Irvine Mayor in Eye of Direct-Vote Storm

Irvine will become the sixth city in Orange County to directly elect its mayor if voters pass a Nov. 3 ballot measure that has divided the City Council and focused new attention on outspoken Mayor Larry Agran and his political plans.

Agran and council colleagues Ray Catalano and Ed Dornan are the chief proponents of Measure E, which would give voters the choice of mayor. Currently, the council decides once a year behind closed doors who will hold the post.

Measure E, Agran contends, would eliminate the “demeaning process of back-room wheeling and dealing” that often accompanies the council’s mayoral pick. Proponents also say the measure would make the job of mayor, which is one of the city’s most visible and--arguably--powerful posts, more accountable to the electorate. Residents would vote every two years for a mayor, unlike four years for a council seat.

‘An American Tradition’

“It is an American tradition to elect your own leaders, locally and nationally,” Agran said.

But opponents, led by Councilwoman Sally Anne Miller, warn that separating the office of mayor from the rest of the council on the ballot is a “dangerous move” that will lead to a full-time, salaried mayor. They also argue that it will undermine the council-city manager form of government, heaping new responsibility--and power--on the mayor and setting up a potential conflict with the city manager, who is charged with directing day-to-day city operations.

More important, say Miller and members of a well-financed group of residents and business people opposed to Measure E, it violates the spirit of a two-term limit set last year.

Voters overwhelmingly approved a plan limiting members of the council to two consecutive four-year terms in an attempt to prevent incumbents from becoming entrenched in office. But under Measure E, Miller contends, an individual could remain on the council indefinitely, serving eight years on the council, then four years (or two terms) as mayor and then running again for council.

‘Attack on the Will of the People’

“Measure E is a direct attack on the will of the people. . . . The voters of this city wanted to ensure that new faces and new ideas would have a chance to run this city by limiting an incumbent to two terms,” Miller said. “Now, somebody is trying to change that. . . . And I resent that.”

Miller and others say that “somebody” is Agran, a bright, politically shrewd mayor who has fashioned a powerful political base by tapping into widening concerns about the city’s rapid growth, traffic problems and need for independence from the city founder, the Irvine Co.

Agran is in his third term on the council and is mayor for the fourth time. Catalano, Dornan and Agran have formed a council majority that is pushing for slower growth, and some suggest that Measure E is a stab at keeping Agran’s group in control as long as possible.

“They are trying to enhance their chances of staying in office,” said Doreen Benton, president of the 1,000-member Irvine Board of Realtors. “This city is relatively small. Why do we need this big-city-style government?”

Agran said Irvine is no longer a fledgling community but a city of nearly 100,000 residentswith a national reputation for urban planning. As a result, he said, the mayor is often the “chief spokesperson” on issues.

“If something happens,” Agran said, “the mayor is the first person called. . . . It’s an important position that needs direct accountability.”

But Clark Goecker, assistant director of the Sacramento-based California League of Cities, said it is difficult to hold a mayor responsible for the actions of a full council.

“How can you hold the mayor accountable for something if the rest of the council votes on it?” Goecker said. “Only if the mayor is given extra authority does that argument stand up.”

No Pay Increase

In Irvine, Measure Ewould only change the way the mayor is selected, not his job description or pay, City Atty. Roger Grable said. The mayor and council members currently receive a $600 stipend monthly.

If the city’s 47,931 registered voters agree, the first mayoral election will be held next June.

A year ago, nearly 78% of the city’s voters endorsed the idea of a directly elected mayor when the council put the issue to an advisory vote. That vote resulted in Measure E.

In Orange County, voters directly elect mayors in five cities--Anaheim, Garden Grove, Orange, Santa Ana and Westminster. Statewide, voters in about 28% of the 444 cities elect mayors, said Goecker.

Councilman C. David Baker said he supports the direct election of a mayor.

But Baker has joined Miller in opposing Measure E, claiming that it gives incumbents a decided edge at election time. He said it is not a fair system because a council member can run for mayor without resigning his seat. The incumbent, therefore, could lose the mayor’s race but remain on the council.

“It gives the incumbent a free pass to take a stab at another office without risking anything,” Baker said. He favors a requirement that council members must step down before seeking the mayor’s job. “That’s the only equitable way.”

From the start, Miller said she has opposed the direct-election idea. The mayor, she said, is simply one of five members on the council setting policy for the city, and the mayor’s duties should be ceremonial: ribbon-cuttings, speeches and pancake breakfasts.

“The current system works just fine,” Miller said. “We’ve become a model city, so why do we have to change things?”

Catalano, however, said Measure E will eliminate the deal making that currently goes on among council members.

“The only thing that changes--and I have no reason to deceive anyone--is that the (selection of mayor) is taken out of the hands of five council persons, who, let’s face it . . . do the nastiest kind of politics over who gets to be mayor,” Catalano said.

Robert Kiley, a Yorba Linda-based political consultant hired by Citizens Against Measure E., said they will have distributed 20,000 flyers by election day. A speakers bureau also has been organized to dispatch people to talk to local clubs and groups about the issue, and one mailer, costing approximately $3,000, already has been mailed, committee chairman Rich Salter said.