The LiberalOC has learned that the city of Irvine has been notified by Assemblyman Mike Gipson (D-Carson) of AD-64, who chairs the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, that the Committee will consider a request to conduct an audit of the Irvine City Council and its Audit Subcommittee of Council member Christina Shea and Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Lalloway over the city’s recently completed review and audit of the Orange County Great Park.
The hearing to consider the audit request will be held next Wednesday at the State Capital. TheLiberalOC has learned that Anthony Taylor, special counsel to the city from the firm Aleshire & Wynder, will represent the city instead of a representative of the city manager’s office, at a considerably greater expense to Irvine taxpayers.
For those of us who believed this audit (which wasn’t really an audit according to the investigators own final report) was a taxpayer-funded political witchhunt proven with IEs in the last election, a hearing by the state assembly is welcome news. For Shea and Lalloway, who champion transparency on the dais but have sought to hinder, delay, or stop a statewide investigation of their own activities and conduct in this audit, we say if there’s nothing to hide, why fight it?
Ms. Shea continued to perpetuate falsehoods about those who started asking questions about Irvine’s investigation of the Great Park and its contractors claiming that state assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), who asked for the state investigation, was a former Gafcon employee. Gafcon was one of the contractors with the Great Park Design Studio and they made a $3,900 campaign contribution to Gonzalez, who worked with the firm prior to her election to the state assembly but was never a Gafcon employee. State Rep. Gonzalez asked to have the matter of an investigation into the city’s audit on the joint legislative audit committee meeting agenda weeks ago and the chair has scheduled a date. See Shea’s Facebook screen grab above. She has since corrected the record to reflect that Gonzalez worked with Gafcon and received contributions from Gafcon, which is something no one disputes.
Mayor Pro Tem Lalloway told the Voice of OC that “it would be “inappropriate” for the (state) committee to interfere while the DA’s office is also investigating.”
We’ll point out that the DA’s investigation of the Great Park audit and investigation and a possible investigation into the political factors driving the city’s investigation and the subcommittee’s actions are two separate things. Irvine and Orange County residents cannot count on State Rep’s Don Wagner or Matt Harper to look into possible politicized wrongdoing by the audit subcommittee due to extreme partisan positions held by both of Irvine’s state representatives with close political ties to the Irvine City Council majority.
If you think the committee needs to investigate the conduct of the Irvine City Council, we encourage you to contact Assemblyman Gipson’s office:
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0064
Tel: (916) 319-2064
Fax: (916) 319-2164
And who will audit the “Joint Legislation Audit Committee”?
H/T to RS Moxley, OC Weekly, for answering my question –
“This scenario could get really exciting if the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress initiates a federal audit of the state audit of the city audit.”