See link:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/cook-714333-veterans-site.html
Friday, May 13, 2016
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Irvine residents are very angry at Beth Krom, Jeff Lalloway, Lynn Schott, and Steven Choi for not supporting the landswap
Irvine residents are very angry at Beth Krom, Jeff Lalloway,
Lynn Schott, and Steven Choi for not supporting the landswap. Here are some of Irvine residents' comments, and some of content for the letters sent to the city councils and the mayor:
There
is a lot of wrong information intentionally put out there by Agran's
team, including Beth Krom and Jeff Lalloway, who has gone to the dark
side and is really a friend or mole for Agran inside the Republican
party.
People need to dig more into this and get the facts right:
1. The veterans ask for the landswap this time, and we are supporting the veterans.
2. The new site is better for the veterans in every way: better access from freeway, high visibility, a clean agricultural land to deal with, etc.
3. Of course, the landswap will be good for Irvine residents too.
4. If the cemetery stays at the current location, it will costs a lot of money to demo and clean the site, and the money will have to be paid for by the state and the tax payer. The cost can be millions and millions. Where is the money? Jeff and Krom are probably killing the cemetery all together by keeping it at the current location.
5. If the landswap is successful, then the cost to demo and clean the site will be paid by Five Point, and it save the taxpayer money.
In fact, when the CalVet Report comes back, if the cost is very high, and the landswap is put on the city council agenda again, we think Asian Americans should NOT even show up at the city council meeting, let the city council deal with the veterans directly and squarely, we should stay out of this. This way, let us see how the city council can be politically correct and say no to the veterans.
If we show up, then they can make the water muddy again by saying they do not care about superstition, and raise the conflicts between some of the veterans that do not know the truth and us, the residents.
This way, the landswap is 100% the veterans' deal, and is harder for them to say no because the veterans have no money to build it.
People need to dig more into this and get the facts right:
1. The veterans ask for the landswap this time, and we are supporting the veterans.
2. The new site is better for the veterans in every way: better access from freeway, high visibility, a clean agricultural land to deal with, etc.
3. Of course, the landswap will be good for Irvine residents too.
4. If the cemetery stays at the current location, it will costs a lot of money to demo and clean the site, and the money will have to be paid for by the state and the tax payer. The cost can be millions and millions. Where is the money? Jeff and Krom are probably killing the cemetery all together by keeping it at the current location.
5. If the landswap is successful, then the cost to demo and clean the site will be paid by Five Point, and it save the taxpayer money.
In fact, when the CalVet Report comes back, if the cost is very high, and the landswap is put on the city council agenda again, we think Asian Americans should NOT even show up at the city council meeting, let the city council deal with the veterans directly and squarely, we should stay out of this. This way, let us see how the city council can be politically correct and say no to the veterans.
If we show up, then they can make the water muddy again by saying they do not care about superstition, and raise the conflicts between some of the veterans that do not know the truth and us, the residents.
This way, the landswap is 100% the veterans' deal, and is harder for them to say no because the veterans have no money to build it.
"Shame
on you for NOT supporting councilwoman Shea's motion to support a landswap!
To:
4/15/16
Mayor Steven S.
Choi, Ph.D.
Irvine
City Councils: Jeff Lalloway, Lynn Schott, Beth Krom,
City
of Irvine
1
Civic Center Plaza
Irvine,
CA 92623-9575
Phone: 949-724-6233
E-mail:
SChoi@CityofIrvine.org, JLalloway@CityofIrvine.org, lynnschott@ci.irvine.ca.us,
BKrom@CityofIrvine.org, irvinecitycouncil@ci.irvine.ca.us, CShea@ci.irvine.ca.us
Mayor
Choi, Council members Lollaway, Schott and Krom,
Shame
on you for NOT supporting councilwoman Shea's motion to support a landswap! We are VERY,
VERY upset and angry about your action. You are our mayor and councils, and you
were supposed to represent our interests, how could you vote against the will
of the veterans and the community? Your excuses to reject this great proposal are
nonsenses. This landswap is proposed by the veterans, supported by the
community, and second and vote yes on Shea's motion was the right thing to do.
We
do NOT understand why you did not second or vote yes on the landswap. Do you
have some kind of hidden agenda? Are you getting some secret benefits from
someone for rejecting this great idea?
Mayor
Choi, we know you are running for the state assembly, but you are still Irvine
mayor for now, as long as you are on the job, you should ALWAYS put Irvine
people's interest first. Otherwise, what will people think? Do you want to see
this headline in the news:
"Steven
Choi's record as mayor is a record of selling out Irvine. If he can sell out
Irvine people's interest when he is Irvine mayor, what will he do when he
becomes your assemblyman? Steven Choi, a politician we can NOT trust."
Lynn,
We
know you are running for congress, and Jeff is running for a leadership
position for Republican, Republican Central Committee, you guys do not
want to see similar headline for your upcoming election, right? So, go do the
right thing and correct your own mistake, second or vote yes on the landswap
when it comes around again. OR, you WILL pay for your own actions of ignoring
people's will.
We voted Agran's team out in 2014 for what
they had done. Apparently Jeff, Lynn and Choi, you have not learned from Agran
and his team and voted against Irvine people's will on 4/12/16.
Politicians have to be held accountable for
their actions, and their actions have consequences.
If you continue to ignore the will of Irvine
people, a recall of you as the city council or mayor is necessary. We are NOT going to let you get away with selling
out our community's interest."
"Ms Schott:
"Once Again You Betrayed Us
Mr. Choi,
I am extremely disappointed and disturbed by your coward act last night. Remember you made us to go out and helped your election? We thought you care about Irvine people but apparently you don't. You only care about your political position. Remember you blamed us for not coming to the city council meeting when the current site was voted. Ok, we showed up yesterday. Veterans showed up. We spoke and veterans spoke, overwhelmingly support the new site. Is that not enough voice? Not enough support? What did you do? You don't do anything for the people who voted for you. You don't care about the interest of Irvine residents and the veterans. You don't deserve to be Irvine mayor. You can forget about votes from us whatsoever from now on!"
"Jeff's interactions with Agran was totally disgusting on
4/12/16 city council meeting. He was totally kissing up to Agran (This is the
cleanest we can say it). Jeff is NOT a true Republican at all. Jeff is really a
friend or mole for Agran inside the GOP. Anyone has any doubt about this just need to see
4/12/16 city council meeting video online at the city’s website, and
you can see how Lying Jeff (Lalloway) is kissing up to Agran:
http://irvine.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=68&clip_id=3781
Jeff not only did NOT second or vote yes for the great landswap proposal proposed by the veterans, and put on agenda by fellow Republican Shea, he second the counter-motion by Krom as soon as it was proposed. Apparently he worked out a deal with Agran and Krom beforehand, Lynn Schott followed Jeff and voted yes.
http://irvine.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=68&clip_id=3781
Jeff not only did NOT second or vote yes for the great landswap proposal proposed by the veterans, and put on agenda by fellow Republican Shea, he second the counter-motion by Krom as soon as it was proposed. Apparently he worked out a deal with Agran and Krom beforehand, Lynn Schott followed Jeff and voted yes.
"Beth Krom’s motion of “reaffirming the current site” is ridiculous. The cemetery was NOT supposed to cost Irvine people a penny, and Krom broke that promise by putting $100k in her counter-motion. The cemetery is out of the hand of the city and is in the hand of CalVet and other government agencies. There is nothing the city can do to expedite it. The $100k will probably end up in the hands of some lobbyists or Friends of Krom (FOK).
The fact that Jeff Lalloway second it is even
more absurd. Isn’t Lalloway a GOP? Why was he so eager to kiss up Krom and
Larry Agran who showed up once again in the city council meeting just to grab
credits and spread unfounded accusation and suspicion of the land swap proposal?
What is really outrageous is Jeff Lalloway team up with Krom and Agran to
against the residents and veterans wishes. And Lalloway is running for GOP
central committee? what a joke."
Irvine City News: Irvine City Council votes down proposed land swap for veterans cemetery
This is a more objective version of the 4/12/16 city council meeting.
Please read this article and share it in your Facebook and any other
social media.
See Link:
http://www.irvinecitynews.com/city/irvine-city-council-votes-down-proposed-land-swap-for-veterans-cemetery
Irvine City Council votes down proposed land swap for veterans cemetery
The Irvine City Council Tuesday night voted 3-1 against the relocation
of the future Southern California Veterans Cemetery from the northeast
area of the Orange County Great Park in Irvine to an area near the south
end of the park. Councilwoman Shea left the council meeting prior to
the vote after a contentious debate in a meeting that lasted five hours.
The item was placed on the council agenda by Councilwoman Shea, but was opposed by councilmembers Beth Krom, Jeff Lalloway, Lynn Schott and Mayor Steven Choi. The motion to relocate the veterans cemetery site was defeated.
The relocation would have been made possible through a land swap offered by FivePoint, developer of the Great Park Neighborhoods, and many believe it would have helped accelerate the construction of the long awaited veterans cemetery. The 125 acres of land offered on the south side of the park was primarily used for agriculture and would not have require extensive demolition or upgrading before construction of the cemetery could begin.
The proposal to relocate the cemetery was brought to the city council for consideration by the Orange County Veterans Memorial Park Foundation, a group that has been championing a state-run cemetery for veterans in Orange County. Its chair, Bill Cook, said in a letter to the Irvine City Council that the group is confident the new site would meet all the requirements for a cemetery site.
In her opening remarks, Councilwoman Shea said to a council chamber filled with Irvine residents and veterans, “FivePoint, directed by Haddad, did not bring this proposal forward. It was an idea I brought up because of constraints I understood [concerning the first site] and discussions I have had with veterans over the last several months.
“The [original] site chosen,” said Councilwoman Shea, “was never an ideal site.” Shea pointed to residents’ concerns, adding that there are at least 70 structures and a runway that would need to be removed, as well as cleanup issues. “Costs could go into tens of millions of dollars,” she said.
The new site, while not located within the Great Park boundaries, would still be located on the former MCAS El Toro base, something that several veterans who spoke publicly said was important to them. It was also noted by several people who spoke publicly that another benefit of the relocation would be the visibility that the new veterans cemetery would have from the freeways.
Cook said, “It will be much more viewable and visible by the freeway to announce: ‘This is a veterans cemetery and you’re now in Irvine.’”
“There are no buildings to remove…no mitigation,” Cook said in his statement to the council. “We’d be replacing strawberries instead of runways. It will be a significantly less-expensive site to prepare.”
The July 1 deadline for federal grant requests is approaching, however, and those opposed to relocating the cemetery site said the design planning that began last year with $500,000 in funding from the state is too far along to change now. Doing so, they said, would delay the project from moving forward and require more funding.
Opposed to the motion to relocate the site, former Irvine City Councilman Larry Agran addressed the council, saying that for two years things have progressed on schedule to meet the July 1 deadline for grant submittal.
“Why would we undermine this strategy with talk of a land swap?” Agran asked. “Two years ago we won the key battle to establish the Southern California Veterans Cemetery at the Great Park. We took that hill two years ago. Why would we surrender it now?”
The majority of the 50 people who made public comments at the council meeting disagreed with Agran, however, and spoke in favor of the site relocation, urging the council to approve the land swap.
FivePoint CEO Emile Haddad spoke briefly, saying, “We hope that our offer of the property exchange leads to a win–win–win outcome, for the city of Irvine in its desire to have a cemetery on the previous base, a win for the veterans and for those residents who believe the existing site is incompatible with existing uses.”
“If the veterans are for it, we need to support that,” one woman said.
After public comments, Councilwoman Beth Krom expressed her opposition to the land swap and made a motion that the council reaffirm its original plan and expedite the effort to proceed with the current grant proposal.
A second to Krom’s motion was submitted by Councilman Jeff Lalloway.
Councilwoman Lynn Schott said that she was concerned the change in plan could result in the cemetery not being built.
Mayor Choi said that he wanted to stay the current course but didn’t agree with the need to reaffirm the existing plan as suggested by Krom.
See Link:
http://www.irvinecitynews.com/city/irvine-city-council-votes-down-proposed-land-swap-for-veterans-cemetery
Irvine City Council votes down proposed land swap for veterans cemetery
The proposed
relocation of the planned Southern California Veterans Cemetery to the
south side of the Orange County Great Park has been defeated
By Irvine City News staff
The item was placed on the council agenda by Councilwoman Shea, but was opposed by councilmembers Beth Krom, Jeff Lalloway, Lynn Schott and Mayor Steven Choi. The motion to relocate the veterans cemetery site was defeated.
The relocation would have been made possible through a land swap offered by FivePoint, developer of the Great Park Neighborhoods, and many believe it would have helped accelerate the construction of the long awaited veterans cemetery. The 125 acres of land offered on the south side of the park was primarily used for agriculture and would not have require extensive demolition or upgrading before construction of the cemetery could begin.
The proposal to relocate the cemetery was brought to the city council for consideration by the Orange County Veterans Memorial Park Foundation, a group that has been championing a state-run cemetery for veterans in Orange County. Its chair, Bill Cook, said in a letter to the Irvine City Council that the group is confident the new site would meet all the requirements for a cemetery site.
In her opening remarks, Councilwoman Shea said to a council chamber filled with Irvine residents and veterans, “FivePoint, directed by Haddad, did not bring this proposal forward. It was an idea I brought up because of constraints I understood [concerning the first site] and discussions I have had with veterans over the last several months.
“The [original] site chosen,” said Councilwoman Shea, “was never an ideal site.” Shea pointed to residents’ concerns, adding that there are at least 70 structures and a runway that would need to be removed, as well as cleanup issues. “Costs could go into tens of millions of dollars,” she said.
The new site, while not located within the Great Park boundaries, would still be located on the former MCAS El Toro base, something that several veterans who spoke publicly said was important to them. It was also noted by several people who spoke publicly that another benefit of the relocation would be the visibility that the new veterans cemetery would have from the freeways.
Cook said, “It will be much more viewable and visible by the freeway to announce: ‘This is a veterans cemetery and you’re now in Irvine.’”
“There are no buildings to remove…no mitigation,” Cook said in his statement to the council. “We’d be replacing strawberries instead of runways. It will be a significantly less-expensive site to prepare.”
The July 1 deadline for federal grant requests is approaching, however, and those opposed to relocating the cemetery site said the design planning that began last year with $500,000 in funding from the state is too far along to change now. Doing so, they said, would delay the project from moving forward and require more funding.
Opposed to the motion to relocate the site, former Irvine City Councilman Larry Agran addressed the council, saying that for two years things have progressed on schedule to meet the July 1 deadline for grant submittal.
“Why would we undermine this strategy with talk of a land swap?” Agran asked. “Two years ago we won the key battle to establish the Southern California Veterans Cemetery at the Great Park. We took that hill two years ago. Why would we surrender it now?”
The majority of the 50 people who made public comments at the council meeting disagreed with Agran, however, and spoke in favor of the site relocation, urging the council to approve the land swap.
FivePoint CEO Emile Haddad spoke briefly, saying, “We hope that our offer of the property exchange leads to a win–win–win outcome, for the city of Irvine in its desire to have a cemetery on the previous base, a win for the veterans and for those residents who believe the existing site is incompatible with existing uses.”
“If the veterans are for it, we need to support that,” one woman said.
After public comments, Councilwoman Beth Krom expressed her opposition to the land swap and made a motion that the council reaffirm its original plan and expedite the effort to proceed with the current grant proposal.
A second to Krom’s motion was submitted by Councilman Jeff Lalloway.
Councilwoman Lynn Schott said that she was concerned the change in plan could result in the cemetery not being built.
Mayor Choi said that he wanted to stay the current course but didn’t agree with the need to reaffirm the existing plan as suggested by Krom.
LA Times, Daily Pilot: Land-swap proposal for a new veterans cemetery site rejected by Irvine council
This is a more objective version of the 4/12/16 city council meeting. Please read this article and share it in your Facebook and any other social media.
Land-swap proposal for a new veterans cemetery site rejected by Irvine council:
http://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-me-0416-vets-cemetery-20160415-story.html
Land-swap proposal for a new veterans cemetery site rejected by Irvine council:
http://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-me-0416-vets-cemetery-20160415-story.html
Bill Cook Presentation Slides for Landswap:
See "Bill Cook Presentation Slides for Landswap" presented on 4/12/16 Irvine City Council Meeting at following link (Note: Bill Cook is the Chairman for the Orange County Veterans Memorial Park Foundation, a
group that has been championing a state-run cemetery for veterans in
Orange County):
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3l4z8b4j18c91lv/AAAWzk6WnM7V8QVswnd9vgh1a?dl=0
Here are the jpe files for the same presentation:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3l4z8b4j18c91lv/AAAWzk6WnM7V8QVswnd9vgh1a?dl=0
Here are the jpe files for the same presentation:
Friday, April 15, 2016
Shame on you for NOT supporting councilwoman Shea's motion to support a landswap!
Please add your name to the end and send the following
e-mail to:
SChoi@CityofIrvine.org, JLalloway@CityofIrvine.org,
lynnschott@ci.irvine.ca.us, BKrom@CityofIrvine.org,
irvinecitycouncil@ci.irvine.ca.us, CShea@ci.irvine.ca.us
Please forward it to as many news media and the opponents
for Council members Jeff Lollaway, Lynn Schott, Beth Krom, and Mayor
Choi:
Shame
on you for NOT supporting councilwoman Shea's motion to support a landswap!
To:
4/15/16
Mayor Steven S.
Choi, Ph.D.
Irvine
City Councils: Jeff Lalloway, Lynn Schott, Beth Krom,
City
of Irvine
1
Civic Center Plaza
Irvine,
CA 92623-9575
Phone: 949-724-6233
E-mail:
SChoi@CityofIrvine.org, JLalloway@CityofIrvine.org, lynnschott@ci.irvine.ca.us,
BKrom@CityofIrvine.org, irvinecitycouncil@ci.irvine.ca.us
Mayor
Choi, Council members Lollaway, Schott and Krom,
Shame
on you for NOT supporting councilwoman Shea's motion to support a landswap! We are VERY,
VERY upset and angry about your action. You are our mayor and councils, and you
were supposed to represent our interests, how could you vote against the will
of the veterans and the community? Your excuses to reject this great proposal are
nonsenses. This landswap is proposed by the veterans, supported by the
community, and second and vote yes on Shea's motion was the right thing to do.
We
do NOT understand why you did not second or vote yes on the landswap. Do you
have some kind of hidden agenda? Are you getting some secret benefits from
someone for rejecting this great idea?
Mayor
Choi, we know you are running for the state assembly, but you are still Irvine
mayor for now, as long as you are on the job, you should ALWAYS put Irvine
people's interest first. Otherwise, what will people think? Do you want to see
this headline in the news:
"Steven
Choi's record as mayor is a record of selling out Irvine. If he can sell out
Irvine people's interest when he is Irvine mayor, what will he do when he
becomes your assemblyman? Steven Choi, a politician we can NOT trust."
Lynn,
We
know you are running for congress, and Jeff is running for a leadership
position for Republican, Republican Central Committee, you guys do not
want to see similar headline for your upcoming election, right? So, go do the
right thing and correct your own mistake, second or vote yes on the landswap
when it comes around again. OR, you WILL pay for your own actions of ignoring
people's will.
We voted Agran's team out in 2014 for what
they had done. Apparently Jeff, Lynn and Choi, you have not learned from Agran
and his team and voted against Irvine people's will on 4/12/16.
Politicians have to be held accountable for
their actions, and their actions have consequences.
If you continue to ignore the will of Irvine
people, a recall of you as the city council or mayor is necessary. We are NOT going to let you get away with selling
out our community's interest.
Sincerely,
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Please Vote "YES" for the Proposed Landswap for the Veteran’s Cemetery
Please Vote
"YES" for the Proposed Landswap for the Veteran’s Cemetery
4/12/16
Dear
Mayor Choi and city council members,
Good
evening to you all. My name is Gang
Chen, a resident of Irvine for the past 18 years. I am very pleased to see the veteran’s
cemetery issue will finally be resolved creatively once the landswap is approved
by the city councils. Reaching this
common ground showed the power of collaboration and the power of synergy of all
stakeholders.
First,
I would like to congratulate our veterans.
We all know military is the back bone of a country. We salute all veterans and everyone serving
in the military, and my gratitude extends to the military families. I am happy to see our veterans propose this
new cemetery site as a superior and more prominent
location with faster groundbreaking, but without the possibly exorbitant
clean-up costs required by the current site.
The veteran’s cemetery is going to be an eternal landmark for Irvine,
and I am pleased to see it is going to be done right this time.
Second,
I would like to congratulate our residents, especially the ones who live right
next to the current cemetery site. Many
of them are here this evening to support the land swap proposal. With the new cemetery
site far away from homes and school, the residents can celebrate their cultures
and embrace their beliefs. After the relocation,
the traffic on local streets, for example, Irvine Blvd & Sand Canyon, will
not be worsened by the expected extra traffic arising from the cemetery at the
current site.
Last
but not least, I would like to thank Great Park developer, Five Point. Its generous and gracious offer of the new
site makes a wining solution for all related parties a possibility.
In
general, it is very clear that the land swap is a win-win solution for our
veterans and local residents. This solution brings peace and harmony among
all races with diversified cultures, and all walks of life. It ultimately gives our city completive
advantages. Supporting this
win-win solution is the right thing to do. Therefore, I sincerely ask Mr. Mayor and
city council members to vote “YES” on the land swap of the veteran’s cemetery.
Thank
you very much.
Gang
Chen, a resident of Irvine for the past 18 years
Friday, March 25, 2016
Sharon Quirk-Silva, please keep your finger off the specific Irvine issues.
Liberty OC posted this article:
Gang Chen, Irvine Mayor Candidate, has submitted this rebuttal to the article, but it seems like Dan of Liberty OC is too afraid to approve and post this rebuttal (Liberty OC is a moderated blog by Dan), so we post it here:
I commend Christina Shea, Bill Cook, and Five Point for
their courage to work with us, the Irvine residents, to find a win-win solution
for the veterans and the residents. The veteran's cemetery will be there for
thousands of years, and we have to do it right. The new location is much better
than the old location for all parties involved: Veterans do not have to spend a
lot of money to do the demolition, and the
new location is close to the intersection of the 5 and 405 freeway. It can be a
very visible landmark for Irvine, and remind all of us the great contribution
of the veterans.
It is away from the new Portola High School and the homes,
and Irvine residents love the new location.
I talked to many Irvine residents about this. Everyone I
talked to LOVE this new location. One of them said: "This is not just good
for the residents near the old location, but good for the entire City of Irvine."
This is like a great puzzle, and now all the pieces have
finally come together.
Dan and Larry,
If you really care about the veterans, why are you
against the new location? It is much better than the old one for all parties
involved. You should do the right thing and support the new location.
Sharon Quirk-Silva,
Thank you for trying to help the veterans, however, your
old location is not as good as the new old. If you really care about the
veterans, please leave them alone and let them work with Irvine residents to
finish this win-win solution. You are NOT an elected official in Irvine, and
you do NOT even live in Irvine, please keep your finger off the specific Irvine
issues. You are NOT in the position to tell Irvine people what to do. If you love
Irvine so much, you can move to Irvine, and I am sure some of us will show you
around. Before that, again, please keep your finger off the specific Irvine
issues. Thank you.
Gang Chen, Irvine Mayor Candidate
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