ORANGE COUNTY VOICES : Is Pioneering Spirit History in Irvine? : Only time will tell if Sally Anne Sheridan will continue the tradition of innovation set forth by Larry Agran.

Now what? That seems to be the most frequently asked question in Irvine these days. After a hard fought and down to the wire campaign, Irvine Mayor Larry Agran narrowly lost his bid for reelection to Councilwoman Sally Anne Sheridan. Along with Sheridan’s victory comes a new council majority composed of her allies, Art Bloomer and Barry Hammond who each won a seat on the City Council. Mayor-elect Sheridan, a real estate agent in her sixth year on the Irvine council, has said, “It’s time for a change.”

Unfortunately, this was not an election based solely on issues. It was about partisan politics and personalities. You know how it is in Orange County: The Republicans are the good guys and the Democrats are the bad guys. Sheridan’s campaign talked about being a Republican. I’m a Republican, too, but that shouldn’t matter in a nonpartisan race.

Based on the campaign Sheridan waged, it’s difficult to know what she intends to do as mayor, but her campaign was clear on one point: Vote against Agran because he’s a liberal Democrat (code words for “he’s a bad guy”). The Lincoln Club--an elite group of Republicans based in Fullerton, largely supported by money from developers--spent $25,000 in last-minute mailers, joining Sheridan in getting that point across.

I’ve lived in Irvine for 23 years, and I know Irvine issues: growth, traffic, open space and parks, and public safety. But instead of being exposed to the candidates’ positions on these issues, voters were exposed to a media feeding frenzy of personal attacks, most of them aimed at Agran. The candidates for City Council--I was one of them--were virtually ignored.

No wonder there is uncertainty about the direction of this new council majority. Partisan politics obscure the issue-oriented and nonpartisan.

So just what can we expect from this change in leadership in Irvine? Can we really expect a change away from the Agran agenda? I don’t think so. I have served on the council with Agran and Sheridan for the last two years. Under Agran’s leadership, Irvine was the first city in Orange County to begin a curbside recycling program that now involves 70% of Irvine’s eligible households. Agran established the county’s first hazardous materials management and emergency cleanup program in Irvine, which has now been transferred to the county for broad implementation.

The council also adopted the first local policy in the nation that mandates affordable, quality child care in response to demands created by the two wage-earner families that dominate Irvine’s population. A volunteer “second harvest” is under way, where residents join with Irvine’s farmers to glean more than 100,000 pounds per year of fresh fruit and vegetables for Orange County families who cannot afford to put food on the table.

All these programs were built with a nonpartisan approach and have stood the test of time.

And then there’s the environment. Irvine has become known as America’s “environmental city”--an urban community where one-third of the land is planned as open space; where the San Joaquin marsh--590 acres of the last remaining freshwater wetlands in Orange County--is being saved through city leadership coupled with state and private funds.

Irvine is also addressing water conservation through an environmental approach to the landscaping of public areas. The council has adopted a policy of doubling the number of trees in the city by the year 2000. We’re even meeting the challenge of reducing emissions of chlorofluorocarbons.

Now, under Irvine’s newly elected regime, Sheridan says she will, “get back to basics” and return city government to the business of “filling potholes.” Yet the successful programs of recent years have benefited all of us. Programs like these would be difficult for any City Council to dismantle. So, what’s going to change?

The most obvious shift in direction may be the approach to new development. The council under Agran took growth control as a mandate from the voters and approved fewer than 3,000 new dwelling units. This may change under Sheridan. Repeatedly, she has contended that approval of the pending Irvine Co. projects, totaling nearly 12,000 new dwelling units in Irvine, is the most effective way to combat a severe shortage of housing.

Another significant, but more subtle, change can be described as “initiative.” Larry Agran thrived on taking the initiative. He is a modern-day pioneer with the arrows in his back to prove it. Losing the election was the political price he paid for being first. Never mind that 95% of the programs he initiated stand out as hallmarks in Irvine’s history.

Or that cities throughout Orange County followed in his footsteps.

The most recent example of Mayor Agran’s initiative is his proposed Irvine monorail project. Orange County needs a mass transit system that gets commuters to and from work quickly, inexpensively and without polluting our air. Agran wanted Irvine to be first. So he led the charge to include the Irvine monorail project in the statewide Rail Bond issue in Proposition 116.

As a result of Agran’s work and the passage of Proposition 116, Irvine is eligible for $125 million in matching funds.

Irvine’s new council is faced with picking up where Agran left off. Only time will tell if Sheridan will continue the Agran tradition of initiative and innovation. For Irvine’s sake, I hope she does.