“But it was not illegal.” Expect to here that defense often in coming months.
Dick Sim, a 30 year veteran of The Irvine Corporation who helped developed the Irvine Spectrum has had his deposition released. His deposition covers interactions with the Great Park Management during the 2004-2006 period when he served on the Great Park Board.
The Great Park started with a typical management structure, but an unusual structure was adopted shortly after Agran-Krom-Kang had the levers of power firmly in hand.
Instead of the Great Park Board being responsible for the planning, developing, and operating of the Great Park, the City Council took all those responsibilities. At the same time after that was approved, Larry Agran was the chairman and also in control of City Council and he wiped out the entire committee system. … He did it to make sure there was only one person in charge and that was him and that nobody had much to say about anything because everybody reported to him in effect
Dick raised concerns about this odd approach before 2006 and got a curious response:
No bidding, giving contracts to favored people there were referred to “FOL” that the city staff referred to privately as “Friends of Larry.” When that happened, also I mentioned to some of the concilmembers, particularly Chairman Agran, that this was an unethical way to do business and a bad business practice and I think his comments was “but it was not illegal“.
Consolidating control into a single set of hands unfortunately did not lead to better planning or operation.
We had a business plan and a budget in order to start the process of analyzing and developing the Great Park. When Larry Agran took over the business plan was tossed away, the committed system was tossed away, all the good business practices were tossed away. They were doing no-bid contracts and basically was an uncontrolled situation…When you don’t have any controls and you don’t have good business practices and you are not bidding contracts, money gets wasted and people get careless and it lends itself to you know, corruption.
Dick included with his deposition documents he had forwarded to the Great Park management over eight years ago that highlighted how the weak management structure could cause the planning process to go off the rails. His critique proved sadly prescient, as Voice of OC’s Adam Almahrek reports in his great summary of the Brendan McDevitt deposition: “Major parts of the Great Park Design were never constructible“.
You can read all of this for yourself. The City of Irvine helpfully keeps all of the released Great Park Depositions here
I do wanna thank Stu Mollrich for his public records requests and Beth Krom for demanding transparency. If there were no public records requests in, these depositions would not be trickling out like they are now. Be careful what you wish for Beth.
The Dick Sim deposition was a fascinating read.
Thanks for putting this together Tyler.
Those who are disappointed by the waste of money and the lack of progress with the Great Park aren’t aware of the big picture. The former El Toro Marine base was never meant to be converted to a world class park, as heavily advertised during the March 2002 election. The “Great Park” was placed on the ballot simply because it had the best polling numbers when it came to having absolutely positively anything at El Toro, except civilian reuse of an existing airport. Measure W passed because the denizens of 13 South Orange County cities were far more enthused about voting anti-airport than they were about actually voting for a park.
If Larry Agran and his allies truly wanted to build a decent park, it would have happened by now. This would not be the first time that an attempt was made to convert a former military airfield into a park. Crissy Field in San Francisco, and Magnuson Park in Seattle are examples of successful conversions.
The anti-airport leaders claimed they were out to protect the “quality of life” for their citizens from impacts like traffic. But their silence has been deafening when it comes to traffic from all the residential development in the former airport buffer zone.
The real reason for having non-aviation reuse at El Toro was to eliminate the former buffer zone once and for all. A “Great Park” was just a shiny distraction to serve such a political purpose. The idea of a “Great Park” should now be buried in the (recently approved) cemetery at the former base. Besides, what’s a few thousand more houses anyways?
*Tricky Ricky, sadly….we know the true story haven’t fought in those trenches for years. 1994….ever heard of it. Bill Krogerman and Candidte for NB City Council Tom Edwards met at a Speak up Newport Meeting at the Villa Nova Restaurant in June. The question was asked: “Mr. Krogerman, are you willing to consider a General Aviation solution for El Toro? How about making the current El Toro Facility downsized and made into to a strictly General Aviation Airport with limited take offs and landings and absolutely NO Commercial Air Service EVER?” Krogerman responded: “We would consider that without a doubt!” Well, the rest as they say is history. The Pro El Toro Airport Forces were getting a lot of back door money to guarantee that Irvine would become a destroyed environmental disaster…….and only when we proposed a $7 Billion
dollar Berline styled Aerodrome……did the pro El Toro International Airport Forces finally fold their tent. Agran has plenty of faults…..but don’t forget what could have happened without his “Halley’s Comet Strategy”.
The precedent I am aware of for diverting a proposed airport to instead be a park was Chino Hills.
Back in the mid to late 70’s there was talk in north county about shaving the top of the hills to make them a site for a new regional airport. Some north county folks got so concerned they organized a Chino Hills Park movement and got friendly legislators to introduce legislation in Sacramento to make the hills a State Park. That got done, and it killed the Chino Hills Regional Airport concept.
Fast forward 30-35 years and the same strategy worked to kill the concept of El Toro Regional Airport. In both cases, the primary goal was to permanently prevent the development of an airport. The park concept just happened to be the least controversial alternative use to propose for the injection of public funds and since that diversionary tactic worked so well for Chino Hills, why not the same concept to kill the El Toro airport ideaA?. If only someone like George Argyos or General William Lyon had bid on the El Toro property and bought it for a privatized regional airport.
As for the mis-management of the great park millions and millions it should be criminal if it isn’t. Talk about a public policy failure! Politicians passing out public funds to their friends is nothing new, but this one is so extreme as to be almost unbelievable.
*OBNO, you have some interesting thought balloons that jog our memory banks….a bit. The truth is – Chino was never a real choice because that required a Monorail System to get folks from North/South OC there in a timely manner in order to make it worthwhile. The true Alternate Choice was Christianitos…..the valley behind San Ohofre. Which is still some strawberry fields without a future. Christianitos had two failings…(1) The Surfers did not
want to breathe 160 Octane Aircraft Fuel and (2) It was in too close a proximity to the then active Nuclear Facility. So, even though that would have impacted our environment and society least…..it was not chosen as “The Alternate of Choice”. The prevailing Logic was of course: “How can we make an International Airport – on the cheap?” Argryos and Lyon were Air Cal people remember? They had already sold out to American….they were one and done. Their interest was in the develop cash to follow. Lots of billions for the the local boys…..or at least 25% of it. Krogerman actually had two choices: (1) Go with the Park Concept and get Agran and Company on board or (2) Try Plan “B” for a joint use small General Aviation airport, which would move all General Aviation from JWA and then try to build a Sports Park Complex. It was a way too big thought process for the greedy developer group of Orange County. It might have happened in LA……not behind the Orange Curtain…..where only “the Orange Grove” is a honored reality.
*The Good News: No Hot Air Balloon rides were suggested.
Ronny,
you miss the point. Yeah we get it, that you hated the idea of continued used of El Toro as an airport. The “Great Park” was a cute shiny way to get to people to vote for non-aviation. Mission Accomplished.
Just don’t expect a world class park. Not going to happen. Magnuson Park in Seattle and Crissy Field in San Francisco were able to be successfully converted on former airfields, the Great Park has been an epic failure. So lets stop pretending the former base will ever be a park of any world class significance.
Expect even more housing, The absolute biggest reason for no airport reuse is The Irvine Company worked behind the scenes along with Chris Cox to see that it would never happen. More housing = more bucks. Doesn’t matter whether Newport Beach overreached on the airport or not. Behind the scenes, come hell or high water, the surrounding acreage zoning was going to get changed to residential. Killing the airport the did just that.
*Thanks for the “put” on this. No doubt, that is why they call everything a “political process”. Little doubt that Donald Bren thinks of himself as “Old Man Potter” from “A Wonderful Life”. Their power is immense and we wouldn’t doubt your read or report as stated. We have found however, that even “the great ones” can fall from time to time. Lyon, Moisio and other still are pulling those chains occasionally every “Ghost of Christmas Past”. Joan Irvine Smith……as well. Sometimes their own in fighting has some great unintented consequences. In this case….the current PR is a huge impediment to any Mega-Irvine Commercial/Residential joint use at the “Great Bark – No Bite”. We are still trying to figure out how or why the concept of a Veterans Cemetary there was thrown into the mix. The Vet Cemetary really belongs outside of the District by the Blimp Hangers. Plenty of land their too…eh? So ask yourself this one: Which developers are plowing the Blimp Hangers into Commercial/Residential joint juse? Meanwhile, back at “the Great Bark”, we keep waiting for the International Weiner Dog Races to arrive next year. Maybe the Do Dah Parade can come down for a command performance right after Christmas…eh?
I can address that one, Ron. It’s not near the hangars because Tustin has already committed that land for other purposes.
It came up here because (1) Vets like Bill Cook have been pushing for it for years, then (2) Sharon Quirk-Silva got the appointment to Chair the Vets committee and wanted to do something good with it (for vets and for OC), and (3) the loss of the Council Majority moved Agran from a position of trying to push through his original Grand Plan to trying to recoup the best he could from the process. Take away any one of those factors and it doesn’t happen. We got lucky — which of course means preparation as well as opportunity.
*Dr. D., we would love to agree with you and offer our best to all that put their two cents into the issue. We would be pleased as punch……to dance the night away in their behalf. However, as pappy said: “It ain’t done til it’s done!”