Opinion: Evolving City, Devolving Democracy?
“I view what we do here as a vision,” FivePoint Holdings Founder and Chairman Emeritus Emile Haddad says, redundantly, in a promotional video on the company’s website. “When you lead from the front, it is easier for people to follow” is another Haddad head-scratcher.
What it does not say is that FivePoint has reportedly spent over $2 million on Irvine elections since 2015 to “lead” Irvine toward the company’s “vision.” Apparently when you lead from the front, it helps to leave fat stacks of cash for people to follow all the way to City Hall, where FivePoint-funded candidates are expected to make decisions that advance company profits. And what do such decisions look like?
In March 2019, the Irvine City Council voted 4-1 (Y=Wagner, Khan, Fox, Kuo; N=Shea) to authorize an additional 1,056 FivePoint market rate homes built in the Great Park, bringing the total number of entitlements to 10,556. Now, not even 3 years later, FivePoint is asking for more.
What else are they after?
Voice of OC reports that “should the city ever decide to sell the [Great Park] hangar site, FivePoint has first dibs on the property under a deal struck with the city over a decade ago when the developer originally sold the land to the city.” That would be the same hangar site which had been earmarked for a veterans cemetery, whose future there is in serious doubt after years of political wrangling and obfuscation — all to FivePoint’s clear benefit. That land would be highly valuable to the developer, and removing all obstacles to securing it is surely one of the company’s top priorities.
Against this background, consider the third in a sequence of anonymous political mailers that have been delivered to Irvine residents over the last two months:
Mailer 1: Mayor Khan, Vice Mayor Kim, and Councilmembers Kuo and Carroll are dubbed the “Irvine Four” and praised for “protecting our neighborhoods, including their unwavering support for moving the veterans cemetery to Anaheim Hills.” Notably excluded from their number is Councilmember Larry Agran, who supports building the cemetery here in Irvine.
Mailer 2: Larry Agran is singled out for approving “special taxes” when Great Park CFDs were unanimously approved by City Council in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2019 — most recently with the approval of Khan, Kuo, and Carroll.
And, finally, Mailer 3: In a grossly misleading oversimplification of a vote concerning a resolution against anti-Asian hate, Larry Agran is once again targeted – this time for “[choosing] not to protect [Asian-American people].” In reality, Agran wanted slightly different language in one particular section of the resolution, which the rest of the city council flatly refused to even consider.
To date, Watchdog has received no conclusive evidence that indicates the source(s) of these mailers. What is clear is that the mailers target Larry Agran with lies and support the so-called “Irvine Four,” with the future of a Veterans Cemetery at the hangar site (and massive financial implications for FivePoint) at stake.
All of which presents a fantastic opportunity for Mr. Haddad and FivePoint to demonstrate the leadership and vision that they’re so keen to praise themselves for. FivePoint should denounce misleading attack ads –anonymous or not – and pledge to refrain from using its substantial financial resources to unduly influence the will of the Irvine electorate. Because you cannot “empower and inspire people” by corrupting government by the people, nor can you “bring people back together” by using political advertisements that defame our leaders and tear our community apart.
Help Promote Disclosure
If you receive an anonymous political mailer, please take a picture of it front and back and send it to the Irvine Watchdog for investigation and reporting.
4 Comments
Branda Lin
October 24, 2021 at 9:51 amVoice of OC from 2020 election:
Irvine’s largest developer, The Irvine Co., is the dominant spender in Irvine elections, pumping at least $315,000 dollars into groups supporting candidates Mike Carroll, Christina Shea and John Park, and opposing Larry Agran and Tammy Kim.
Great Park developer Five Point, which was the dominant spender in recent elections, has also been spending along with its lobbying firm, though at a much reduced level of about $70,000, to the groups supporting Carroll, Shea and Park, and opposing Agran and Kim.
The money can take twists and turns on its way into the election.
Voters across the city have been receiving mailers from a PAC called the Greater Irvine Education Guide – the single biggest spender on ads in the election. That PAC is, in turn, funded by at least $78,000 from groups that themselves are largely funded by The Irvine Co. and, to a lesser extent, Five Point, according to public campaign finance records.
And in some cases, the money is coming from Five Point’s lobbying firm, Starpointe Ventures, which is run by lobbyist Patrick Strader and his family.
Also spending big in the Irvine elections are retired Behr paint company chairman John V. Croul and desalination plant developer Poseidon Resources, who have put $100,000 and $35,000, respectively, towards a committee supporting Shea and Carroll.
Carroll also has been supported with $46,000 in ads from a group funded largely by Michael K. Hayde, CEO of property management firm Western National Group and a member of the United Way Worldwide Board of Directors.
Another $50,000 has been spent on ads supporting Carroll by a group funded largely by a Newport Beach investment management firm, The Picerne Group, and Howard Ahmanson Jr.’s firm Fieldstead and Company.
https://voiceofoc.org/2020/10/the-top-election-spenders-in-ocs-biggest-cities-and-who-theyre-backing/
Sylvia Walker
October 24, 2021 at 10:51 amThis is an informative article by Joshua Moore and an informative comment from Branda Lin.
Doug Elliott
October 24, 2021 at 4:17 pmBeyond the points made so well by my friend Joshua, I feel a need to call out the persistent campaign to “otherize” Larry Agran, which has reached a despicable low with the latest anonymous hit piece. Take a look at that unflattering sepia-toned mug shot, and try to find it in a Google image search of Agran. You won’t. What you will find is lots of full-color photos of him, most with a smiling, friendly face. But if you scroll down far enough, you’ll come to a full-color photo published by the Orange County Register nine years ago. Not only did the cowards responsible for the hit piece crop this presumably copyrighted photo, but they doctored it to remove the color and produce a sinister-looking image that not so subtly evokes vile antisemitic stereotypes. I agree with Joshua that FivePoint needs to denounce this garbage. Its friends on the Council need to do likewise. https://images.app.goo.gl/ZoGUGb6X4aEdKTq88
Christina Shea
October 28, 2021 at 6:38 amFivepoints spent money to get Farrah elected …figuring out how to find the money trail is the question. Many times unions receive donations and then help with mailers so it’s difficult at times to get an accurate spending pattern.
These mailers are illegally . No identification showing.
I hope someone is filing an FPPV complaint , as there is nothing on the FPPC site showing a complaint filed .
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