Irvine Voters

The Irvine City Council on Tuesday night voted unanimously to place a controversial initiative on the Nov. 7 school board election ballot that would strip gays of protection under the city's anti-discrimination ordinance. "I'm just pleased we will at last get it before the community," said Mayor Larry Agran, an opponent of the initiative. "Just like the council stood up for human rights, the community will have a chance to stand up for human rights." The ballot measure represents the first time in Orange County that voters will cast ballots on the issue of equal rights for homosexuals.

In Santa Ana, voters will decide whether to stick with a veteran mayor who has guided the city for nearly 14 years or elect a newcomer to the post. In nearby Irvine, the entire City Council is running for office. Countywide, there are 13 Vietnamese American candidates running for elected office, 10 in Garden Grove and Westminster alone.

A decision late Tuesday by Irvine's City Council to submit a portion of the CenterLine light-rail plan to voters creates a new threat to the entire project, transportation officials said. Arthur Leahy, chief executive officer of the Orange County Transportation Authority, said a rejection of the project in Irvine probably would force a reevaluation of the rail line to determine if it still made "transportation sense." OCTA is the lead agency behind the $1.1-billion project.

Re "CenterLine Funds Stay in Budget," Letters, June 29: I find it interesting that John Kleinpeter believes the residents of Irvine control the transportation destiny of the rest of Orange County. His comments regarding the decision of the Orange County Transportation Authority to keep money in its budget for CenterLine made a rather hypocritical reference to ego. Isn't it much more egotistical to think that an advisory vote by a few Irvine residents should quash CenterLine for everyone?

One of the most important transportation decisions for Orange County could be made Tuesday by less than a third of Irvine's voters, many of them casting absentee ballots. The special election will determine whether Irvine remains part of the planned 11.4-mile CenterLine project, a light-rail line estimated to cost $1.4 billion. Two measures -- one in favor of the project, the other opposed -- are the only questions on the ballot.

An Orange County transit advocate has launched a petition effort to preserve the CenterLine light-rail project, which could be dealt a serious, if not fatal, blow by a pending ballot measure that would eliminate rail altogether in Irvine. The anti-rail initiative, which the Irvine City Council has agreed to put before voters by June 30, would block construction of the $1.1-billion line through Irvine and strip all references to light rail from the general plan, the city's main planning document.

Irvine voters may go to the polls from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday to decide whether the city should be part of the county's proposed CenterLine light-rail project. A "yes" vote on Measure A approves an alignment from UC Irvine to the Irvine Business Complex to John Wayne Airport. A "yes" vote on Measure B would prohibit the city from any participation in CenterLine. For information on polling places, contact the city clerk's office at (949) 724-6205 or go online to http://www.oc.ca.

I was surprised to learn that Cameron Cosgrove is a Republican ("Is Pioneering Spirit History in Irvine?" June 18). And he's right that it shouldn't matter in a nonpartisan race, but it was Mayor Larry Agran and City Councilman Cosgrove more than any others who turned Irvine politics into partisan, nationally oriented politics. And now he has the gall to complain. It's not surprising that Cosgrove was ignored in the campaign. Except for Sally Anne Sheridan, the council was a rubber stamp for Agran.

To the relief of some environmentalists, Irvine voters will not find a ballot initiative proposing to expand Strawberry Farms Golf Course into neighboring open space on the March ballot. But the measure may appear in a future election, organizers said. The deadline to file the petition for the controversial Irvine Recreation Initiative Ordinance came and went Monday.

Faced with questions on the legality of a mailer touting the CenterLine project, Orange County transportation officials decided Monday not to send a second round of promotional brochures to Irvine voters, who will cast ballots on the controversial light-rail system in June. The decision comes less than a week after the Orange County Transportation Authority sent glossy pamphlets about its proposed 11.4-mile project through Irvine, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana.

Although your coverage of the CenterLine debate in Irvine has been detailed and generally accurate, your headline "Irvine Says No to CenterLine" describing Tuesday's election results is very misleading. It just as accurately (but less tidily) could have read "Irvine Says No to No CenterLine." When two competing ballot measures deal with the same subject, voters often turn them both down. Irvine voted to keep light rail as a component in its transportation planning. Voters rejected a particular CenterLine alignment.

In the first discussion of CenterLine's future since Irvine voters rejected it last week, Orange County transit officials decided Monday to keep money for the proposed 11.4-mile light-rail project in next year's budget. Board member Chris Norby requested during the Orange County Transportation Authority budget hearing that money slated for development of the $1.4-billion system be deleted before the budget was approved.

Irvine voters may go to the polls from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday to decide whether the city should be part of the county's proposed CenterLine light-rail project. A "yes" vote on Measure A approves an alignment from UC Irvine to the Irvine Business Complex to John Wayne Airport. A "yes" vote on Measure B would prohibit the city from any participation in CenterLine. For information on polling places, contact the city clerk's office at (949) 724-6205 or go online to http://www.oc.ca.

Faced with questions on the legality of a mailer touting the CenterLine project, Orange County transportation officials decided Monday not to send a second round of promotional brochures to Irvine voters, who will cast ballots on the controversial light-rail system in June. The decision comes less than a week after the Orange County Transportation Authority sent glossy pamphlets about its proposed 11.4-mile project through Irvine, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana.

An Orange County transit advocate has launched a petition effort to preserve the CenterLine light-rail project, which could be dealt a serious, if not fatal, blow by a pending ballot measure that would eliminate rail altogether in Irvine. The anti-rail initiative, which the Irvine City Council has agreed to put before voters by June 30, would block construction of the $1.1-billion line through Irvine and strip all references to light rail from the general plan, the city's main planning document.

A decision late Tuesday by Irvine's City Council to submit a portion of the CenterLine light-rail plan to voters creates a new threat to the entire project, transportation officials said. Arthur Leahy, chief executive officer of the Orange County Transportation Authority, said a rejection of the project in Irvine probably would force a reevaluation of the rail line to determine if it still made "transportation sense." OCTA is the lead agency behind the $1.1-billion project.

One week after city voters cleared the way for 3,850 new homes in central Irvine, the City Council on Tuesday approved the construction of another 2,880 homes just north of the current city limits. The council voted 3 to 1 to approve a zone change allowing construction of the Irvine Co.'s Northwood 5 community. The council, which had earlier approved the project, had postponed the final vote until after the Nov. 5 election.

Election time in Irvine, and the real estate interests and pals of big developers are at it again. Just two years ago, in the city's last council race, Orange County's landed gentry propped up a fly-by-night political action committee, Irvine Citizens for Responsible Government, to front their viewpoint. Based in Newport Beach, this PAC proclaimed that communists, weirdos and perverts were about to take over the city government! Irvine would soon be a socialist state! A vote for the Irvine Co. is a vote for America!

Facing an initiative campaign by opponents of the proposed CenterLine rail project, the Irvine City Council on Tuesday offered to have residents decide whether the city should participate in the commuter train system. The council proposed giving voters the option of ending the project outright or allowing portions to be built. The city would abide by the results of an election to be held before June 30, 2003.