Irvine could really use a clean slate
Copyright 2010 Orange County Register
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Orange County Register (California)
March 19, 2010 Friday
Funnelling city business to the politically connected has been found legal, but is unsavory.
The thing about Irvine Councilman Larry Agran is, he plays the political game so close to the line that someday he'll trip over it. Maybe it's time Irvine voters give him a pre-emptive push out of the arena.
Register Watchdog reporters Tony Saavedra and Sean Emery revealed in a recent story that businesses and individuals with economic interests with the city have given $696,115 in political contributions funding election slate mailers to support Mr. Agran and his allies since 2000. Of those contributors, 14 have received no-bid contracts for work on the Irvine/Agran-controlled Orange County Great Park. And 36 lawyers and consultants with business ties to the city also contributed to the slate mailers, which have been used to advance local ballot measures, prop up the campaigns of the Irvine City Council's majority: Mr. Agran, Councilwoman Beth Krom and Mayor Sukhee Kang.
The slate mailers have helped to keep Agran and his voting bloc in power for more than a decade, the story reported.
The political contributions to the slate mailers are not illegal under state and federal law, though they are a conniving way around local campaign contribution limits that the Irvine council, which limit donations to council candidates at $400 per person. Slate mailers are campaign literature backing several candidates or ballot measures.
What makes matters worse is the how overt the politicians and contract beneficiaries have been about their tactics. Like Edgar Allan Poe's tale of "The Purloined Letter," it all happens right in front of our eyes, in plain sight. "All of us know what Agran is doing. But the (Fair Political Practices Commission) let the guy go, and it's skewing elections," said county political activist Shirley Grindle, who has filed six complaints about the mailers. "What's the difference between a contribution to this slate mailer and a contribution to his campaign?"
Mr. Agran defends himself, saying he is motivated by working for the public benefit, not money, and that he has never paid a fine. The FPPC, the state's political campaign watchdog, has looked at the Irvine mailers and concluded they are legal, the story said.
All true enough. But we're reminded of when investor Warren Buffett stepped in to clean up Salomon Bros. during its scandals of the early 1990s. He told the bond brokers that the days of playing close to the line were over, and that they all darn well knew where the line was.
Similarly, the brazen insider dealing in Irvine needs to end. What should concern Irvine's elected officials is the perception of corruption and what impact that has on public confidence in the local government and in the businesses that seem to be engaging in insider dealings.
Political chicanery such as this ought to leave bitterly sour taste with voters - and they'll have a chance to do something about it this November.
