Irvine mayor’s State of the City address outlines road projects, tech council and hopes for central library

Praising Irvine’s accomplishments in the past year and detailing expectations for 2016, Mayor Steven Choi delivered a message of pride and optimism in his State of the City address Tuesday night.

Addressing traffic congestion concerns and development at the Orange County Great Park, the mayor outlined several road-widening projects and highlighted the park’s upcoming state-of-the-art ice facility in partnership with the Anaheim Ducks hockey team.

Choi also passionately expressed his desire for the Great Park Cultural Terrace to include a library that he said should be the center of community development.

Choi spotlighted community safety, economic prosperity, education and population diversity in his 40-minute speech. Along the way, the mayor acknowledged city government colleagues and leaders in law enforcement, business development and schools.

“Our success belongs to many people, including community organizations, the private sector, our residents, our commissioners and committee members and our city employees,” Choi told the standing-room-only audience in the City Council chamber at the Irvine Civic Center.

The mayor noted that for the 11th consecutive year, Forbes magazine listed Irvine as America’s safest city among those with a population of more than 100,000. The distinction is based on FBI statistics for violent crimes reported per capita.

The bulk of Choi’s message centered on a glowing economic outlook for the city that includes a $10.9 million surplus in the operating budget from last fiscal year and a blossoming high-tech industry. Choi has developed the Irvine Tech Valley initiative over the past two years and announced the formation of the Irvine Tech Advisory Council, or iTAC, to help advance the local technology community. The new council will include what he called “technology stakeholders.”

Choi praised the Irvine Unified School District for its students’ top ranking in standardized state math scores and No. 2 ranking in arts and literacy. He also recognized UC Irvine, Irvine Valley College and the satellite campuses of Chapman, Pepperdine, Concordia, USC and other universities for their efforts in advancing higher education.

After what may have been Choi’s last State of the City address — he’s running for a seat in the California Assembly this year — the mayor discussed why funding for the library is so important to him.

“Any reputable city with a cultural background and intelligence will have a library as a central focal point of the community,” said Choi, who has a degree in library sciences from Louisiana State University. He noted as examples the central libraries in Newport Beach, Huntington Beach and Santa Monica, along with those in London, New York and Chicago.

Early cost estimates for building and operating a central library in Irvine are more than $200 million.