Opinion: Irvine Community News & Views Is a Danger to Public Trust
Investigate Violations of Irvine Ethics Codes
By Scott Hansen and Wendy Bokota
In recent election cycles, questions have arisen regarding Councilmember Larry Agran’s connections to Irvine Community News & Views (ICNV) and whether this publication, which according to legal documents he co-owns with his family members, violates Irvine’s Codes of Ethics. Despite its influential role in local politics, ICNV has failed to disclose its ownership, giving residents the impression of an impartial news source while using its platform to endorse Agran, his allies, and his policy agenda.
The authors of this article call on the Irvine City Council to launch an ethics investigation into this matter. Voters deserve transparency, accountability, and adherence to ethical standards from their elected officials, and Mr. Agran’s close ties to ICNV appear to compromise these principles.
The Importance of Transparency in Media Ownership for Democracy
Transparency in media ownership is fundamental to a functioning democracy, allowing readers to assess potential biases and motivations behind media content. Hidden ownership structures can mislead the public, posing a significant threat to pluralism and independent journalism. This issue is so critical that the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly has emphasized that media ownership transparency is essential to safeguard freedom of information, foster public trust, and enable citizens to make informed decisions about the content they consume
In many authoritarian regimes, opaque media ownership is used to push state-approved narratives, depriving citizens of access to diverse and independent perspectives.
Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York City and U.S. presidential candidate, provides an instructive example of transparency in media ownership. Despite being a public figure and owner of Bloomberg Media, Bloomberg maintains a policy of clearly disclosing his ownership interest. Whenever Bloomberg Media covers him as a public official or candidate, or his political activities, articles often include a note acknowledging his ownership, empowering readers to consider any potential biases.
In stark contrast to Mr. Bloomberg, Irvine Community News & Views (“ICNV”), owned by Larry Agran and his family, endorses Mr. Agran and criticizes his opponents without any ownership disclosure. This leaves Irvine residents unaware of this critical affiliation.
Ownership Ties and Public Trust
In a federal lawsuit, ICNV listed it’s co-owners as Mr. Agran, his wife Phyllis Agran, his son Kenneth Agran, and his daughter-in-law Kerrie Mahan Agran. ICNV has listed Ms. Mahan Agran as its Chief Operations Officer of ICNV since at least 2015.
This ownership structure is significant, as ICNV’s editorials and political articles consistently and emphatically support Mr. Agran’s campaigns, endorse his allies, and criticize his opponents. Yet, the publication presents itself as an independent news source, potentially misleading readers who trust ICNV’s endorsements and commentary without knowing the family ties.
ICNV’s Role in Supporting Mr. Agran and His Allies
ICNV’s influence goes beyond written endorsements. In recent election cycles, ICNV loaned over $100,000 to a political action committee (PAC) named “Build the Irvine Great Park Veterans Cemetery, Sponsored by Irvine Community News & Views LLC,” which heavily promoted initiatives supporting Mr. Agran’s policy agenda. ICNV has not disclosed the source of this funding, leaving voters without clarity on who backs ICNV’s financial and editorial support for Mr. Agran’s political interests.
Potential Violations of the Irvine Code of Ethics and Ethical Public Service Rules
As a public official, Mr. Agran is bound by Irvine’s Code of Ethics, which mandates transparency, avoidance of conflicts of interest, and responsible use of one’s position. ICNV publishes both political and non-political articles, but our concern focuses on its politically charged content, which consistently promotes Mr. Agran’s candidacies and political allies. The undisclosed ownership of ICNV raises significant ethical concerns under the following sections of the Code:
- Accountability (Section 1-6-101):
- The Code of Ethics opens with a mandate that “government is to be conducted openly, efficiently, equitably, and honorably so the public can make informed judgments and hold public officials accountable.” By not disclosing his and his family’s co-ownership and control-+ of ICNV, Mr. Agran may be seen as evading accountability for the publication’s political content. This lack of transparency prevents the public from fully understanding the interests driving ICNV’s endorsements and coverage, thereby compromising public accountability.
- Transparency and Integrity in Public Service (Section 1-9-101):
- This section emphasizes that public officials must “act with transparency and integrity.” Transparency about media ownership is essential for any official involved in media that influences public opinion. Mr. Agran’s hidden ownership interest in a publication that promotes his own political views appears to contradict this requirement, potentially diminishing public trust in his integrity.
- Conflict of Interest (Section 1-9-103(A)):
- This provision prohibits city officials from engaging in activities where their private financial interests could conflict with their public duties. By using ICNV, a publication his family partially owns, to endorse his candidacies and advocate for his policies, Mr. Agran’s private and public interests appear intertwined. This situation suggests a conflict between his responsibilities to serve the public impartially and his financial interests in ICNV’s influence on voter perception.
- Misuse of Position for Personal Benefit (Section 1-9-104):
- Section 1-9-104 prohibits public officials from using their office or resources for personal gain. Given that ICNV, a family-owned publication, endorses Mr. Agran while criticizing his opponents, it could be seen as an indirect campaign tool benefitting his political career without transparent disclosures to the public. This perceived misuse of his position may conflict with Irvine’s ethical standards by prioritizing personal and political gain over public responsibility.
- Ethical Standards for Honesty and Fairness in Communication:
- The Code requires public officials to maintain honesty and fairness in their communications, fostering trust and equity among the public. By omitting ownership information, ICNV denies readers a full understanding of its affiliations, undermining fairness and potentially misleading voters who believe it to be an independent community publication.
Calls for an Investigation into Ethical Compliance
Given the potential violations of Irvine’s Code of Ethics, we call on the City Council to take immediate action. The following steps would address the transparency and accountability issues raised by Mr. Agran’s involvement with ICNV:
- Initiate an Investigation: The Irvine City Council should investigate Mr. Agran’s relationship with ICNV, including any undisclosed financial interests or contributions that may have influenced ICNV’s election-related activities.
- Mandate Ownership Disclosure: Require ICNV to disclose its ownership prominently in all publications. Transparency about ownership is essential to ensure the public understands the interests behind ICNV’s endorsements.
- Refer to State Authorities: If the investigation suggests that ICNV functions primarily as a campaign tool, the Council could refer the matter to the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) for further examination.
- Refer to District Attorneys: If the investigation suggests Mr. Agran has engaged in a conspiracy to evade state and/or federal campaign laws or the like, the Council could refer the matter to federal and/or state district attorneys for civil or criminal investigation.
Conclusion: Urgent Need for Accountability and Ethical Oversight
We urge the Irvine City Council to investigate Mr. Agran’s involvement with Irvine Community News & Views and address these potential ethical violations. Mr. Agran’s family’s ownership and control of ICNV and the publication’s clear electoral influence without transparent disclosure pose risks to the integrity of Irvine’s democratic process. Irvine residents deserve transparency and accountability from their elected officials. A full and public investigation would reinforce the commitment to uphold ethical standards in our city’s government.
Public trust in Irvine’s elections depends on the ethical conduct of all public servants. The City Council has a responsibility to ensure that our community is informed, our elections are fair, and that elected officials are held to the highest standards of transparency and accountability.
Irvine Watchdog does not take an official position or endorsement on the topics discussed as the views in this article are exclusively those of the authors.
18 Comments
Harvey Liss
November 2, 2024 at 9:22 amWendy Bokota obviously has an axe to grind (a cliché) and it really has nothing to do with the Irvine Community News & Views (ICNV). It has to do with Agran’s personal call (NOT a Council Resolution) for an Israel/Gaza cease fire, so humanitarian aid can get in to the residents of Gaza. Agran does NOT support Hamas, contrary to what he has been ridiculously accused of.
I would guess that Bokota is complaining about the ICNV because she is just trying to politically injure Councilmember Larry Agran in any and every way that she can. And the ICNV endorses Agran for Mayor. She must know that the ICNV publishes only facts, and never propaganda. And it is the only media source, in Irvine, of weekly news about our City’s political and entertainment activities.
ICNV’s reporting of City Council activities are all verifiable by watching the videos of the meetings. The ICNV is also a wonderful source of low-cost or no-cost activities available to residents, as well as highlighting noteworthy achievements of our talented students and residents, and events of our businesses.
Opinions are clearly stated as opinions, like endorsements. I defy anyone to find anything published in the ICNV that is factually incorrect.
What is odd is that against all self-interest, Wendy is attempting to wreck Irvine’s residents’ quality-of-life by denigrating Vice-Mayor Larry Agran. Councilmember Tammy Kim is not the better alternative. She called north Irvine residents who suffered for years from the toxic emissions of the AAA plan as suffering instead from hysteria, while Larry Agran solved the problem in negotiations with AAA, The Irvine Company and the City. That’s Agran’s style—an actual residents’ problem solver rather than the voice and vote for various special interests.
But I don’t have to list all the terrible things against the interests of residents and our workers that Kim has supported and voted for—just read the ICNV—all verifiable facts, not nonsense redefinitions or twisting of meanings.
Joshua Moore
November 5, 2024 at 10:09 amI saw a “Breaking News” article on it just last week that ended by telling readers to vote for Agran. Come on, Harvey: this is a pretend paper that serves as a mouthpiece for Larry. Everyone knows it. You do too.
ParisM
November 2, 2024 at 12:16 pmHow about term limits? Agran has been on the city council or mayor for over 30 years. This is unacceptable. What is really needed is to revisit term limits and modify them so Agran can’t run for office in Irvine again. Otherwise, he has capitalized on this “loophole” regarding term limits, and he will never go away. Regarding Community News and Views, this bogus publication has been going on for a long time. It seems a little late to delve into this, as nothing has been done about it to date. They will claim free speech, and Agran gets elected again. Nothing new, this is Irvine’s monopoly.
edmondsmeyerson
November 2, 2024 at 8:13 pmShame on Watchdog for publishing this biased opinion piece. But then all you have to do is look at the authors and you will get a clear picture.
Joshua Moore
November 5, 2024 at 10:11 amWe labeled it “opinion.” We publish op pieces. Always have.
I don’t personally agree with everything that this one has to say. But I do think it’s broad point about ICNV being in service to Agran’s agenda is quite obvious. Would you care to try to counter that?
J. B.
November 5, 2024 at 4:46 amThe only differences between ICNV and the Irvine Watchdog are that ICNV is a structured and printed newspaper that actually makes some money (which, to that point, I doubt it makes much given how much it begs for advertizing) and that Larry Agran is at least partially involved in it. Put that aside, and everything is the same; the bias towards certain councilmembers, the involvement of community members, the questionable editorial process. You have literal city council candidates and city council commissioners, who are appointed by city councilmembers, that frequently write in the Irvine Watchdog. But, instead of being for Larry Agran, Irvine Watchdog tends to be against him; for example, one of its founding members and most frequent contributors, Branda Lin, as well as frequent writers Youssef Kaddeche and Doug Elliot, are all commissioners appointed by Kathleen Treseder. (For proof of bias, see Kaddeche’s non-opinion article on the DGI City Council Forum and how he presents the 2045 General Plan, heavily focusing the story on that topic and omitting any discussion on the reasoning of the opposing side (i.e. Larry Agran and Tom Chomyn): https://irvinewatchdog.org/city-hall/city-council/democrats-of-greater-irvines-city-council-candidate-forum-where-do-the-candidates-stand-on-the-issues/).
That’s why we need to look at this in a balanced, relative way. I could see why one would take issue with a councilmember being involved in a local newspaper, and I’ll concede that it might be better if Agran took away his involvement or disclosed it in the newspaper. However, I find this article way too hyperbolic, specifically in how it criticizes Agran’s involvement in the organization and the legitimacy of the newspaper’s content.
“In many authoritarian regimes, opaque media ownership is used to push state-approved narratives, depriving citizens of access to diverse and independent perspectives.” This statement, and this article in general, push a top-down narrative of the structure of ICNV, implying that Agran is trying to establish some sort of authoritarian control over Irvine residents using this newspaper to push his own agenda and narrative of events. I don’t know exactly how ICNV works, but I highly doubt that Agran himself contributes anything to the writing, editorial, or story selection process. This would be as ridiculous as trying to accuse Branda Lin of trying to be an authoritarian ruler because she founded/supports the Irvine Watchdog and Irvine Watchdog writers write biased articles, or accusing Kathleen Treseder of the same because people associated with her write biased articles in the Irvine Watchdog. The point I’m trying to make is that both of these local news outlets really just serve as mediums for community members involved in local politics to voice their opinions; and Treseder, Lin (https://irvinewatchdog.org/city-hall/branda-lin-resigns-from-irvine-watchdog-and-announces-campaign-for-irvine-city-mayor/), and, yes, even Agran all know not to be directly involved in journalism when they hold local office. I find it highly more likely that Agran has built up a grassroots network of supporters over the years with lots of free time on their hands that has decided to organize to express their support for Agran, and that Agran is just a loosely related financial supporter. And until Bokota and Hansen do some actual investigative journalism and prove otherwise, this criticism of Agran is nothing but lazy journalism (which seems to have been rushed through to come right before election day, just like ICNV does). It’s so absurd for you as a biased community member writing this Irvine Watchdog article to criticize a newspaper composed of other biased community members writing in ICNV simply because you disagree with where their bias lies.
And please, you brought the Code of Ethics into this? That is a City ordinance applying to the actions of councilmembers in an official capacity, with barely any connection to their non-official capacity aside from conflict of interest (which, as you confusedly point out, actually discourages private interests affecting public interest and not the other way around). Misuse of Position for Personal Benefit doesn’t apply because, to my knowledge, Agran doesn’t use his position or taxpayer money in any regard to his activity with ICNV. ICNV may have ethical issues, but I doubt Agran would break the law to protect it.
Also, many others have said this before, but the content of ICNV articles, though indeed very biased, is no less true than any opinion article in the Irvine Watchdog. It could be published here and, aside from maybe having harsher language, I doubt it would be very out-of-place in terms of journalistic quality. It’s hard for you to criticize ICNV for misleading people if your own article spins the facts and doesn’t give ICNV the right to reply to criticism.
That sort of leads into a smaller point I have: Let’s stop acting like ICNV is this masterminded, deceptive scheme to control the Irvine populace’s trust. I don’t deny that uninitiated people who receive ICNV on their doorstep might read through it and be influenced (if they don’t register the relatively obvious bias and election-time saturation immediately), but literally every time I’ve heard about ICNV outside of the newspaper itself (e.g. public comments, articles such as these) has been critical of its legitimacy, and any single Google search about it will reveal this. “Giving residents the impression of an impartial news source?” It’s hardly truthful to say people haven’t caught on.
Joshua Moore
November 5, 2024 at 10:18 amThere are other differences. ICNV is owned — largely by the Agran family. Watchdog is a volunteer-run non-profit. ICNV exists as a makeshift communications department for Larry’s political operations. Watchdog exists for the benefit of no candidate or councillmember. Our news pieces are news pieces. Opinion pieces can be submitted by anyone. We were being criticized a week before this was submitted that we weren’t covering ICNV. We said “submit an opinion piece.” They did. Now we’re being criticized for publishing this. But if the pro-Larry people want to submit an opinion piece about OCFA and Tammy (or whatever), we’ll consider that for publication, too. Try getting that deal from ICNV.
CCW
November 25, 2024 at 5:01 pmI wasn’t trying to criticize Irvine Watchdog with my comment. All I wanted to point out is that the bias so many people complain about in ICNV is evidently present in news sources like Irvine Watchdog, and with the Watchdog it just so happens that that bias tends to be anti-Agran. (I’ll admit you’re right that that anti-Agran bias isn’t an inherent problem with the Watchdog while the pro-Agran bias is inherent in ICNV; that doesn’t change the fact that bias is still present in both sources). You make a fair point, maybe one other difference I should’ve mentioned is that Irvine Watchdog is more like a glorified blog whereas ICNV probably functions more like a traditional, though ethically questionable newspaper; either way, my point still stands that the journalistic quality of both sources isn’t too different.
As to ICNV itself–I’m not so staunchly pro-ICNV as a lot of the other commenters here. It’s just, there wasn’t anything really new in this article that I haven’t heard about ICNV before. I just want to see more convincing evidence for your statement that “ICNV exists as a makeshift communications department for Larry’s political operations.” What’s the editorial process? Who selects the stories? What’s the history behind the newspaper itself? Who’s actually behind it, running day-to-day operations? How much money are the contributors making? What does Agran’s office have to say about it? What does ICNV have to say about it? This is all stuff an actual investigative journalism story would cover, and if you don’t want the criticisms from this comment section your contributors need to come in with that thoroughness to back up your claim.
wendy bokota
November 5, 2024 at 6:36 amI find it very funny that these people who have been spokespeople for Larry for his entire political career, over 30 years, and who write for the paper Larry owns, campaign for him, speak at city hall on his behalf, and criticize his opponent, find it so offensive when a concerned citizen does the same for a candidate they support, and for the first time by the way. I have not made a career out of this. I’m sorry you have spent your lives this way. They admit ICNV is biased towards Larry Agran and say that’s okay, but it’s not acceptable for anyone else to be biased towards their chosen candidate?
Harvey Liss is wrong about my intentions. But he’s never bothered to ask me. He claims to know me. There are many reasons why I think Larry Agran is not a good leader, has utilized shady practices and needs to be scrutinized. Am I not entitled to my opinion?
Harvey Liss calls me out for fighting against antisemitism in city hall and I am proud to do that, and will continue to do so. Larry and Harvey should be thanking me for that. They are both members of marginalized communities and should understand.
As for Harvey Liss’ motivation, he is still bitter that every issue he and Larry Agran have tried to fight against has lost, going all the way back to when they claimed escaped prisoners would be roaming around the campus of Portola High school. They fear monger and use ICNV to do just that. They have devoted their lives to finding the one winning issue, which changes every election cycle by the way. As for Dee, or Melissa, Fox, who served on council with Larry Agran way back in the day, she clearly is trying to live out her glory days and is upset someone challenges her. She has lied about me on multiple sites and clearly no fact checking is taking place. I make no money from anyone, I wish I did, and I have not been appointed to anything.i am a concerned citizen and I respect the residents of Irvine enough to alert them to questionable practices and think it’s fair to ask that inquiries be made. I believe Irvine Watchdog serves to bring questionable practices to light.
Joshua Moore
November 5, 2024 at 10:14 amSo, do you have a counter to the opinion expressed in this piece about ICNV? Seems like you’re deflecting.
Dee Fox
November 6, 2024 at 4:53 amWendy, why must you make up stuff? I am no relation to Melissa Fox. You want to find fault in everyone that supports Larry Agran….why? Can’t it just be that we support him for all his good work? You have not ONCE given a reason why anyone should support TAMMY KIM. I mean that was your intention, right? So why go off in left field when it didn’t help your cause? Vice-Mayor Larry Agran has now been elected by the majority of Irvine citizens to be our next Mayor! Time to get yourself a new victim!
Dee Fox
November 6, 2024 at 5:46 amBTW, Wendy Bokota, you may or may not now serve on a city committee but you most certainly did the last time I checked. And you sit on the board of two, supposedly, non-profits that has received community grant funds (taxpayer funds) by Tammy Kim and other council members, including Vice-Mayor Larry Agran. And if you really cared about the corruption going on in our city, why haven’t you called out TAMMY KIM and her EV Charging Stations deal that she lied about (which is all on video, so no disputing) that is costing the taxpayers over $1 million a year in lost revenue that she promised the city would receive? Why, Wendy? Is your obsession with Larry Agran clouding your judgement? Why won’t you be at least fair and address it? If Tammy worked in the private sector, she would have been fired! Council members are held to a higher standard, yet they also seem to be above the law, and Tammy Kim takes full advantage of that.
spe
November 8, 2024 at 11:34 pmFirst of all, shame on Irvine Watch Dog for letting this garbage written by Wendy Bokota to be posted. I see that this is the first “writing” she’s done for Irvine watch dog. She is someone who is disqualified in writing anything evidence based or factual. I don’t know if she knew someone in Irvine Watch Dog, and this site admin wasn’t aware of her ill intention and she slipped through or IWD was fully aware of her agenda and propensity to lie and smear, still chose her to write this. Either way it reflects very poorly on the quality of this digital media agency. Here is why.
Wendy Bokota seems to be in the business of going after anyone and everyone who opposes her views on Palestine/Israel. She’s Tammy Kim’s hitwoman. After my comments at the last city council meeting about Tammy and the genocide in Gaza, she reported a complaint against me to the FPPC, even though I’m not the proponent of the recall, and my name isn’t anywhere on it. She tracked down my personal email through cyberstalking and filed the complaint. It’s laughable how she tries to dress it up as a ‘public interest’ issue when it’s just her personal politics and vendetta. Such cringeworthy behavior. Fact finding or ethics is not her concerns and it never will be.
There is a reason Wendy Bokota wrote this piece and all other false accusation how ever ridiculous and baseless they may be, It is what Larry’s opponents do, leaving digital foot prints of libel, so that they can pull it again and again out of context, to weaponize the libel whenever they’d like hoping that most unassuming residents would not do further research. It is what a cohort of Larry’s political opponents and their supporters did this election year as well, repeatedly referencing 2015 article about the political smear attacks disguised as an audit, without ever telling people what happened after the fraudulent audit against Larry. They intentionally leave out the findings, that the state accused Cristina Shea and Stephen Choi of improperly selecting the auditing company, directing the audit instead of having the auditors conduct an independent review and even accused them of influencing the election. Aka running a smear campaign.
Then the auditors lost the accounting license due to its fraudulent practice.
https://information.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2015-116/responses.html?embedded_webview=true
This is the true intention of Wendy Bokota I believe. To leave a libel against Larry’s name on digital world on internet of things, so that anytime someone googles his name , this smear trash piece will pop up, and also to use it as a weapon in perpetuity.
Besides this malignant attempt to manipulate how Larry’s name will forever pull up with this horrible garbage libel, when someone googles his name in the future, in general there are only three tricks Larry’s opponents have going up their sleeves. Because they can’t attack his character nor record.
There are 3 smear tactics they use over and over, copy and paste every election year.
1.Attacking 4% share he has of Irvine News and Views.
That’s a classic, and another is
2.showing old smear campaign, but not sharing result of that where Larry was cleared and the accounting firm that did audit as a political attack lost it’s license and went bankrupt.
3. Another one is false claim that he moved veteran’s cemetery to Anaheim when it was Tammy that pushed for it.
Wendy Bokota should not be allowed to write any piece on IWD, other wise, I’d say the whole of Irvine Watch Dog belongs in trash.
Joshua Moore
November 12, 2024 at 1:19 pmWe accept submissions, including opinion pieces. But, speaking for myself, the critique of ICNV is fair. It does exist to do political messaging for Larry Agran, and it does masquerade as being an objective newspaper. Clearly a lot of you love Larry. I think he’s a good guy myself. But some of you will defend him and agree with him no matter what. I don’t think that’s healthy for our political discourse. And I don’t think that ICNV is, either.
spe
November 9, 2024 at 8:01 pmHow long does a comment await moderation? It seemed most comments were published on site relatively quickly from the time the article was written.
Joshua Moore
November 12, 2024 at 1:20 pmWe are a volunteer-run organization, and we all have busy lives. We do our best! Apologies for the wait.
Harvey Liss
November 13, 2024 at 12:07 amDee Fox has done a fabulous job of tearing apart and responding to each false or disparaging statement of Wendy Bokota’s comment. And I have some more:
Wendy Bokota’s statement “As for Harvey Liss’ [sic] motivation, he is still bitter that every issue he and Larry Agran have tried to fight against has lost,” is obviously not true. Irvine is Irvine because of Larry’s altruism, competence, negotiating skills and long-time service on the City Council as mayor and councilmember. He has won hundreds of battles over his many years of incredible service to the City. Why would you want to get rid of an elected official who has, with his creative and forward-thinking abilities, almost single-handedly (with help from his like-minded Council majorities), made Irvine great? Dee Fox listed a very few of Larry’s accomplishments that hugely benefited the City and its residents.
In addition to those Dee Fox listed, I can add a few more: Irvine’s enormous amount of open space resulted both from negotiation with The Irvine Company and its permanence from the Open Space Initiative that gives Irvine the distinction of being the City in Orange County with the highest percentage of parkland, and 10th in the nation when you consider accessibility to the residents. It was Larry’s idea to hire challenged workers in the mailroom and initiate Irvine’s recycling program. He successfully fought against Irvine’s building of City Hall on Quail Hill, that would have destroyed that wonderful open space. Another win, rather than a loss, was the County jail issue, when the County gave up building a maximum security jail and instead is building (or has built) a medium-security jail with a far smaller inmate population, as I understand it. Correct me if I’m wrong. Etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc.
The few issues Larry has lost have all been to the detriment, sometimes grave, of the City’s residents and workers:
1) Larry lost his battle to build Irvine’s 5th high school on an uncontaminated spot geographically central to its intended students, but IUSD followed FivePoint’s dictates that offered the current, contaminated location that is geographically inconvenient to its students because of its location at the geographic edge of its intended student population. In fact, it’s probably the worst location possible.
2) Larry recently lost the battle against adding 57,000 new housing units to Irvine, although that will likely be corrected if he can muster up a majority on the Council that’s interested in quality of life.
Lastly, I find it odd that I’m suddenly considered a Jewish antisemite because I oppose Israel’s murder of tens of thousands of Gaza residents. And that does a huge disservice to actual antisemites! But I also think I was considered anti-American when I opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Scott Hansen
November 17, 2024 at 7:45 amHi, Thank you to Irvine Watchdog, which didn’t write this article. We did. Watchdog was open to publishing it. Just as Watchdog publishes articles w/a different pov than ours. I feel Watchdog deserves credit.
I’m confident the Watchdog volunteers don’t agree w/everything we wrote. That’s ok. And it’s ok w/me if some readers disagree w/points we make, or our conclusions.
This article isn’t about Tammy Kim. Otherwise we would have published it weeks earlier. Before many voters already cast their ballots.
ICNV’ says it has 55k readers. From what I read on Reddit, etc., some folks have figured out, at election time, it operates as political advertising. But in my past experience as a candidate for City Council, several residents told me they didn’t know that. ICNV’ had misled them into believing it’s a normal community publication.
It’s wrong. It’s a scam to fool residents into voting for Mr. Agran and his slate. And I believe it’s a conspiracy to evade campaign finance laws.
So this fight isn’t going away. Kim was this year’s ICNV’ target. In the past it’s been Farrah Khan, Christina Shea, and others. I expect in the future Mr. Agran will use ICNV to go after other targets.
It’s time for this to stop. Irvine has higher standards.
Comments are closed.