Governor Jerry Brown will come to Irvine this week to tour the two locations for a proposed Veteran’s Cemetery and Memorial; the original site at the Great Park and the location near the El Toro Y that developer FivePoint has offered to swap acre for acre — in spite of the fact the value of both pieces of property is wildly different.
If the land swap goes through, FivePoint would profit handsomely from land that was a public park for expensive homes and it would be easier to market to wealthy Chinese neighbors who are buying from a kiosk in Beijing. The Vets would get a plot of land without tens of or hundreds of millions of dollars to administer a cemetery for years — because that money would go in FivePoint’s coffers.
Last week, we reported that CalVet had not weighed in on a possible landswap which is different than what Cemetery advocate Bill Cok had reported to the City Council. Bill said “CalVet found favor…” with the plan and the truth is, no they didn’t. Did Bill lie? I wouldn’t trust a word out of his mouth again. To be clear, CalVet never weighed in on the land swap. They seemed unaware of it when I called them. Cook lied.
Greg Diamond at the OJ Blog wrote a long post about how the new site would somehow fulfill former Irvine city council member Larry Agran’s vision for a Veteran’s Cemetery and Memorial. I reached out to Larry and he has granted permission for us to republish his thoughts in this month’s Irvine Community News & Views.
Published with permission of Larry Agran and Irvine Community News & Views:
Well, it looks like 2017 is going to be a “make-or-break” year for the Veterans Memorial Park and Cemetery in the Great Park. Just three years ago, in 2014 when I was in my last year as an Irvine City Councilmember, I was proud to offer the Council resolution — unanimously supported — to have the City designate 125 acres within the Great Park (about 10 percent of the entire Great Park) for a Veterans Cemetery.
This generous City action, in turn, enabled Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva — then Chair of the State Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee — to win legislative approval that officially provided State support for the Veterans Cemetery in the Great Park. The combined City and State action led to a plan and design for the Veterans Cemetery; followed by an on-time application for approval by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; and now a position on the “Priority List” for Federal funding.
But how could we accelerate the actual funding and construction of the Veterans Cemetery? Here’s where leadership matters. Councilmember Jeff Lalloway began working with Ass
emblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva to develop a funding plan: The City would pledge to put up half of the funds to build the $77 million Veterans Cemetery — roughly $40 million from the more than $250 million Great Park development fund; and Silva pledged she would work to have the State match the City’s effort.
Lalloway’s proposal made it through the Council on April 4th, but not before Councilmember Christina Shea and Mayor Donald Wagner did everything in their power to derail it — and Councilmember Melissa Fox added language that inexplicably kept a “land-swap” proposal alive as a possible “second track” alternative site for the Veterans Cemetery.
Lalloway repeatedly noted that the “land-swap” was simply a land-and-entitlement grab worth hundreds of millions of dollars — it would enable developer FivePoint Communities to build 1,500 or even 2,000 more homes on the hallowed 125 acres that, in 2014, had been designated for the Veterans Cemetery.
Councilmember Lynn Schott, soft-spoken yet articulate and logical, noted that it was important to remain on course and build the Veterans Cemetery in the Great Park, as planned. 
As I watched Shea and Wagner doing everything they could to promote the interests of developer FivePoint Communities and their allies, I actually found the spectacle sickening. These are the same developers that spent well over $1 million to elect Wagner and re-elect Shea just last November.
For once, wouldn’t it be wonderful if Shea and Wagner stood up for Irvine residents and American veterans, and put our interests ahead of yet another land-entitlement giveaway to FivePoint Communities, further enriching their big-bucks campaign donors.
That’s something to think about as the most solemn of American holidays approaches, Memorial Day, when we honor all who served but especially those who, in President Lincoln’s words, “gave the last full measure of devotion” to our country.
Here in Irvine, let’s devote ourselves to rejecting developer-driven “land-swaps” and other get-rich-quick entitlement schemes. Instead, let’s push forward to put the Veterans Memorial Park and Cemetery where it belongs — in the Great Park…and as soon as possible!
Yet another episode in Crazy Gregs quest for revelance. Coo Koo
Diamond ought to stick to Brea. He can’t afford Irvine
So if Melissa Fox sides with FivePoint, she loses support from Irvine’s Agran Democrats. But she can count on IEs from Haddad. Good luck with that.
Diamond feelsvhe hasn’t been rebutted because he’s a dumbass
Note to Diamond, as I was tipped off to his new post. Couple of things you got wrong sport. One, I’m a lot of things but racist isn’t One of them. The homes being sold from a kiosk in Beijing was something the Chinese neighbors to my left and right told me about. They had heard of the cemetery coming in and it’s what led them to buy homes in my neighborhood. They are wonderful neighbors. They paid top dollar for their homes too making mine worth more. We brought over a pie.
Secondly, as you do verbal gymnastics to try and make Bill Cook not a liar, the folks at CalVet tell me they haven’t weighed in on the land swap. They seemed unaware of it. They have no opinion of it. You can’t “find favor” with a proposal you know nothing about. They don’t. The only site they are aware of is the original one. Nice try stiffy.
I have a 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser with 160,000 miles on it. I’m sure it’s roughly the same size at whatever luxury car Emile Haddad drives today. I propose we swap car for car. I’d like to drive that nice new car and he can drive my old one without the bells and whistles. That’s basically what FivePoint is asking the city to do. Your teenage party analogy is a false equivalency and with examples like that, no wonder your law practice isn’t keeping you busy enough.
Keep promoting this Republican plan and your political independent buddy Chuchua. I like the plan Democrats fought so hard for in the first place.
Here’s the difference between Greg Diamond and most Americans:
We PAY for our kids junior high graduation party, he depends on others to GIVE it to him.
Nothing like the grammar police from Greg. Junior high kids will tell you what food to get.
And if you notice, it’s all about Greg wanting recognition for the little work he did on the Cemetery project. Agran did much of the heavy lifting here and so did SQS.
Toyota is still making FJs; my neighbors from China did some research on homes in the Great Park Neighborhoods. They found homes available on my street they were happy to buy without having to worry about being close to a cemetery or a prison. The Realtors in Irvine were great about steering them to our neighborhood.
Greg’s a clown. The stuff he makes up out of whole cloth, wow.
“Bully Boy” Jeff Lalloway and his rubber stamp clone Lynn Schott wouldn’t know leadership if it came up and kissed them on the lips. What is Lalloway’s Plan B, if the bankrupt State of California doesn’t come through on it’s share of the money? Oh, that’s right, Lalloway/Schott don’t have a back up plan and the Cemetery is dead in the water. All options should be kept on the table.
Shea is a complete whore for FivePoint Just stop right there.
It is disgraceful to continue bringing up this issue after it had already been resolved by city council vote. This is the same thing that was done to overturn the original vote approving El Toro International Airport, and then the second vote approving El Toro International Airport. The alternative cemetery site is terrible. It is noisy, adjacent to and below I-5. It is split by a creek, and far from the original MCAS. How superstitious Chinese people can try to impose their archaic feng shui on Irvine residents is absolutely baffling.
You can see and hear the very bad secondary site here:
http://eltoroveteranscemetery.blogspot.com/
Shouldn’t Don Wagner and Christina Shea have recused themselves from voting on this matter, after their campaign contributions from Five Point?
This issue transcends political parties, in my opinion. I like Don and Christina and can’t stand Larry Agran and Dan Chmielewski, but will not allow those facts to influence my opinion and the absurdity of this situation. As a veteran, I much prefer the more central location, far from the freeway, and the hell with ancient Chinese superstitions. They belong in China, not California. All of the costs spread over 125 acres are quite reasonable, particularly in comparison to the $200 million squandered by Larry and his cronies over the past 10 years. Five Points is pushing this swap because the freeway site is inferior and less valuable, as any appraisal would show.
Wow. I agree with Jaeger on something.
Melissa Fox risks re-election over this. If she sides with FivePoint, she’ll lose support from almost all Irvine’s Democrats who backed Krom and Agran for years.
Boo hoo, what a loss the Agranistas. I think you are wrong. People on both side of the aisle will congratulate her for keeping an open mind, evaluating the facts and then going with the best choice. Hell, she might even get my vote in the future.
Couldn’t help but notice, Dan C. has been slow to react to Governor Brown’s affection for the strawberry fields as the best location for the cemetery, although he believes it is a local issue. First smart thing I have heard Governor Moonbeam say in a long time.
Why does Fivepoint want the swap so badly? What will Fivepoint do with the land if the swap happens? Who will pay for the upkeep if the swap happens since it will not be a state run cemetery? All I hear is the cost for the current site and absolutely nothing about who will pay for what if the swap happens. Any answers Pat or will you do the usual and not respond because you have no answers?
Mother’s Day weekend; Governor said Irvine is getting a cemetery. He did not specify which site but was impressed by the Strawberry Field (so nice of Five Point to have renderings available while there were no renderings of the original cemetery location). State will commit funds regardless of the site selected. You still have to file new legislation to replace AB 1453 and it would take 9-12 months for the city to do paperwork on landswap. If you want the cemetery faster, the original plan is the way to go.
Thanks for answering Alan’s question Dan, because I did not have an answer. Am currently in Colorado and have not talked to any Council members in months. If the Council approves the alternative site, I seriously doubt it will take a year to get the paperwork done. You know they will order City staff to expedite whatever paperwork is necessary. There is no demolition to be done on that site, so I am guessing Five Points could break ground on Phase 1 within six months. With the State’s 30 million and a match of 30 million by the City, that could be used for Phase 2. My guess is it will be a 3 – 2 vote for the alternative site.
you’re wrong as usual. New state legislation is still required and that’s a two or three year process.
Emile is already about a year behind on Great Park development, but Wagner and Shea are already bought and paid for. There’s a word for that you know and it rhymes with “more”