Election 2026: Recent Participants in the Irvine Musical Chairs Game
This November 3, registered Irvine voters will have an opportunity to vote for who they want on the City Council. This means that Irvine, like the rest of the country, is currently in election-season mode. And election season often means that campaign participants engage in some questionable behavior — Irvine is no exception. It has a history of campaign participants engaging in electioneering ploys. Currently, some Irvine Councilmembers and Council candidates are participating in another round of an electioneering game that has become common during election seasons: The Irvine Musical Chairs Game.
The Musical Chairs Electioneering Game Has a History in Irvine
Here is how City Councilmembers and their political allies have played the Musical Chairs Game in Irvine: City Councilmembers appoint their political allies who are running for Irvine City Council to one of the Irvine Commissions. This is often done close to election time and is often accompanied by the Councilmember dismissing their previously appointed commissioner. This dismissal of previous commissioners is to open a commission spot for the appointment of the political ally who is running for City Council.
The reasons for this City Councilmembers pre-election commission appointments are the following: To give their political allies running for City Council more name recognition, the appearance of having relevant experience, or fundraising opportunities. In other words, the City Councilmembers who participate in the Irvine Musical Chairs Game are attempting to increase their political allies’ chances of getting elected. However, it usually means disruption of the functioning of the commissions and that the best person for the position is not the commission appointee.
For a deeper understanding of the history of the Musical Chairs Game in Irvine, read the following:
- Why Irvine Needs Commission Reform [Opinion]
- Opinion: The Newest Irvine Electioneering Ploy—The Merry-GO-round Game
- Opinion: Why is the Musical Chairs Game Being Played at Irvine Commissions?
The 2026 Version of the Irvine Musical Chairs Game
The most recent participants in the Irvine Musical Chairs Game are the following pairs:
- Councilmember Mike Carroll and District 5 City Council Candidate Anthony Kuo
- Councilmember James Mai and of District 1 City Council Candidate John Park
- Mayor Larry Agran and District 6 City Council Candidate Scotty Hong
Councilmember Mike Carroll and District 5 Council Candidate Anthony Kuo
Anthony Kuo, a political ally of Councilmember Carroll, is running for the District 5 City Council seat. Carroll recently appointed Kuo as his Finance Commissioner who attended his first Finance Commission meeting as Carroll’s appointee just last month.
Carroll created the opening on the Finance Commission for Kuo by moving his long-term Finance Commissioner Shareen Young to the Community Services and Library Services (CSLS) Commission, replacing his long-term CSLS Commissioner Kevin Trussell. So, Kuo is now Carroll’s Finance Commissioner; Shareen Young is his current CSLS Commissioner; and Trussell is out — at least for the time being.
Carroll and Kuo’s political connections are shown by both endorsing each other in past elections as well as both appointing each other in the past to various Irvine Commissions. In addition, both have participated in the same political organizations and received campaign money from the same PACs.
These significant changes to his Commission appointments have happened within six months of the November 2026 election.
Councilmember James Mai and District 1 Council Candidate John Park
John Park, a political ally of Councilmember James Mai, is running for the District 1 City Council seat. Mai recently endorsed Park for the Council seat. Additional evidence of the political partnership between Mai and Park is as follows: Mai’s influence in contract work being given to Park’s marketing company, receiving campaign money from the same PACs, and collaboration in the same political organizations.
Mai replaced Huy Nguyen, who was recently appointed in May 2026, with John Park as his Finance Commissioner in July 2026 — all within four months of the November 3 election.
Of note: Mai appointed Park to the Planning Commission in May 2025, but Park decided to remove himself from the Commission in November 2025, after being absent for numerous meetings.
Mayor Larry Agran and District 6 Council Candidate Scotty Hong
Scotty Hong, a Larry Agran staff member, is running for the District 6 City Council seat. Agran appointed Hong as his Sustainability Commissioner in July 2026, and Agran and Hong have been campaigning together. This Commission seat was open due to Agran dismissing his former long-term Sustainability Commissioner* Kev Abazajian in May 2026. Agran’s dismissal of Abazajian was due to Agran’s disapproval of an Earth Day report that Abazajian wrote and in which Abazajian supported the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA).
So, with only about four months until the November 3 election, Agran has appointed his staff member and political campaign partner Scotty Hong as his Sustainability Commissioner.
*The Irvine Green Ribbon Committee is the precursor to the Irvine Sustainability Commission.
Epilogue: Caldron Bubble
Some commission appointment changes are reasonable; some are not.
Reasonable Change
Circumstances exist that make it appropriate for Councilmembers to make new appointments to the Irvine Commissions. For example: Under Irvine’s current commission appointment system, it is reasonable for the newly elected officials to appoint their own Commissioners when new City Councilmembers take office.
Note: The current commission appointment system that the Irvine city council uses is not the only system that could be used.
Unreasonable Change
However, once a Councilmember appoints their Commissioners, changes in their appointments to the commission should be kept to a minimum. The churn caused by changes to the Commissions creates increased work for Irvine staff and decreases the smooth running of the Commissions. It also gives the appearance of Councilmembers and their associates participating in political gamesmanship instead of attempting the most efficient and productive running of the Commissions.
Musical Chairs: Unreasonable Change
Especially questionable is the Musical Chairs Game that has because a standard occurrence connected with Irvine elections. A hallmark of this electioneering game is that City Councilmembers give a Commission appointment to a political ally who is running for a City Council seat. Often this means the City Councilmembers remove one of their previously appointed Commissioners to create a Commission opening for their political ally — often within six months or less from an upcoming election.
One of the problems with this is that if the newly appointed Commissioner wins the election (which apparently the Council candidate hopes will occur), then that person can no longer serve on an Irvine Commission. So, the newly elected Councilmember will need to leave the Commission after serving only a few months. The disruption that this causes to city staff does not appear to be a concern for the Council candidate or the City Councilmember who appointed the candidate to one of the Irvine Commissions.
Additionally, another problem exists: The Councilmembers and their associates use of the Commissions as a political tool, instead using the Commissions to help in the most efficient running of the City of Irvine.
Note: Shakespeare’s play Macbeth “dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambitions and power.”—Wikipedia-Macbeth
6 Comments
Branda Lin
August 13, 2026 at 9:23 amGreat article, Sylvia. This makes it undeniably clear: Councilmembers shouldn’t be allowed to treat city commission seats as political bargaining chips. Using appointments for political favors and ballot designations—only to swap people out two months after staff finish onboarding, training, and setup—is a blatant waste of city resources. Councilmember James Mai replacing Finance Commissioner Huy Nguyen after just two months because John Park decided to run. Let’s see how that seat plays into his campaign. It’s time for clear policy reform to end this.
Katherine Daigle
August 13, 2026 at 2:45 pmThis goes much deeper than political “musical chairs.” The real problem is the political pipeline Irvine has allowed to develop around City Hall.
Councilmembers appoint their friends, political allies and associates to commissions and staff positions. Those individuals become part of the machinery surrounding City Hall, participate in important decisions and build relationships with the same political, business and institutional interests that repeatedly appear in Irvine politics. Then election season arrives and some of those insiders become the next candidates for City Council.
Look at the relationships voters are now being asked to ignore.
John Park has moved through Irvine politics, commission appointments and political relationships while his Eight Horses company has also done business connected to Irvine. Anthony Kuo has been part of Irvine’s political establishment for years, with longstanding relationships involving figures connected to OCPA, OCFA and major developers like The Irvine Company bank rolling their candidacy and Irvine interests. Now James Mai’s own Chief of Staff, Steven Alves, is running for the District 5 council seat, a global trade and logistics CEO,.And let’s not forget Betty Martinez who emails, signs, and represents her owncompany Prism a PR firm in every correspondence whether on city letterhead or city emails as a council person. More on her later.
And Mike Carroll provides another reason residents should demand much greater scrutiny of how power is exercised at City Hall. His controversial taxpayer-funded mailings became a major public-records and government-spending story. Voice of OC reported on the City’s handling of records surrounding Carroll’s use of taxpayer funds, while the $72,000 in mailings became the subject of significant public controversy.
So this isn’t merely about moving someone from one commission chair to another.
It is about who gets appointed, who gets hired, who gets contracts, who gains access, who helps move projects through City Hall, and then who is positioned to become the next elected official and reaps the rewards from Developers, PACS, and Corporations.
That cycle creates at minimum an appearance of favoritism and an insider political network that Irvine residents should be examining very carefully.
Our commissions should provide independent expertise and representation for Irvine residents. They should never become political farm teams where today’s appointee, staff member or favored insider becomes tomorrow’s council candidate—with the same network of political relationships following them into office.
Forget musical chairs. Irvine needs to start following the chairs, the contracts, the appointments, the money and the relationships. That is where the real story is.
Also let me leave you with one thought who has stood up with you to support Oak Creek and the saving of our open space? And who is endorsing these candidates who are representing YOU as a resident, remember that when you vote. At this point I have seen none of these people save our open space or even negotiate a larger foot print for our families to enjoy the peace and tranquility Oak Creek offers. That is before they bull doze the land!
Now follow for the rest of the story
KatherineDaigle
Doug Elliott
August 13, 2026 at 3:41 pmThis is a good and timely article on a recurring Irvine problem. One point of clarification is that due to district elections, only half of Irvine voters will be voting for a district councilmember this year—although all voters will get to vote for mayor. This year, only the seats in Districts 1, 5, and 6 are up for election, so it’s candidates in those districts that feature in this year’s round of musical chairs. Voters in Districts 2, 3, and 4 will see the next round play out in their districts in 2028–unless a commission reform ordinance in enacted in the meantime.
As the article points out, candidates who receive these last-minute commission appointments reap the benefits of greater name recognition. This manifests itself most directly in the candidate’s ballot designation. Without knowing anything more, a voter seeing a candidate listed on the ballot as a city commissioner may assume that candidate to be experienced in city government—even though that experience may only consist of attending half a dozen or less meetings. Not surprisingly, each of the candidates featured in the article has availed himself of the advantage of choosing the “commissioner” ballot designation.
Branda Lin
August 13, 2026 at 9:49 pmComment from Facebook: “It was also disappointing to see Mike Carroll remove Christine Knowland from her long standing Sustainability Commissioner position the day she filed her paperwork to run for office.”
tsuru
August 15, 2026 at 11:17 amThis is not just about Musical Chairs but how Irvine City keeps the same people and friends in power. This reminds me of CHEATING. So for me, cheaters don’t get my vote, DO NOT vote to let any of these people get relected!
We need Change in Irvine. Our city needs real CHANGE as these people have destroyed what was a wonderful and great city! Now look at us. Traffic congestion horrible, new homes being built on every square inch of available land ignoring the land that was set aside years ago to Not be touched, that they now have and are handing over to developers like Irvine Company, while NO doubt being handed tons of money under the table to line their pockets and screw our city even more.
Please, DO NOT vote for any of these cheaters. HELP change Irvine for the Better, not Worse!!!!!
Thank you.
Monte Taylor, Irvine Resident
Max Egorov
August 29, 2026 at 3:51 pmGreat article, Silvia! Thank you for bringing attention to this issue.
I think Irvine’s commissions should serve the residents of Irvine and not become part of election-season politics. Appointments should be based on qualifications, commitment to public service, and what is best for our city.
As someone running for Mayor of Irvine, I believe we should look at ways to make the appointment process more transparent and reduce the perception that commission seats are being used for political purposes.
Residents should be able to trust that public service comes before politics.
And since I’m officially a candidate now, here comes the campaign disclaimer:
Ad paid for by Maksim Egorov for Irvine Mayor 2026