That is just un-American! Bill Cook is correct that you are incorrect on the ARDA. There will be no houses built and no hotels built at the ARDA site now. The Great Park itself, originally set to cost taxpayers $350 million and be completely finished a decade ago has now ballooned to over $1 billion, with nearby homeowners on the hook for most of the bill. Support Voice of OC Today. ABSOLUTELY NOT! Lalloway noted the windfall profit was going to be at the expense of the entire Irvine community. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window). But former Irvine Mayor Larry Agran, whose political career was damaged by the Great Park audits because Christina Shea was on a mission to smear his name in order to position herself as Major. In fact, on P. 28 of the Petition, Section 3-37-40 9.1(C), a Park and public park facility are permitted uses. The guy who came in 5th for City Council? Part 2 of the Build it NOW! plan is the Perimeter Project the installation of large berms and a system of Trails, Trees and Memorial Gardens around the entire 2.2-mile perimeter of the ARDA site. and when she cant find anything she will hire someone to lie for her. Lalloway placed this decision item on the Council agenda and cited the voter referendum that invalidated the Wagner, Shea, Fox preference for the Bakeway site. Back in 2017, our all-volunteer Build the Great Park Veterans Cemetery committee was founded in response to FivePoints first scheme to get their hands on the ARDA site for massive office, industrial, commercial, and apartment development. * start construction on a cemetery any time soon Opinion: Great Park Urban Farm Providing Diverse Public Benefits, a Link to the Past, and Innovation: Stability Jeopardized? Because they covet that site for their own purposes and profit, Agran said. By a 4-to-1 vote, on May 12th the Irvine City Council adopted the citizens Build the Great Park Veterans Cemetery Initiative, finally selecting a site for what will become the state-built, state-operated Southern California Veterans Memorial Park & Cemetery. I have not signed the petition and am not promoting it. In adopting the Build the Great Park Veterans Cemetery Initiative, the City Council not only zoned the entire 125-acre ARDA site for memorial park and cemetery purposes; it facilitated the transfer of the property to the State, possibly by the end of this year, under the terms of State Acquisition and Transfer Agreements that include the Irvine zoning provisions in the Initiative. Department Info City Manager 1 Civic Center Plaza Irvine, CA 92606 Phone: 949-724-6246 cm@cityofirvine.org Upcoming Events Berardino had previously spoken against the hangar site, saying that the initiative shouldve been placed on the November ballot. It was obviously intended to be a political hatchet job from the beginning and thats what it was, Agran said. With this knowledge, (and the City is well aware of this lawsuit because I sent them a copy), it is the duty of a Mayor to refrain from dealing with any company or individual that could potentially put their City in jeopardy. (I know this was stated already but I felt the need because I guess you did not see it.). (OWEN report: The design in this Concept Plan has not been reviewed by USDVA and that having the site bisected in two and having two separate entrances present a challenge to the operation of the cemetery USDVA: Cemeteries established under the grant program must conform to VA-prescribed standards and guidelines for site selection, planning and construction. Gavin Newsom Of course, the Golf Course site now has $28 Million private / local available, thanks to generous and gracious FivePoint. The ARDA site will cost $2.5 million for demolition and asbestos removal which will take 120 days. 6. The narrative can be summed up this way: With the COVID-19 pandemic, the State is broke, the City is broke. The signature drive turned in nearly 19,000 signatures. You can guess. OWEN is not an approval, only a concept plan required for a place called Irvine in the VA grant queue (read it for an explanation). Irvine's Veteran Cemetery Report Released Amid Controversy Gavin Newsom calling for $700,000 in promised funds to study potential sites for an Orange County Veterans cemetery last week. After an additional review paid for by the city, the Orange County Registrar verified the results of the initiative and. Chair of the State Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs Bob Archuleta sent a letter to Gov. .the availability of each location. FIVEPOINT plans to build a hotel, commercial buildings and will, no doubt, get approved to build more high rise apartment homes. Cemetery Update! She filled the vacancy in the Mayors seat when Mayor Don Wagner was elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors. The Veterans Memorial Park & Cemetery cant be funded. A lawsuit is still expected. And then no Veterans cemetery at all. The State Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) hired design and environmental consultants to evaluate the ARDA site for the development of a Veterans Cemetery. April 12, 2016 Yet discussions on the cemetery stalled out, with no real funding coming in or talks on how to get the project moving forward while the state studied the hangar site. A veterans cemetery has been proposed at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine for many years. Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC Reporting Fellow. The demolition and related cleanup of the ARDA site would take 8 months and cost an estimated $8 million. According to studies from the Orange County Cemetery District (OCCD), the site is highly problematic because there are major geotechnical issues with the property. Instead, Irvine residents are turning to direct democracy to stop Mayor Christina Shea from her relentless campaign to delay, derail, and defeat the Veterans Cemetery at the ARDA site in the Great Park. Reference Information - Proposed State Veterans Cemetery - City of Irvine . Once the study is completed, that will provide taxpayers with the facts and it will form the decision by the state as to which property it wants to build.. It could build a park and community center theyre both permitted uses. June 6, 2017: VETERANS are used as a pitchfork for this manure. Recap of Last Nights Candidate Forum (UPDATED). The ARDA site is 125 acres of ideal land for a cemetery, Golf Course is 80-100 acres and has to use part of the Cultural Terrace. A community facility is a conditional use. By a 4-to-1 vote, on May 12th the Irvine City Council adopted the citizens' Build the Great Park Veterans Cemetery Initiative, finally selecting a site for what will become the state-built, state-operated Southern California Veterans Memorial Park & Cemetery. According to the 2016 CalVet-approved Concept and Design plan, the estimated time required for construction is just 30 months. Several years ago, Irvine City planning staff reported that upon submission of the Citys own demolition application, actual on-the-ground demolition can begin in just 60 days. Schott has described the transfer of ownership and accompanying zone change ordinance as a giveaway of our Great Park to FivePoint. Take a look! Furthermore, the Agreements should include provisions for the City and Great Park to be reimbursed by the State for funds expended to implement Parts 1, 2, and 3 of the Build it NOW! plan. The City Council votes on the FivePoint deal have been 3-to-2, with Councilmembers Jeff Lalloway and Lynn Schott voting NO. "Save the Great Park Veterans Cemetery!" - Irvine Community News The contamination consists of removing leaded soil and will cost $4 million. March 11, 2014 - Approved having a cemetery in the Orange County Great Park (Resolution 14-27) 1. Veterans groups and Irvine City Council members are now calling for the cemetery to be built at Gypsum Canyon in Anaheim, despite nearly a decade of efforts to build one at the old El Toro. A Giant Step Closer to Victory, Website: Strategic Communication Consultants. NOT 1 VOTER voted for the cemetery to be on the ARDA site because that wasnt an option under Measure B. By the way, Christina . A perimeter system of trees, trails and gardens for use and enjoyment by cemetery visitors and the general public shall integrate the district with Great Park and adjacent uses. Support Voice of OC Today. VA.gov | Veterans Affairs - National Cemetery Administration But we wanted to get a State of California SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA VETERANS CEMETERY into the vocabulary with the passage of AB1453. Here is something I researched awhile back and just thought I would share it againit is a bit long but it explains what went on with the Audits of the Great Park from beginning to end, CHRISTINA SHEA State legislators, led by Orange County Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva voted in 2019 to study those sites in Irvine to see what would be the best deal for state taxpayers. Background and Project History - City of Irvine For information on scheduled burials in our national cemeteries, please go to the Daily Burial Schedule. ARDA obviously the clear loser of a location. HSNOs Chris Money was the lead accountant in both audits. Back in 2017, our all-volunteer Build the Great Park Veterans Cemetery committee was founded in response to FivePoint's first scheme to get their hands on the ARDA site for massive office, industrial, commercial, and apartment development. Election officials verified the results of the initiative late last month, counting all the signatures to verify that the initiative had reached the required 12,888 signatures to qualify for the city councils consideration. Assembly member Sharon Quirk-Silva sponsored the bill; and Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC Reporting Fellow. Previously, the cemetery was slated for construction in the northeast portion of the Great Park, on land once set to become a golf course. Keeping it here in Irvine doesnt allow it to move forward; its like holding it hostage.. In a call with Voice of OC, Agran said it doesnt matter if the golf course site is millions cheaper because the golf course site wont be allowed without a lengthy legal battle over the initiative. He now reports for, Live Nation Wont Be Operating Amphitheater in the Great Park, The 1931 Meeting Between Einstein & Michelson in Irvine. Through the ballot box and the petition process, the people of Irvine have repeatedly made it clear that we support the ARDA site. As the voluminous screed above demonstrates, ARDA is all about hate and spite. You stated in YOUR video that we (and by we you were referring to yourself and FivePoint) have to offer this Golf Course site as a diversion because if we dont, then we will have the State coming in and the ARDA site will become a cemetery, and we will have no choice. The City Manager was directed to deploy all appropriate resources authorized and specified in the Veterans Cemetery motion adopted by the City Council on April 12, 2016. Are they lying? Is the Long-Promised State Veterans Cemetery in Irvine Dead? Any alternate site (Strawberry Field, Golf Course, Gypsum Canyon) sets off a tantrum. Veterans Cemetery Breaks Ground in Anaheim - The Epoch Times People [], City Council Meeting Tuesday, May 12, 2020, 4:00PM Agenda Click to watch LiveStream Click to submit an eComment Staff Report for Item 5.2 Mayor Christina Sheas competing initiative aims to subvert the wishes of 14,531 residents who signed the citizen-led Veterans Cemetery Initiative Petition (Initiative) Tuesday night, that would place the cemetery at the [], Founded on transparency, accountability, and honesty, Irvine Watchdog is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit Tax ID:87-1116954, Voter Guide: Irvine Mayor & Council Candidates On The Issues, WATCH: Irvine Mayor & Council Candidate Forum, Election 2020: Where Do The Candidates Stand On The Issues? Lets say the (hangar) site is estimated to cost $63 million, and they came in at the golf course site at $43 million. The Petition is to re-zone the ARDA site, ONCE AND FOR ALL, as a Veterans Memorial Park and Cemetery. Sign the Petition People to have CHRISTINA SHEA and her hand-picked puppet, Michael Carroll, RECALLED! How is that going to affect Irvine should they be found guilty of building homes on toxic land? Lies. The FPPC probe was triggered by revelations that Shea had pressured City staff for special hurry-up approval of renovation plans and construction permits for Irvine-based KIA Motors, while at the same time she was being paid as much as $100,000 per year as a KIA Motors consultant. Shape Uniform boundaries, undivided by roads or easements .). Nothing you cute is an approval. It will NOT build a memorial garden. Veterans cemetery at the Great Park? - Los Angeles Times Gov. Depending on who you ask, there are different answers on why the cemetery never got built. This isnt Irvines first project to get stuck in the mud. . As a result, Christina SHEA spent about $1.7 million related to the park review in a manner that compromised the reviews credibility.. And somehow, she still blames other people for where we are today so very sad. Over the past few years, the argument has boiled down to a decision between two sites on the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, one set on a strip of runway and hangars and the other on land zoned to become a golf course. The cemetery will be surrounded by massive trees and very secluded. The Council acted to designate the ARDA site as the best possible site for a State Veterans Cemetery and to convey the property subject to all studies, procedures and agreements with the State and Federal governments. on a section of land near the heart of the old air station that still has hangars, barracks, and other remains of the installation on it. I feel the public has been so misled for so long, and theyre misled again, heres something else they signed, and in fact it doesnt really come to anything. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada. Money agreed that explanation was perfectly good, the CBA report reads. Shea finds herself under investigation by two State agencies for misconduct in public office. The roads will have to be shared with residences. When City leaders refused to implement the will of the voters after the 2018 election, our committee got back to work and gathered 19,790 Irvine resident signatures forcing the City Council, on May 12, 2020, to make the ARDA site the only legally available property in Irvine for a Veterans Memorial Park & Cemetery. Instead, years have been wasted because of a greedy land developer and a City Council majority beholden to that developer. * ensure a Veterans cemetery or memorial park will be built on the ARDA site Money didnt comment on the state Board of Accountancy report and referred Voice of OC to the firms Los Angeles-based attorney, Randall Dean. And why are you refusing to explain why we would want a Golf Course site that will take twice as long to build? Approved 5-0 No: Shea, July 22, 2014 Approved designating the ARDA site for the State Veterans Cemetery (Resolution 14-92). Shea proposed that measure, but it died from lack of support on the council. No cemetery on the Bake Parkway site. Sleazy tactics to be sure. 5. And, neither does Emile Haddad of FivePoint Communities AND neither does Patrick Strader of StarPointe Ventures. But this Mayor, not only solicits for FIVEPOINT and receives donations, she brings motions before the council on their behalf and includes herself in the vote! Irvine Halts Plans for Veterans Cemetery - The Epoch Times What came as an unexpected surprise, however, was the Referendum Petition begun by longtime Irvine resident and retired high school teacher, Ed Pope. But everyone agrees on one thing: the project ran in circles for way too long. Moreover, the wording in the original gift deed from the lands donor does not indicate that a cemetery is a permitted use. Christina Shea was NOT elected by the people and EVERYONE knows that. The Navy has now given preliminary consent for conveyance, clean-up and re-development. One finding by HSNO said $38 million was missing from the Great Parks funds, but that was disputed by city staff at the January 2014 City Council meeting. The district shall have circulation in the form of internal streets and sidewalks, and pedestrian access may be provided to adjacent Great Park uses. Recent articles in major media have misleadingly stated or implied that the long-planned State Veterans Memorial Park & Cemetery on the ARDA site at the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in the Great Park is dead. The State will then authorize the City to begin constructing the cemetery immediately) What's New With the Veterans' Cemetery, Pretend City - Irvine Watchdog If the initiative qualifies for the ballot and is passed by Irvine voters, it will designate and re-zone the 125-acre ARDA site for one use a State built and State operated Veterans Cemetery. ARDA has zip-squat-zero. So under this Initiative, the City doesnt have to build a cemetery. Click here to take the Irvine Community Poll. JUNE, 2016 Former Irvine Mayor Larry Agran filed an initiative petition with the Irvine City Clerk. Live Nation Wont Be Operating Amphitheater in the Great Park, The 1931 Meeting Between Einstein & Michelson in Irvine. And what about her admitting on video that the Golf Course site is just a diversion tactic. 3. In a virtually empty City Council Chamber closed to the public because of the COVID-19 pandemic Councilmembers nevertheless felt the pressure of 19,790 Irvine residents who had signed the Build the Great Park Veterans Cemetery Initiative . Since becoming Mayor, Shea has promoted her own controversial agenda, which most notably includes doubling-down on her 5-year crusade to defeat the Veterans Memorial Park & Cemetery at the ARDA site in the Great Park. No ARDA construction funding, unlike Strawberry Field, which would be just about ready by now except for your gang of despicable clowns. State Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) Shea prefers the City-owned site be handed over to developer FivePoint through an unprecedented 99-year lease for massive commercial development.. The technical studies are be prepared and are to be completed by May 2021. You yourself ask why anyone would oppose a Veterans Cemetery anywhere yet you oppose the one at the Golf Course site. State construction of the first phase of the Veterans Cemetery will include an Assembly Area and Administrative Building, interment areas and burial grounds, all necessary infrastructure and support facilities, and complementary landscaping. Scott Hansen I can see why you are confused. FivePoint was offering to build our veterans cemetery, which was our compensation. Assembly member Sharon Quirk-Silva sponsored the bill; and Yes: Wagner, Shea, Fox Councilman Larry Agran saw in this an opportunity to void the Amended and Restated Development Agreement, a deal that HE cut with FivePoint. How much more clearer does it get? Most everything she says above has been repeatedly proven false and her constant comments and complaints are little more than harassment. He said the CBA report, along with the auditors 2016 report, helps back up his claim that the Great Park audits were intended as a political assassination against him. She used to be focused on Melissa Fox, but lately has turned on Christina Shea. NOTE: This article was submitted by Mr. Liss on behalf of the Build the Great Park Veterans Cemetery Citizens Committee. When he left office in the beginning of his term, Christina Shea AUTOMATICALLY became Mayor. Bill Cook, one of the veterans alliance board members and chair of the Orange County Veterans Memorial Park Foundation, said the primary reason veterans partnered with the developer is because they feared the cemetery would never be built at the hangar site, and the only reason it stayed in consideration was to derail FivePoints plans for the site. Irvine Cat Reunited with Family After Being Lost for 2 Years, Council Approves Landmark Deal for City to Acquire Asphalt Plant & Restore the Site to Its Original State, Irvine Councilman Larry Agran Announces Mayoral Campaign, Irvines Student-Led Organization is Helping Minority Students Succeed Academically Across America, Website: Strategic Communication Consultants. ARDA has no approvals, not from City, State, or VA. None. FivePoint promise of $10 million is just that, a promise there is no legal obligation FivePoint could go out of business and then we would be right back to square one. To add your name to the list of veterans who are requesting that construction immediately begin for our long-promised Southern California Veterans Memorial Park & Cemetery on the ARDA site at the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in the Great Park, please fill out the form below. That doesnt make any sense to me, we need to know the current status and cost of developing at the (hangar) site, Khan said in a phone call with Voice of OC Monday afternoon. Meanwhile, we have the original ARDA site that has gone through the studies and approvals and has funding ready to begin construction. City Council Abruptly Changes Course on Veterans Cemetery Site But Why? Click here for the City Council Minutes for the list of public speakers and the Council agenda with the copies of residents written correspondence on Agenda Item 4.4. And, Christina Shea has no plans to add or modify existing roads to accommodate the significant increase in traffic that will impact our city. Whether its adopted tonight or voted in by the electors in November, the initiative doesnt bind the property as long as its in the hands of the city, Melching said. Irvine's Promise to Veterans and Their Families The Veterans Memorial Park at the ARDA site was originally scheduled to become operational on Veterans Day 2019. The Mayor needs to recuse herself from voting on matters that involve FivePoint, like this cemetery deal. Veterans groups have been attempting to build a cemetery on the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station for nearly seven years, but their efforts stalled after funding problems and a previous voter initiative blocked one of the proposed sites. And still you failed Measure B did not deliver ARDA, as implied, promised, intended, or whatever you call it. Veterans Cemetery Timeline - Irvine Watchdog

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