ELECTIONS ’88 : Agran Calls Irvine Vote ‘Validation’ of His View

When Larry Agran was first elected to the Irvine City Council in 1978, his was the lone liberal voice on the conservative panel. Ten years later, Agran has emerged as the leader of a 4-1 slow-growth majority.

Irvine voters Tuesday elected two Agran allies, Paula Werner, 40, and Cameron Cosgrove, 30, to the council. As an added bonus, Agran, 42, the city’s appointed mayor since 1986, was named Irvine’s first elected mayor by an almost 2-1 margin over challenger Barry Hammond.

“It represents voter validation of the course we have been pursuing for the past two years to exercise greater restraint in growth and development,” Agran said.

The council had been split between Agran and Ed Dornan versus Sally Anne Miller and C. David Baker. UCI professor Ray Catalano represented the swing vote. Miller, who has been on the council for four years, was reelected Tuesday by a slim margin; Baker, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination in the 40th Congressional District, and Catalano were outgoing council members. Dornan’s seat was not up for reelection.

‘Four Larry Agrans’

Miller, 50, said the new council will be made up of “four Larry Agrans.”

“My influence will be minimal if I am just one vote,” a somber Miller said. “But that doesn’t mean I will be silent.”

Agran’s control could be diminished because Cosgrove’s place on the council is open to challenge. Since he finished third behind Werner and Miller, Cosgrove completes the remaining two years of Agran’s term. Under a new measure approved Tuesday, voters can petition for another election for seats vacated by someone who is elected mayor. The petition must carry the signatures of 7% of Irvine’s registered voters--about 3,000 signings--and would have to be submitted by July 15.

Thus, Cosgrove could face an election challenge as early as November.

The fourth runner-up candidate, William A. (Art) Bloomer, 55, a Miller ally, indicated Wednesday that either he or Baker would petition for a new election. Bloomer, retired commanding general of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, said he would bow out of the race if Baker decided to try to get back on the council.

Baker said Wednesday that he is not inclined to seek a council seat, but he added: “I’ve learned that you can never say never.”

An elated Agran said at a post-election party at his University Park home Tuesday night that the election results represented a public mandate for his sometimes-controversial administration. He said the new council would move swiftly to stamp its imprint on the city.

One immediate action, he said, would be for the new council to rescind a council decision to extend Yale Street over the San Diego Freeway and a railroad crossing. That action in the fall drew protests from hundreds of affected homeowners. They joined in a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court that challenged the legality of the proposed overpasses.

Agran, a lawyer, said the new council will also move to adopt his proposed human rights ordinance, which has drawn heated protests from some members of the community because it includes anti-discrimination protection for gays. The ordinance will come up for a vote at Tuesday’s council meeting.

Agran’s opponents said the mayor’s faction may have difficulty pushing through some of its programs because the faction has alienated development interests. Under Agran’s direction, the city joined in lawsuits that challenged county-authorized developer agreements and prevented developer interests from knocking the slow-growth initiative off the county ballot.

Michael Shea, an unsuccessful council candidate, said the new council could face difficulty, for instance, in negotiating with the Irvine Co. to acquire 5,000 more acres of permanent open space that were authorized by Irvine voters in their passage of Measure C Tuesday.

Whatever happens in the future, Cosgrove said the new council will reflect the wishes of residents: “The residents, after years of living under aggressive development under a pro-growth council, have now turned it around. This will be a true pro-resident-oriented council.”