The Irvine City Council recently adopted a nepotism ordinance which unfairly punished Dr. Phyllis Agran, the wife of councilmember Larry Agran, by forcing her removal from the Irvine Children, Youth and Families Advisory Committee (ICYFAC).
A social media tag used by some members of the Irvine City Council is #WeAreIrvine to which I’ll add #ExceptForPhyllisAgran.
Dr. Agran’s role on the committee was volunteer, and without compensation. So the ordinance was meant to target Council member Agran and it was petty. Dr. Agran offered his letter to the committee on her removal and her plan forward. She is a portrait of class and dignity.
May 20, 2022
To: Irvine Children, Youth and Families Advisory Committee (ICYFAC)
From: Phyllis Agran, MD, MPH, MA
RE: ICYFAC Member Removal & Recommendations for COVID-19 era Strategic Plan
The Irvine City Council adopted an ordinance submitted by Mayor Khan and Councilmember Tammy
Kim that prohibits my further service on the Irvine Children, Youth and Families Advisory Committee
(ICYFAC). I take this opportunity to share with you and others in our community that it has been an
honor and privilege to serve again as I did in 2012 (and before then) when the idea of creating a
Strategic Plan for Children, Youth and Families was first conceptualized.
I look back to 2002 when my husband and then-Mayor Larry Agran — along with other City
Councilmembers — engaged in the work to create an Irvine Strategic Plan for Children, Youth and
Families. The outcome of that process was the launch of the first 5-year Strategic Plan (2008–
2013). Due to its highly successful implementation and the measurable impact on our community,
the second 5-year plan (2013-2018) was created and implemented. Then something went wrong.
The second 5-year Strategic Plan for Children, Youth and Families was sunset in 2018. When Larry
Agran returned to the City Council in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020), he was
disappointed to learn that the plan had not been re-funded for another 5 years. With a plan, we
could have rapidly identified the worsening health, education, economic, and racial/ethnic
disparities impacting our children, youth and families in Irvine and our neighboring communities.
We could have pivoted, reallocated staff and resources, developed supplemental public health
capacity, and partnered with both the business and the educational sectors to navigate and fight
the pandemic. We could have eased the trauma on all of us.
Councilmember Agran and I have always teamed-up on matters of child health by promoting
impactful public health policies. Aside from promoting the development of an Office of Public
Health within our Department of Public Safety to supplement the OC Health Care Agency response
to COVID-19, he felt that we should reactivate a COVID-19 era Strategic Plan for Children, Youth and
Families that was institutionalized and protected from the politics of this and future City Councils. I
was then appointed to ICYFAC in 2021 with the assignment of advocating for rebooting and
reactivating the plan. I completed that assignment, and we will now engage in the process to
recreate a forward-looking Strategic Plan.
A Strategic Plan provides the framework for: 1) continual assessment and enhancement of existing
city services and development of new city services for children and families; 2) flexible strategies to
repair the significant long-term mental health and educational pandemic-induced damage to
children and their families; 3) preparation for the next pandemic or disaster; and 4) addressing the
extraordinary health impacts of climate change and the current environmental hazards in areas of
our City. We are all aware of the growing impacts of climate change on our health. We are all aware
of the current and looming impacts of exposure to toxic and carcinogenic agents emitted from an
industrial facility in the north side of the City. Other areas where interventions are needed include
the growing mental health crisis, opioid overdoses, exposure to new and dangerous tobacco
products, and interpersonal and community violence in all its forms. Public health policies often
originate at the local level and inspire state and federal action. A local example of this process was
Irvine’s enactment of a ban on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting compounds in
1990, initiated by then-Mayor Larry Agran.
We must move into the future with an equity lens. I anticipate that we will foster an enhanced
partnership with our businesses and school districts. It is time for IUSD and TUSD to collaborate
with the City to: 1) meet the recommended standard of at least one school nurse onsite at each
school; 2) increase access to mental health counselors and referrals to other health care
professionals; 3) provide more school resource officers; and 4) provide for a stable and enlarged
workforce of educators and staff. I anticipate that we will jointly develop interventions to reduce
drug and substance abuse and other harmful personal behaviors that negatively impact the health
and educational achievements of our children.
In summary, we must ensure that every child has every opportunity to access all educational,
health, recreational and other services in our City — all of these services staffed to maximize
impact. We must ensure that climate action changes are initiated. We must enhance collaboration
with Irvine businesses and corporations, and also work with IUSD, TUSD, Irvine Valley College, UCI,
and other educational institutions. Finally, if we are to develop effective interventions, we must be
ready to talk about issues that make us all uncomfortable, such as racism, abortion, and rampant
social inequality.
As ICYFAC moves forward with the task of shaping, implementing, and evaluating a meaningful
COVID-19 era Strategic Plan, I look forward to continuing participation as a pediatrician, professor
emeritus at UCI, and a community partner through the American Academy of Pediatrics. It has been
a privilege and honor serving with our ICYFAC members of the past and present. I know you will
welcome Councilmember Larry Agran’s new appointee to serve on ICYFAC.
Sincerely,
Phyllis F. Agran, MD, MPH, MA, FAAP
Professor Emeritus,
UC Irvine School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics
Who gives a crap?