Bruce Nestande, Irvine and Three Proposed Freeways
Who is county Supervisor Bruce Nestande representing anyway?
I read with dismay the Times article (July 11) on Nestande’s move to bar Irvine from participating in policy-making discussions surrounding the fate of three new freeways proposed to run through Orange County. Nestande is angry that Irvine Mayor Larry Agran and the Irvine City Council majority saw fit to honor an initiative petition signed by over 10,000 Irvine residents. That petition called for a public vote on the county Board of Supervisors’ fee scheme to finance these freeways.
The Times, in the same article, noted that “many contributors to Nestande’s statewide and county campaigns are developers” in the Building Industry Assn., which sued to block a citywide vote in Irvine on this issue. Thus, some serious questions appear to have been raised about where Nestande’s allegiance lies.
While Agran and the Irvine council majority are clearly being responsive to their constituents’ desire to vote on this issue, one must wonder if Nestande is concerned primarily with whether this vote might be detrimental to the developers who are also his contributors.
The voters of Irvine want a say in this freeway matter. But Supervisor Nestande’s actions seem to be aimed at serving other interests.
RICHARD TRUBO
Irvine
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