their houses because of bad Feng Shui as Choi was concerned about.
Dennis, your commentary was very valid and the points you made well taken.
Dennis — I agree that some Asian Americans are shifting to Republicans but the vast majority are committed to values of the Democratic Party due to our party’s support for education.
As far as Feng Shui goes, there are lots of homes for sale in OC where a cemetery isn’t a problem. For those Asian Americans who believe in free market principles, they have total freedom of choice on where to buy a new home. It’s important to note, Choi used the Feng Shui argument not to place the cemetery near the Great Park because the developer stood to lose money on homes that might not command the price originally planned. Then again, if the Irvine Democrats hadn’t defeated the airport, there would be no new homes or cemetery to worry about.
Well, it shows Asians unlike WHites in Orange County are more divided between the parties. I think the major problem by reading comments of Republicans in the LA TImes they complain a lot about immigration legal sometimes and mainly illegal but want to live in Texas not Vermont or Maine which are mainly white states.s. This is one of their problems with minorities besides economic policies that appeal to whites more. OC just like Texas votes less Republican than 20 years ago in the major metro areas. In fact Romney biggest wins in both California and TExas where in rural counties with small populations and mainly white. In California it was Modoc County far north.
another thing Republicans make a big issue of CHina but Mike Lee was one of the biggest supporters of Chinese availability to buy real estate in the US. He signed with Chuck Schumter the bill that allow more foreign real estate investment about 3 years ago and OC has welcome Chinese foreigners to South Coast Plaza and to Chinese Businessmen man to Disneyland. Another thing Larry Agran on the Democratic side is pushing to limit growth now. The high growth shift Irvine to a purple city from a more Red city if it was still more white in demographics.
Thanks for the update. Glad the Chinese community saw Laloway and Choi for what they are – frauds! These men with Shea are puppets/tools – dance to the developer beat.