Irvine Ca Government Officials

Clearing the way for the first leg of a monorail system, the City Council late Tuesday night approved a deal that gives a developer a substantial increase in square footage for an office project in exchange for building the first half mile of track. The deal, approved earlier this month by the city Planning Commission, entitles McDonnell Douglas Realty Co. to an extra 195,000 square feet for a pair of office towers proposed for the Irvine Business Complex.

The City Council has appointed familiar faces to this year's Planning Commission, choosing three unsuccessful candidates in November's local races to sit on the five-member panel. Commissioner Ken Hansen, defeated in his bid for the council last year, was reappointed to the city's top advisory panel by Councilman Mike Ward. Ward and Hansen ran as a slate in the November race, in which Ward was the top vote-getter among 11 candidates vying for three seats.

City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. fought back Tuesday night against critics who have called for his resignation because of the city's stake in the county investment pool. "I will not be intimidated," Brady said, reading from prepared remarks. "The city manager has no intention of stepping down, nor will I be made a scapegoat." Brady said no city investment polices have been violated.

Councilman Greg Smith said this week he has hopes that Irvine's new council majority--to be sworn into office Tuesday--will be receptive to a new proposal to expand the James A. Musick Branch Jail to a maximum of 4,400 beds. The latest proposal, backed this week by the city of Lake Forest and the county Board of Supervisors, would provide for less than half of the 7,968 beds proposed under former Sheriff Brad Gates.

Flyers urging the recall of the mayor and two council members are "full of lies," Mayor Michael Ward charged Friday, but the recall leader said he has "double-checked" his facts. The flyers are being distributed today by recall drive organizer Gary Kingsbury and volunteers, who have less than two weeks to gather the 8,500 signatures required by Oct. 3 to place a recall election on the March, 1996, ballot.

An outside attorney hired by the city reported Tuesday that Councilwoman Sally Anne Sheridan did nothing improper when her real estate firm sold a home to the city attorney four months after she voted on his contract. San Francisco attorney Joe Remcho told the City Council that the business transaction between City Att. Roger Grable and Sheridan's firm was legitimate because escrow on the home did not close until April 13. Sheridan had voted on his contract four months before, on Dec. 12, 1989.

The daughter of Irvine Mayor Christina L. Shea pleaded guilty Thursday to using methamphetamine and agreed to enter a rehabilitation program. Since Stephanie Shea's arrest Aug. 10, her mother has come to her defense, saying the drugs were not for her daughter and voicing concerns about police handling of the case. On Thursday, however, the 49-year-old mayor acknowledged that her daughter "wronged" but remained critical of the way the police handled the incident.

It was one of the longest election nights in this city's history, a white-knuckle, emotional roller coaster ride for mayoral candidates and longtime political rivals Sally Anne Sheridan and Larry Agran. At Agran's University Park home, once-jubilant supporters at his post-election party grew despondent as his early--but narrow--lead unexpectedly began slipping away.

City officials claim it could cost $750 million or more to shelter Irvine and neighboring areas from aircraft noise if an international airport is built at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. "If financially [the county] can't do that . . . then the project can't go forward," said Mayor Christina Shea, who has led the city's fight against the county's airport proposal.

The city of Irvine, a South County leader in spending money to attack a proposed international airport at El Toro Marine base, has found in a recent poll that its residents and neighbors aren't eager to open their own wallets to stop it.

Mayor Christina L. Shea and Councilman Dave Christensen thanked friends and supporters Tuesday as they prepared to give up their seats to a newly elected mayor and council member next month. It was the final meeting for the two. Shea declined to seek reelection; Councilman Larry Agran won the post unopposed. Christensen lost his bid for another term. Councilman Mike Ward and members-elect Beth Krom and Chris Mears will be sworn in Dec. 12.

His victory assured, his political stock on the rise, Larry Agran is once again poised to step into the glare of Orange County politics. Next month, Agran will be elected mayor of Irvine, a job he ambitiously molded and shaped during a six-year tenure before being defeated in 1990. This time, with no opponent to distract him and no need to fund a campaign, he is concentrating on pulling the three other candidates in his slate onto the council for a ruling majority.

Irvine Mayor Christina L. Shea will watch November's election from an unfamiliar position--the sideline. After eight years as the city's most high-profile elected official, Shea said Tuesday that she won't seek a City Council seat this year when term limits force her to relinquish the mayor's gavel. Shea, 50, said she has subsidized her $720 monthly pay from the city with her personal savings during her tenure at City Hall, including four years as mayor and four on the council.

Irvine City Councilman Larry Agran announced Friday that he will run for mayor in the November election. Agran, who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. presidency in 1992, has twice held the independently elected mayor's seat and has served as a councilman on and off since the late 1970s. He hopes to replace outgoing Mayor Christina L. Shea, who has served in the city's highest office since 1996. Term limits prevent Shea from running again.

Council members adamantly denied claims that they would bail out the city's financially ailing school district should voters reject a parcel tax Tuesday. Opponents of the flat $95 parcel tax suggested at a public forum last week that council members would find the money to save the district's enriched arts, music and science programs. Trustees also are set to lay off about 120 teachers as a result of a $4-million budget hole.

The former chairman of the state Republican Party filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing the city of Irvine and four council members of improperly using nearly $300,000 in city funds to urge greater voter turnout in Tuesday's election. Michael Schroeder, an attorney who lives in Irvine, alleges in the suit, filed in Orange County Superior Court, that the city violated the state law that bars governments from spending public money to advocate positions in elections.

Irvine officials are questioning why a county manager allowed the consultant planning an airport at the closed El Toro Marine base to be paid more than $8 million so far without submitting the monthly progress reports required in its contract.