- September 22, 2023
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Melisa Masri11 Posts
Melisa Masri has been a resident of Irvine for over a decade. She lives in Irvine’s College Park neighborhood and teaches science at a small school in Orange County. Melisa is credentialed in Chemistry, Biology, Geoscience, and Social Science. The issues most important to her: climate change, LGBTQ+ issues, and wealth inequality. She is happiest when outdoors.
OCPA CEO Is Back on the Chopping Block – Will Irvine Vice Mayor Tammy Kim Vote to Keep Him?
Once again this week, the Orange County Power Authority board of directors will vote on whether to terminate the agency’s CEO, who has been tied to corruption allegations at the agency and an ongoing cause of numerous failures, including exit discussions by every member city. Although there are six members on the OCPA board, the […]
Opinion: SoCalGas Planning to Experiment with Hydrogen Gas at UCI Mesa Court Housing and Arts Buildings
Southern California Gas Company plans to use the University of California Irvine Campus- including freshman residential housing areas- as a testing ground for their potentially dangerous hydrogen blend fuel. SoCalGas claims that the “electrolytic hydrogen can be safely blended into existing natural gas infrastructure on the university’s campus.” If approved, SoCalGas could begin testing hydrogen blending […]
New Traffic Signal To Be Installed on Walnut and The Mall Intersection
Irvine City Council received an official request from the Director of Public Works and Transportation to install a traffic signal at the Walnut and The Mall intersection. According to the staff report, “Construction is anticipated to begin in late 2022 with completion by Summer 2023. Work activity will take place primarily Monday through Friday between […]
OC Power Authority Ignores OC Grand Jury Report
The Orange County Grand Jury (OCGJ) released a report on the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) last month. The report was titled, “Orange County Power Authority, Come Clean.” One of the findings related to issues of the OCPA not reporting public comments accurately in the minutes: “In a detailed review of the OCPA Board minutes, […]
Synthetic Grass For Soccer Fields at Great Park [Opinion]
Tuesday, June 14, 2022 – The City Council approved the mid-cycle budget that includes $275,000 for synthetic grass athletic fields at the Great Park at the recommendation of the Finance Commission. Unfortunately, there was no discussion of the many negative ramifications of installing synthetic grass previous to the approval of the budget item. However, City […]
Mayor Farrah Khan Responds to Anger and Frustration of the Armenian Community
Rarely do global matters as consequential as genocide take center stage during City Council meetings. The Armenian Genocide occurred under the rule of the Ottoman Empire from April 24, 1915 to 1923. In 1915, there were approximately 2 million Armenians, but by the end of the genocide fewer than half a million remained with approximately […]
Kevin Shenkman Served Irvine With a Letter. Will District Elections Be Coming to Irvine?
There is a fight going on nationwide between those who want increased democracy with increased access to voting for all qualifying populations and those who would prefer if minorities’ rights to vote embedded in the hard won amendments to the constitution were effectively and efficiently revoked. What does this have to do with Irvine? Irvine […]
Change Starts At Home
As Sunshine Week – a week set aside to celebrate and advocate for open government – comes to an end, it is a good time to highlight the changes that have been made by our Irvine City Council in the past few months with the new Council having been elected and having to grapple with […]
Opinion: Council Discussion Reveals Party Line Differences and Hypocrisy
Mayor Farrah Khan put forth an agenda item calling for “hero pay”. Had this passed with urgency – as originally intended – it would have granted the immediate requirement of large (defined as having over 20 employees), nationwide (defined as having over 800 employees nationwide) stores to grant Hero Pay to their hourly workers of […]
Opinion: The Good, Bad, and Ugly from the Jan 26th City Council Meeting
It seems our City Council is a 4-1 majority with Councilmember Larry Agran alone in bold advocacy for public health, local COVID-19 relief efforts, and moving forw ard with plans for the Veterans Cemetery. Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly from last Tuesday’s City Council meeting. The Good – Diversity, Equity & Inclusion […]
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