A Mayoral Moment
Learn more about each candidate for Irvine mayor in the Irvine City News Virtual Townhall
By Irvine City News Staff
| As the November election draws nearer, voters are seeking information about candidates. Many studies show that voters don’t make a final decision about voting until a few days before the election. In Irvine, online forums and message boards indicate a desire to learn about candidates for local office before the glossy campaign mailers begin to fill our mailboxes. To help inform the city’s voters, Irvine City News sent an email letter to each of the four candidates for mayor seeing responses to six simple questions. Below is the email, and following that are the candidates answers. ICN encourages all Irvine citizens to register to vote, and to become as informed as possible about the upcoming election. Be sure to enter the candidate who will get your vote in our Irvine Mayor poll (see right column). Dear Irvine mayoral candidates: We’d like to give voters insight into your plans, hopes and dreams for Irvine if you’re elected mayor. We’re asking the same five questions of the announced candidates. If you can provide brief responses, (50-75 words per question); we’ll publish your answers in the August issue. Don Wagner Why are you running for mayor of Irvine? DW: Irvine is at a crossroad. We have enormous opportunities and also enormous challenges. We have virtually nothing to show for the city’s investment in the Great Park, everyone agrees traffic is getting worse, and the city council — made up of good and dedicated people — needs leadership. I have worked hard in local office and in Sacramento, across the aisle when necessary, to accomplish my goals and can bring the skills I have developed there to help lead Irvine. As a resident for more than 25 years, I love the city, want to continue serving the public, and have the ability to do so effectively in these challenging times. What’s the most important issue you believe Irvine faces today? DW: We need to maintain our quality of life. That means improving our already very good schools, easing transportation problems around the city, and growing our tax base. I want a city that my kids want to live in, can afford to live in, and where they are comfortable raising their own children. What is the first thing you’ll do when elected? DW: A mayor can’t do anything alone. The mayor needs the council to work together towards common goals, and, perhaps more importantly, needs the community to help set those goals. One of the very first things I will do is ask for all of our community partners — the residents, the for- profit and non-profit businesses, the schools — to come together and determine what Irvine should look like in the next few years and how to get there together. What do you love about Irvine/what works well in the city? DW: I love the quality of life, which is why I want to preserve and enhance it. My wife and I moved here in 1991 from Los Angeles and never looked back. It is a wonderful place to raise kids. The city has great schools, good paying jobs, first class shopping, eating, and entertainment available, and open space to enjoy. Describe how you’d like to see Irvine in 20 years? DW: I see Irvine as the vibrant hub of a flourishing Orange County. We will have world class housing, education, and business facilities and be the role model for a well-run, eminently livable city. What question do you wish we’d asked, and how would you answer it? DW: A straightforward question the people of Irvine deserve to have answered is: What is your platform? I intend to deliver on the promise made to Irvine residents in 2004 to complete the Great Park and its related community facilities. I intend to create a real partnership between City Hall and our schools and colleges to improve their abilities to provide a quality education to our children. And I intend to engage the whole community to guide the future growth of this city in a reasonable and balanced way, enhancing everyone’s quality of life. Gang Chen Why are you running for mayor of Irvine? GC: To make Irvine better. My campaign platform is one vision with three focuses: traffic, managed growth and education. The vision I have for Irvine is to become a first class city while still maintaining its unique features. For more information, see GangChenUSA.com What’s the most important issue you believe Irvine faces today? GC: The most important issue I believe Irvine faces today is how to manage its growth and make sure the development happens at the correct pace, and is sustainable, and to turn Irvine into a real first class city while still maintaining its unique features. What is the first thing you’ll do when elected? GC: Irvine has outgrown its infrastructure’s capacities. This is one main reason for the traffic congestion we have experienced over the past decade. The Irvine city government realizes this problem, as have previous governments; as a result, they have been trying to develop a solution. However, their solutions are passive, piecemeal, and limited to only making physical improvements. It is a good start but can be improved. The first thing I’ll do when elected is to lead the effort of adopting a comprehensive and holistic approach to alleviating the traffic problems. For example, in addition to widening roads and synchronizing traffic signals, we can adjust the city’s Master Plan to distribute the traffic generating businesses more reasonably and reduce the sources of the traffic congestion; we can also ask Irvine businesses to provide the option of flexible working hours for their employees, and stagger the work hours city-wide to alleviate the rush hour traffic. Measures like these will greatly alleviate the traffic congestion and improve the quality of life for Irvine residents. What do you love about Irvine/what works well in the city? GC: Irvine is my home. I love many features of Irvine: the safest city in the nation, good schools, many parks and green spaces, nice architecture, and the relaxed family ranch feeling. Describe how you’d like to see Irvine in 20 years? GC: I would like to see Irvine become a real first-class city while still maintaining its unique features. I envision a business-friendly city with many high-paying jobs, a city that small business can thrive in, a green city that encourages sustainable development, a city with great cultural venues like first-class libraries, museums and art districts. What question do you wish we’d asked, and how would you answer it? GC: The question that I wish you’d asked is “Why should we vote for you?” Here is how I would answer it: I am an outsider, and not a career politician, but that is what Irvine needs right now. Do you know why Irvine was successful in the past? It was because my fellow architect, William Pereira, proposed the idea of incorporating Irvine as a new city, created the Master Plan for Irvine, and introduced his vision of a city and university (UCI) growing together. This plan has been successful for a long time, and Irvine has become one of the most successful master-planned communities in the country. However, after 45 years, the current population of Irvine has grown to about 255,000. We have to re-evaluate and revamp the city of Irvine’s Master Plan to meet the needs of the current and projected population. As an architect with extensive training in urban and regional planning, master planning, architecture, and landscape architecture, I am a perfect fit to lead this effort. See my official campaign website for photos from our campaign trails, FAQ and my video responses. Katherine Daigle Why are you running for mayor of Irvine? KD: My focus is on the “quality of life” that makes Irvine a great community — visionary planning, public safety, transportation and infrastructure, the economy, education, the Great Park and open spaces. I have worked directly with the community, expanding civic participation and forging collaborations with business and nonprofit communities. I’m proud of our success, earning the recognition as one of “America’s Safest Big City,“ it takes strong leadership, a visionary, with values, skill and commitment to keep Irvine great, and so, I am running for mayor to keep Irvine moving forward. What’s the most important issue you believe Irvine faces today? KD: Transportation and infrastructure. The city of Irvine was designed with smart infrastructure and good policy making. The cost of building a place to live, raise your family and build your business with this much opportunity is growing too fast. This has created economic challenges posed by requiring the existing infrastructure to support burgeoning development. Simple traffic congestion can cost us millions in slowed economic activity and lost business. Our community continues to expand its population; new communities are increasing demand on an already overburdened transportation and local infrastructure. We need to address these difficult challenges and we need to do it intelligently. It is time to invest, and advance new technologies in the fight against traffic congestion with a new technology network – the freedom to manage road traffic and much more. I will also ensure the city’s fiscal stability without new taxes. What is the first thing you’ll do if you’re elected. KD: Work together with the community to ease transportation and overcrowding in our schools. To ensure that the safety and character of our communities are preserved in all of Irvine and do it with balanced budgets and ample reserves. As our community continues to expand its population, and new communities, we are increasing demand on an already overburdened transportation [grid] and the local infrastructure. The need to address these difficult challenges is necessary and it needs to be done intelligently. I will demand an accounting of our contracts-making sure Irvine is the beneficiary of good and fair negotiation, not just a participant unjustly rewarding a pay to play bad business partnership. WE want to reward contracts that improve every person’s quality of life and in turn award local business the ability to profit from and be part of the growth I intend to bring the promise that was made to Irvine residents so long ago, to complete the Great Park entertainment and sports facilities and hold the developer accountable to the milestones set in their contract. What do you love about Irvine/what works well in the city? KD: I have always believed that small communities can do great things. Irvine’s open space trails, clean environment, and community friendly neighborhoods and schools provide “quality of life” and is a model for urban planning and open space. The city of Irvine was built with visionary planning and needs a visionary to take part in a new “Master Plan” to keep it moving forward. Describe how you’d like to see Irvine in 20 years? KD: Irvine is one of the most energetic metropolitan cities in Southern California. We have a strong diverse population with extraordinary schools and great potential for advancement. I am committed to engage the whole community in order to lead the future growth of this city with an intelligent and fiscal approach. When we consider all the problems we face today – terrorism, safety of our citizens, our veterans, and our economy, we need a visionary leader without the partisan rhetoric. Irvine started with a vision; I would like to keep that vision and improve on the Master Plan and lead it to thrive and grow. It is time for a forward thinker, a visionary, a real leader. Integrity matters. It’s time to put the taxpayers first. What question do you wish we’d asked, and how would you answer it? KD: Irvine was promised a Great Park. What would you like to see completed in the master plan before the approval of any more homes by the planning commission? Citizens of Irvine have been looking forward to the development of the Great Park for quite a while now, but yet again, progress has stalled. I intend to bring the promise that was made to Irvine residents so long ago, to complete the Great Park entertainment and sports facilities. It’s time to put the taxpayers first. When we consider all the problems we face today – terrorism, safety of our citizens, our veterans, the fight for our economy, I think it’s time for a change and for real leadership. MaryAnn Gaido Why are you running for mayor of Irvine? MG: Over the past four years, the mayor and city council have rubber-stamped every proposal from developers for thousands of new houses and apartments, while, at the same time, they’ve ignored the damaging effect on our existing villages and neighborhoods. If you have any doubt, just consider the traffic mess they’ve created throughout Irvine. I plan to put the people back in control! What’s the most important issue you believe Irvine faces today? MG: Uncontrolled growth and development has overwhelmed our streets with traffic and caused overcrowding in our schools. Future development must be strictly controlled to prevent traffic congestion and to uphold our excellent classroom standards. What do you love about Irvine/what works well in the city? MG: The high quality of life our diverse community has enjoyed over the 40 years following cityhood has been achieved not only through thoughtful, master-planned development, but also through a commitment to permanently preserve thousands of acres of parks, trails and open space. I am proud to have participated in that planning as both a planning commissioner and a city councilwoman. Describe how you’d like to see Irvine in 20 years? MG: Irvine will have changed the recent course of over-development and, with careful planning, will preserve not only large areas of open space but also achieve a high level of connectivity through transit and extensive trail systems with interconnected areas of land. For Irvine residents in the future, there will be unparalleled recreational opportunities – and the knowledge that there are indeed limits to urban development here. What question do you wish we’d asked, and how would you answer it? MG: “What experience do you have in Irvine governance?” I have a lifetime of service to Irvine. As a planning commissioner, I helped create Irvine’s first Master Plan more than 40 years ago. I was elected for two terms on the Irvine City Council. I’ve served over 21 years on the Irvine Planning Commission. I led efforts to create the Irvine Open Space Plan and to preserve Bommer Canyon. |  Irvine mayoral candidate Don Wagner  Irvine mayoral candidate Gang Chen  Irvine mayoral candidate Katherine Daigle  Irvine mayoral candidate MaryAnn Gaido |