The good news first: Farrah Khan has been elected to the Irvine City Council as the top choice of voters in a crowded field; she sets a couple of firsts for the city. The first Muslim-elected to the city council. The First woman of color elected to the city council. This is a good thing for a city as diverse as Irvine. The morning after the election, a neighbor texted me that “at least we have one Democrat on the city council.” Of course, there are two.
The bad news: the developer-led city council majority grew by one with the election of Republican Anthony Kuo. I suspect that there will be a lot of 4-1 votes on issues affecting FivePoint and the Great Park development.
Here’s the press release Khan issued:
Khan also serves as the South County Vice Chair for the DPOC; a position she may have to exit in 2019. Disclosure: I wrote a check for the maximum contribution to Khan’s council race.