SACRAMENTO – On Tuesday, May 30, a day after Memorial Day, Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva (Fullerton) was the focus of a stealth texting, email and robocall campaign in Fullerton that has been operating in order to mislead public opinion against the veterans cemetery project; saying that Orange County money would be spent on a “pet project” outside Assembly District 65 and given to Irvine.
“A resting place for California’s veterans is not a ‘pet project,’” Quirk-Silva said. “It is a necessary and important project for our veterans in California. The state funds in question were secured for a cemetery that all Southern California Veterans have earned. It’s shameful that some would try to disrupt the funding for a veterans cemetery a day after Memorial Day, and for political gain.”
This year, the state, federal, and local governments have agreed to allocate the money needed to construct the cemetery. It is a combined $30 million from the state budget, $38 million from the City of Irvine, and $10 million in federal grant money. California’s Department of Veterans Affairs estimated the first phase of the project — including the demolition of the site and construction of a portion of the cemetery — would cost $77.4 million.
“As we approach the special city council hearing on the veterans cemetery in Irvine on June 6th, I urge all involved to be reasonable, and do what is best for our veterans,” said Quirk-Silva. “Questionable political tactics, whether overt or covert, have no place in a process that works to memorialize our nation’s beloved heroes. Please, let us move forward, and settle on a site for an Orange County Veterans Cemetery.”
A veterans cemetery in Orange County is seriously needed. When fully built out, the cemetery will offer more than 210,000 gravesites, enough to serve the needs of veterans for the next 100 years, according to the state. Men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice for this nation deserve proper recognition without further delay, and it remains up to the City of Irvine to decide on an appropriate site.
And for further information, I invite you to visit my website.
Editor’s note; a special Irvine city council meeting is being called for next Tuesday suggesting the Vets cemetery is somehow short of the desired financial goal for the original site; Sharon Quirk-Silva’s announcement makes it clear there is funding from city, state and federal sources to cover the cost so there is no need to engage the Strawberry Fields site which is zoned for commercial development and much less expensive than the original site.
Vets ARE getting a cemetery and there is no need to engage FivePoint. By doing so, Mayor Wagner and Councilmember Shea (and possibly Councilmember Fox) would be lining the pockets of a billionaire developer to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
If Larry Agran had done this, they’d demand his head on a stick.
A move to [plan B is enriching a developer who says they will determine how much of the cost of the cemetery they’ll develop after the swap takes place. Not before. The notion FivePoint will develop the entire cemetery is a lie.
I supported Fox for her election and now she’s going to vote for a billionaire developer to get more money from Irvine? I will never vote for her ever again and if there’s a recall I will make sure to vote against her.
The 77M is just an estimate.. it’s going to cost more than that. Plus, there are FAA buildings that need to stay there. Not sure what LiberalOC’s agenda is.. but this swap makes sense for vets, tax payers, and the residents of Irvine. If Five points gets more money out of it.. who cares.. everyone wins. Even the vet association can think things through and wants the swap.