In 1993, when the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was decommissioned and set to be closed, it set off a debate that dominated Orange County politics through the remaining years of the 90s: Should that space be an airport?
When all was said and done, about $80 million of public funds was spent from both camps, those who favored the airport and those opposed. It was Irvine and the surrounding cities that emerged victorious, and the airport plan was canned.
While voters in 2001 approved the installation of the Great Park in the space of the Marine base, a project meant to rival New York’s Central Park, San Francisco’s Golden State Park and San Diego’s Balboa Park, efforts to bring the Great Park plans to fruition have been politicized through the years.
On Tuesday, June 27, Councilmember Tammy Kim attempted to dissolve the board that oversees the Great Park plan development and implementation, saying it is “an outlet for added controversy and confusion.”
In 2003, a nonprofit organization, the Orange County Great Park Corporation, was created “to receive, develop, and operate property and improvements,” according to its articles of incorporation in the Great Park area. Its board is comprised of the mayor and councilmembers and provides recommendations that the same people then vote on.
Hence the board, Kim said in a memo, “constitutes a waste of taxpayer money.”
All members of the Great Park board receive a stipend of $880 a month, meaning that $52,800 of taxpayer dollars is budgeted annually for this. Additionally, taxpayer money is spent on staff time for board meetings and creating the agenda.
“I am on a board recommending something to me,” Kim said. “And I get a stipend for that.”
Residents have also complained, Kim said, saying they are “confused” by the two separate meetings: Irvine City Council meetings and the Great Park board gatherings.
Another concern Kim raised is what she called a lack of oversight governing the…
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