***Updated information (as of Saturday February 19th) at the end of the post.***
Well ain’t love grand? According to a recent Voice of OC article, there is a new glow of feel-good politics and bi-partisan warmth emanating from the halls of power here in Irvineland. It appears our newly elected Irvine city councilman Jeff Lalloway(R) – has abandoned any ideas of being the opposition and has joined forces with Irvine mayor/mayor pro-tem/councilman/Great Park leader Larry Agran(D). They will be cozying up in the next days and weeks figuring out how to fund the Great Park if and when Jerry Brown(D) – deep six’s the state’s redevelopment funds (these are needed to build Agran’s Great Park). Larry was quoted in the OC Register saying that Jerry’s proposal was, ”a dumb idea.”
One big happy family
Funny how being part of the establishment can change a mindset so quickly. Recalling an interview with the OCR just after the election, Lalloway had this to say, “‘My job is to be the opposition,’ Lalloway said of the council majority. He explained that means working with the council, but also ensuring that city spending is controlled, that union pensions are controlled and that the Great Park is built at minimal expense”.
Despite Larry viciously attacking Lalloway during the election with mailers revealing defaulted student loans and a nasty civil lawsuit, Jeff appears to be letting bygones-be-bygones. So much for the Lalloway being the opposition party.
If you can't beat em'...join em'
I get it that Jeff is newly elected and wants to get along so he can get things accomplished. I’ll even give him a pass for wanting to work on the pending loss of redevelopment funds to build Agran’s Great Park. But there is a problem that Jeff either recognizes and doesn’t care about or is completely oblivious to; Larry is more than happy to have one less person as opposition on the council. If Larry can use Jeff to get Larry’s agenda through with little or no oversight then he effectively has a 4-1 majority on the council.
My educated guess is Jeff thinks that getting along with Larry will further Jeff’s agenda (whatever that might be at this point). The fatal flaw in Jeff’s thinking is that Larry is always in control and always gets the last laugh. The only agenda Jeff Lalloway will get passed on the council is an agenda that suits the needs of Larry Agran.
While this huggy-kissy lovefest looks good on paper to the unwitting Irvine citizens, the reality is we now have to be suspect of Lalloway’s intentions. With the fiscal erosion that Agran has accomplished in Irvine during his tenure as head of the Agran Great Park, creator of the iShuttle, and depletion of Irvine’s rainy day fund there is only one job for Lalloway as the opposition party…oversight of Agran. If that means Lalloway’s only legacy is being a thorn in Agran’s side for the next four years much as his predecessor Christina Shea was then that would be a fine legacy. But Lalloway says it best in the same OCR interview:
“I’m not the next Christina Shea,” Lalloway said of the often-questioning Irvine councilwoman. “She was her own person. I do things differently.”
Once you cozy up to the Agran machine you have started down the path of compromising your integrity. Appeasement during WWII didn’t work so well for the British when dealing with Hitler just as it hasn’t worked so well for the US against North Korea. It won’t work against Larry either.
***Update***
In another turn of events that goes on to illustrate my point, Irvine council woman and long time Agran ally Beth Krom was elevated to the position of Great Park Chairwoman. Agran has stepped down to focus on Great Park trees (I’m not kidding).
Lalloway, along with the majority of the GP board members voted in favor of Krom’s promotion. The only dissenting voice, Republican Irvine city council member and long time Agran critic, Steven Choi. Lalloway had this to say in a Voice of OC interview:
Though Lalloway cautioned that while he wants to “move forward together” he would be the “eyes and ears for the public for an accountable Great Park board.”
“This is an issue that I’ve thought long and hard about for some time. It’s a very difficult vote,” Lalloway said.
Again, only time will tell if Lalloway, who is so far batting 1000 for being the non-opposition/opposition party, will really be as he says the, “eyes and ears for the public” when it comes to GP accountability.
