Irvine City Council race taking shape
Posted by: tylerh | 07/29/2008 11:15 AM
Allan Bartlett contributed substantially to this post
2008 will be the first national election in two decades with neither a Bush nor a Clinton at the top of the ballot, but Irvine voters will have the same choices they have had since the 90s: a "Progressive" slate led by Larry Agran versus a "Family Values" slate led by Christina Shea. Beth Krom's Mayorship and the two council seats held by Larry Agran and Steven Choi are up for grabs. Sukhee Chang and Christina Shea hold seats that will next be contested in 2010. Larry, Beth, and Sukhee form the current majority, while Christina and Steven are the loyal opposition.
Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats 40% to 31%, but Irvine is not your father's Orange County. The majority "Progressive" faction includes a former Democratic presidential candidate and a Pro-Choice mayor, while Republican-aligned "Family Values" candidates have been public excoriated here on OC Blog. Having an electorate where 59% of the adults are college graduates apparently does funny things to political labels, and may also explain why asparagus is the city vegetable.
The filing deadline is August 8th. According to Phil at the City Clerk's office, eight citizens had pulled papers as of Monday morning, but none have filed.
Margaret Wakeham
Ruby Young
Steven Choi
Beth Krom
Patrick A Rodgers
Larry Agran
Sukhee Kang (Mayor)
Christina Shea (Mayor)
Five of those names should look familiar: Steven, Beth, Larry, Sukhee, and Christina are the current city council. Margaret "Margie" Wakeham is a well-known name in Irvine, having been an IUSD shool board member and an executive director of Families Forward. Steven Choi speaks well of Patrick Rodgers, who recently retired from being a Lieutenant on the Irvine Police. Ruby Young is apparently new on the scene.
Whoever becomes Mayor will vacate a council seat. That council seat will be filled by the next highest vote getter amongst city council candidates (i.e. the person who came in third place).
2008 will be the first national election in two decades with neither a Bush nor a Clinton at the top of the ballot, but Irvine voters will have the same choices they have had since the 90s: a "Progressive" slate led by Larry Agran versus a "Family Values" slate led by Christina Shea. Beth Krom's Mayorship and the two council seats held by Larry Agran and Steven Choi are up for grabs. Sukhee Chang and Christina Shea hold seats that will next be contested in 2010. Larry, Beth, and Sukhee form the current majority, while Christina and Steven are the loyal opposition.
Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats 40% to 31%, but Irvine is not your father's Orange County. The majority "Progressive" faction includes a former Democratic presidential candidate and a Pro-Choice mayor, while Republican-aligned "Family Values" candidates have been public excoriated here on OC Blog. Having an electorate where 59% of the adults are college graduates apparently does funny things to political labels, and may also explain why asparagus is the city vegetable.
The filing deadline is August 8th. According to Phil at the City Clerk's office, eight citizens had pulled papers as of Monday morning, but none have filed.
Margaret Wakeham
Ruby Young
Steven Choi
Beth Krom
Patrick A Rodgers
Larry Agran
Sukhee Kang (Mayor)
Christina Shea (Mayor)
Five of those names should look familiar: Steven, Beth, Larry, Sukhee, and Christina are the current city council. Margaret "Margie" Wakeham is a well-known name in Irvine, having been an IUSD shool board member and an executive director of Families Forward. Steven Choi speaks well of Patrick Rodgers, who recently retired from being a Lieutenant on the Irvine Police. Ruby Young is apparently new on the scene.
Whoever becomes Mayor will vacate a council seat. That council seat will be filled by the next highest vote getter amongst city council candidates (i.e. the person who came in third place).
CATEGORY:
2008 Elections, Irvine Mayor's Race
Mr. Ayer registered as a Republican to be electable in an interim election with no incumbents. He did...
Why aren't you running, Allen? (seriously)
I have my reasons OC ITN. If you send me a PM, I will elaborate for you.
Shea and Choi represent "Family Values?" Thanks for that laugh this morning Allan. Please explain to me Allan how progressive values are not family values?
Nice try Dan. I didn't write the post, I just helped out on background info. Ask Tyler. You can have any values you want. I really don't care how others live their life. I'm not a control freak like your good buddy Larry Agran is.
Dan,
It's always a little tough to know what to call the two main factions in Irvine. While each side is clearly aligned with a major party, these are non-partisan offices. Moreover, the slate labels changes from year-to-year, and neither side has officially unveiled their slate or slogan for 2008.
I went with a slate names used in past years. "Family Values" was used successfully in 90s when a majority the Irvine electorate was displeased about employment benefits being extended to same-sex partners of city employees.
I have no idea know if Christina's coalition plans to use "Family Values" this year or not; but it seemed wiser then the hackneyed labels like "Left/Right" or "Liberal/Conservative" that don't really apply in Irvine anyway.
why, Dan, what even-handed labels would you like to see applied to the two factions?
I would count Margie Wakeham as an independent voice in that list.