Posted 8/28/02
Save These Names
Five to remember come Irvine election time.
By Hugh Hewitt

Well, well, well. The LarryLine just got shorter. By this time next year it will probably be running from one end of South Coast Plaza to the other. The Orange County Transportation Authority will no doubt press on with its toy train, otherwise known as the CenterLine, but only Todd Spitzer will still be cheering for it. Todd's going to Sacramento, of course, so he won't have to deal with the deficits, the construction delays, the endless excuses about why no one is riding the damn thing. But Todd's legacy - forever linked with Larry Agran - will be his boosterism for the little train that shouldn't.

The latest blow to the boondoggle of the new millennium came as political fury gathered in Irvine, all aimed at the LarryLine's chief sponsor, Larry Agran, and his council colleagues who resurrected this neighborhood destroyer from its grave last year. Larry simply announced one day that, oops, the CenterLine shouldn't run through the heart of Oak Creek and Woodbridge. He was dictating that it would henceforth only destroy Westpark and the neighborhoods around UC Irvine, as well as the Irvine Business Center.

This is Larry's idea of a compromise: Destroy only half the city and take credit for saving half. (My columnist chum Chris Mears was silent on the issue as we go to press. I think Chris wants to take out the whole city and run the damn train straight through Shady Canyon just for kicks.)

The only trouble is, if Larry can decide overnight to build a train that no one wants, and then can change his mind overnight, that means he can change it back again. That's Larry's view of his place in the universe - he is master of all he surveys, and his whims become the law of Irvine.

Irvine voters may not be the most energized bunch in the world, but they are pretty hacked off about the train and about Larry's Gang shorting the schools during last spring's budget crisis when the council, asked for a quarter-million bucks to save class-size reductions, came up with a mere $100,000.

Now the opposition is organized. There's a good ticket: Education and sports activist Mike House is running for mayor, and GOP activists Chuck Devore and Christina Shea are running for council. They call themselves the "New Priorities" ticket, and they are pledged to kill the CenterLine at their first meeting after election, and to transfer $4-5 million annually from the city's bloated budget to the Irvine Unified School District, which is exactly what the vast majority of Irvine residents want - to be left free from the sound of jackhammers and to keep the school system funded to a level that allows excellence.

House, Devore and Shea. House, Devore, and Shea. House, Devore, and Shea.

Remember that ticket. It is the answer to all of Irvine's problems.

The other good news from Irvine is that the Irvine Unified School District has a great new superintendent in Dean Waldfogel, and board members Sue Kuwabara and Carolyn McInerney should get some much-needed help in the election to a full term of Sharon Wallin and the addition of activist Bill Gray to the board. This district has been through the wringer in recent years - incredibly, the district did not apply for any of the land at El Toro and now is playing catch-up - but Waldfogel is a pro's pro and Wallin and Gray promise to bring tremendous enthusiasm and maturity to the board.

Wallin and Gray; House, Devore and Shea. Wallin and Gray; House, Devore and Shea. That rhymes, and will make for great radio as well.
Local politics do not carry the importance of the battle for the United States Senate, or the campaign to dump Gray Davis, the unGovernor, but they matter a great deal in quality of life. The five names above could bring about an excellent period of peace and tranquility to Irvine. Let's hope common sense triumphs in November.

CaiforniaRepublic.org contributor, Hugh Hewitt hosts a nationally syndicated radio program that can be heard Monday-Friday from 3-7 p.m. in Orange County on KRLA 870-AM and in San Diego at KCBQ 1170-AM.
This editorial originally appeared in OC Metro Magazine August 26, 2002.