What a difference a week makes
By Jacob Levy, editor and publisher
In today’s 24-hour news cycle, things often change from moment to moment, often faster than media can cover it. Irvine is no exception to this rule. See our feature on the election starting on page 1 (“The Hot Seats”).
The story behind the scenes and why your vote counts is this: On June 7, election night, as the County Registrar released results in the 68th Assembly District, Irvine’s Mayor, Steven Choi, a candidate for the seat, traded places with Harry Sidhu, a candidate for the same seat from Anaheim, several times.
In the following days, the Registrar and his team counted provisional ballots and any votes that were not accounted for in the main counts.
During this process, Mayor Choi began to take the lead over Sidhu. Almost a full week later, he had moved from third place to second place overall with a margin of victory that seemed to grow every day by a few more votes.
For anyone who doesn’t think his or her vote matters, this race (and many others in the June primary) prove that is just not true.
At press time, the margin of victory that Choi enjoys over Sidhu is just over 150 votes. For those that held their absentee ballots and wondered whether it was worth it to drive it to a polling place or postmark it that day and mail it in, these results have to prove that it really does matter.
On page 7 of this issue, we have a sports story about the municipal golf course being built at the Great Park by FivePoint as part of its agreement with the city of Irvine. Despite the fact that we get quite a few Facebook comments, emails, and letters about the excitement and need for this course, we have heard Councilwoman Krom repeatedly make the claim that there is “no support for a golf course at the Great Park other than Councilwoman Shea.”
As they typically do, the next week, the Irvine Community News and Views published an article about the golf course, first questioning the need and then questioning the quality of the course.
Self- proclaimed sports expert (and former Democrat Party of Orange County field organizer) Joel Smith calls for a return of the Ken Smith-fantasy Canyon at the Great Park that Larry Agran, Beth Krom, and Mary Ann Gaido seem to never acknowledge that their own consultants deemed unbuildable. Smith has long written for The Liberal OC, a blog published by a PR consultant for Democrats and a megaphone for the various ideas that the old Irvine majority wish to corroborate with an article.
Smith labeled the course a “links” style course which he then labeled “unattractive.” Per our own coverage in this issue, the course is actually a “meadows” style course endorsed and supported by many in the community.
Incidentally, did Smith just label St. Andrews, the birthplace of golf unattractive? Or Pebble Beach? Those are just two of the world’s great links courses, known as some of the best and most challenging courses anywhere.
Krom, Agran, Gaido, and Smith are all victims of believing that if they say something it must be true.
At Irvine City News, we deal in facts. For this and future issues, we interviewed a golf course designer who told us that this course style and design was of the highest quality (and attractiveness) and we interviewed a former city manager (who knows a thing or two about running a city) and who volunteers for and leads a youth golf nonprofit.
He told us that there is a tremendous need for a course of this type where kids can learn the fundamentals of the game without having to go to much more expensive courses. We have also received numerous comments from readers who support the golf course.
Political life in Irvine used to be much simpler without a paper such as ours examining the facts. As we head into the November elections there will be much more fact checking by us. Check back often and don’t forget, every vote matters. Read Irvine City News to find out what really matters!
Jacob Levy
Editor and Publisher, Irvine City News
The story behind the scenes and why your vote counts is this: On June 7, election night, as the County Registrar released results in the 68th Assembly District, Irvine’s Mayor, Steven Choi, a candidate for the seat, traded places with Harry Sidhu, a candidate for the same seat from Anaheim, several times.
In the following days, the Registrar and his team counted provisional ballots and any votes that were not accounted for in the main counts.
During this process, Mayor Choi began to take the lead over Sidhu. Almost a full week later, he had moved from third place to second place overall with a margin of victory that seemed to grow every day by a few more votes.
For anyone who doesn’t think his or her vote matters, this race (and many others in the June primary) prove that is just not true.
At press time, the margin of victory that Choi enjoys over Sidhu is just over 150 votes. For those that held their absentee ballots and wondered whether it was worth it to drive it to a polling place or postmark it that day and mail it in, these results have to prove that it really does matter.
On page 7 of this issue, we have a sports story about the municipal golf course being built at the Great Park by FivePoint as part of its agreement with the city of Irvine. Despite the fact that we get quite a few Facebook comments, emails, and letters about the excitement and need for this course, we have heard Councilwoman Krom repeatedly make the claim that there is “no support for a golf course at the Great Park other than Councilwoman Shea.”
As they typically do, the next week, the Irvine Community News and Views published an article about the golf course, first questioning the need and then questioning the quality of the course.
Self- proclaimed sports expert (and former Democrat Party of Orange County field organizer) Joel Smith calls for a return of the Ken Smith-fantasy Canyon at the Great Park that Larry Agran, Beth Krom, and Mary Ann Gaido seem to never acknowledge that their own consultants deemed unbuildable. Smith has long written for The Liberal OC, a blog published by a PR consultant for Democrats and a megaphone for the various ideas that the old Irvine majority wish to corroborate with an article.
Smith labeled the course a “links” style course which he then labeled “unattractive.” Per our own coverage in this issue, the course is actually a “meadows” style course endorsed and supported by many in the community.
Incidentally, did Smith just label St. Andrews, the birthplace of golf unattractive? Or Pebble Beach? Those are just two of the world’s great links courses, known as some of the best and most challenging courses anywhere.
Krom, Agran, Gaido, and Smith are all victims of believing that if they say something it must be true.
At Irvine City News, we deal in facts. For this and future issues, we interviewed a golf course designer who told us that this course style and design was of the highest quality (and attractiveness) and we interviewed a former city manager (who knows a thing or two about running a city) and who volunteers for and leads a youth golf nonprofit.
He told us that there is a tremendous need for a course of this type where kids can learn the fundamentals of the game without having to go to much more expensive courses. We have also received numerous comments from readers who support the golf course.
Political life in Irvine used to be much simpler without a paper such as ours examining the facts. As we head into the November elections there will be much more fact checking by us. Check back often and don’t forget, every vote matters. Read Irvine City News to find out what really matters!
Jacob Levy
Editor and Publisher, Irvine City News