Ed Pope Makes His Case for Irvine Mayor

Off the press from Ed Pope, Democratic mayoral candidate in Irvine:

Last spring, developer FivePoint littered our City with signs saying we weren’t “real” veterans in an attempt to discredit our “NO on B” effort.  Now, that I’m running for Mayor of Irvine, they’ve launched a new set of attacks.

This multi-billion-dollar developer is trying to paint me — a retired high school social studies teacher who receives a $2,600 per month pension from my 31-year teaching career — as someone who is super rich and lives in a million dollar home but doesn’t pay my fair share of taxes.

A so-called “City of Irvine Opinion Survey” is being sent to voters, attacking me for the fact that the home I purchased back in 1972 for less than $35,000, is now worth more than a million dollars.  Thanks to Prop 13, I have been able to afford to remain in my home and pay the property taxes for the past 46 years, as have thousands of other Irvine residents.  The attacks aren’t really about me.  They’re about a developer who will publicly smear anyone — whether it’s our local veterans or a retired teacher — who stands in the way of their massive development plans.

Here’s the truth.  We can’t keep electing developer-backed candidates and expect them to do what’s best for the community they were elected to serve.  That’s why I decided to run against Mayor Wagner.  We need a Mayor who cares more about improving our residents’ quality of life than about helping a developer improve their bottom-line.

My 31-year high school teaching career was about fighting for our kids.  I’ve spent the past year fighting for our veterans.  As Mayor of Irvine, I will fight for our residents!

Together, let’s return City Hall to its rightful owner, Irvine citizens rather than big developers!