State Senate Veterans Affairs Committee to Vote on Bill to Establish State Veterans Cemetery
Dear Great Park (ARDA site) Veterans Cemetery supporter:
We urgently need you to send an email—this weekend—to bring us one important step closer to making the Veterans Cemetery on the original Great Park ARDA site a reality.
With your help, the State Senate Veterans Affairs Committee at their Tuesday, June 25th hearing, will be voting to pass Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva’s bill, AB 368 (Quirk-Silva/Umberg/Daly) without any amendments. AB 368, once passed, will again establish the original Great Park’s ARDA site for the Southern California Veterans Cemetery.
A few weeks ago, AB 368 was unanimously passed by the State Assembly with $20 million in first-year Veterans Cemetery construction funds approved in the State budget. However, now that AB 368 is in the State Senate, developer FivePoint and Irvine Mayor Christina Shea are working furiously to derail the bill at the Tuesday afternoon hearing.
Mayor Shea and FivePoint are trying to defeat AB 368 by advocating yet another alternative Veterans Cemetery site—their so-called “Golf Course” site. This is just their latest tactic to delay and derail the construction of the Veterans Cemetery, which developer FivePoint and Shea have been working to do for the past five years.
Thus, it is imperative that you send an email right away to the chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee, Senator Bob Archuleta, and copy all of the Committee’s members and main staffers, and forward this email to your friends. This is arguably the most important land-use issue Irvine has faced in 15 years.
Your email—just a few sentences in your own words to Chairman Archuleta—urging passage of AB 368 without any amendments WILL help make the difference! Include your name and address. (You can also phone Senator Archuleta’s office this weekend and on Monday or Tuesday morning: (916) 651-4032.)
Your email should be addressed as follows:
Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Please pass AB 368 (Quirk-Silva/Umberg/Daly) without amendments
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9 Comments
Bill Cook
June 22, 2019 at 6:21 pmThe ARDA is not in the great park, the text of AB368 is in error.
Harvey knows better. But he continues to make the same false and misleading claims.
Both the city attorney and a judge say so.
CASE NO: 30•2018-0097528S..cU-WM-CJC 02/22/2018 “…. the ARDA transfer site Is not in the Orange County Great Park. This court finds, by clear and convincing evidence. The ballot arguments (RJN. Exhibit D) that refer to the ARDA Transfer Site as being in the Great Park are false or misleading.”
2/13/2018 CITY ATTORNEY’S IMPARTIAL ANALYSIS: “…Both properties are on the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro and are located near, but outside, the boundaries of the Orange County Great Park”
Harvey Liss
June 22, 2019 at 7:22 pmI don’t understand the purpose of BIll Cook’s complaint? Why is he raising this nonsense issue? And, it is not true that both a City Attorney and a judge independently said so. The judge just read out the City Attorney’s ridiculous opinion, written in his so-called “Impartial Analysis,” which is about as laughably partial as one can get. The City Attorney’s Impartial Analysis that was submitted to the Court would have had to be challenged, and that takes $$$, so it wasn’t, even though it’s wrong.
Hence, the Judge’s opinion was not independently derived. That’s our current injustice system. Note to the wise: So-called “impartial opinions” are as impartial as the motivation of the person writing it.
And why do you think the City Attorney would support such nonsense? Could it possibly be because it appears that FivePoint held sway over the City Council majority when it was written, and still does? It turns out that the contract by which the City acquired the ARDA site says it is part of the Great Park. So, how can it be part of the Great Park and not in it?
Any 0.4 wit can look at a map and it’s obvious that the ARDA site is in the Great Park. The California Legislature (which is a 1.0 wit) has been writing in its bills that the ARDA site is in the Great Park ever since it needed to refer to the ARDA site, in 2014.
I don’t understand the point or purpose of Bill’s objection. Is he now against a Veterans Cemetery?
Bill Cook
June 22, 2019 at 9:20 pmThe ARDA is not in the great park. Weasel-word it all you want. Like the twisted slogan “Save the Veterans Cemetery”.
“So-called “impartial opinions” are as impartial as the motivation of the person writing it.”
What is your motivation? Why would you want the state – all of us – to kick in $91M (!) for a Veterans Cemetery that nobody wants on the ARDA? Not the neighbors, not the schools, not any Veterans I know.
What dog do you have in this fight anyhow other than your bare Agranista FivePoint hate?
Are you a Veteran? A member of any Veteran group? Ever show up at Memorial Day or Veterans Day city events?
The generous FivePoint offer saves the state $70M, which can do a lot for living Veterans. Think about that.
You guys use ‘Veteran’ as a pitchfork for your manure such as: “Is he now against a Veterans Cemetery?”
Against your $91M (!) amusement park on a junkyard, yes.
Gail Lewis
June 23, 2019 at 3:49 pmBill Cook is simply rude. Please do not listen to him. I was out collecting signatures for the Vet Cemetery and Cook came at me for exercising my rights. He was impertinent, insolent and uncivil. I was about to call the police when he left. The man is scary.
Anyway back to the point. We need you to send an email—this weekend to help make the Vet Cemetery a reality. Thank YOU!!
Bill Cook
June 23, 2019 at 4:17 pmBe truthful now Gail. Try hard. Collecting signatures the against the funded and ready veterans cemetery you mean. Using your Agranista lie cards with the ‘stolen valor’ VFW logo.
I am the only person (ever) cited by the city for standing up to your lies, a badge of honor to me.
Reality? AB368 is another Larry-scheme designed to tie up ARDA and no veterans cemetery will ever happen. The amusement park video lacks the gasbag and used Carousel and is another blatant lie.
You guys use ‘Veteran’ as a pitchfork for your manure. It is disgusting. Your words are hollow.
Branda Lin
June 25, 2019 at 3:47 pmReceived news. AB 368 passed with no amendments. Now headed to the State Senate.
Gail Lewis
June 25, 2019 at 4:38 pmGREAT NEW!! Thanks Branda for letting us know.
deefox
June 27, 2019 at 12:09 amGREAT NEWS! Thanks to Harvey Liss and Ed Pope for their-mails! I immediately jumped on this and sent an email to the Senator and copied all the Committee members. I then contacted my family, friends and neighbors who also support the Veterans Cemetery at the original location … the ARDA site located in the Great Park! They all sent emails as well! REALLY GREAT NEWS!!
Bill Cook
September 13, 2019 at 3:54 pmA shout-out of big thanks to all you Watchdoggies that helped move AB368 along with your emails.
AB368 was signed into law by Gov. Newsom on 9/11/2019.
” …… either the site of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, on 125 acres known as the Bake Parkway site. Amended and Restated Development Agreement Site in the Orange County Great Park in the City of Irvine or at the approximately 100 acres known as the Golf Course Site in the Orange County Great Park in the City of Irvine, as described and adopted by the City Council of the City of Irvine at the July 23, 2019, special joint meeting.
The department shall, after completing acquisition studies on both sites, consult with the Department of General Services to determine which site to pursue based on the economic feasibility, benefits to veterans and City of Irvine residents, and availability of each location.”
Hurrah Assembly Member Sharon Quirk-Silva and Senator Archuleta!
Comments are closed.