3 Measures on Irvine Ballot to Be Debated

Residents for and against the Irvine Co.’s proposed 3,850-home Westpark II development will argue its merits Thursday evening during a debate on the three Nov. 5 ballot measures.

A referendum for Westpark II--which will appear as Measure B on the ballot--was scheduled after the residents group Irvine Tomorrow collected enough signatures last January to overturn the council’s earlier approval of the housing project.

The debate, sponsored by the local chapters of the League of Women Voters and the American Assn. of University Women, will be held from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. at City Hall. Also covered in the debate will be the two other measures that will appear on the Irvine ballot. The debate will be shown live on local cable Channel 3.

The main issue to be debated will be the Westpark II referendum. If residents vote down Measure B, the Irvine Co. would be forced to rewrite its development plans for Westpark II or wait at least a year before submitting the same plans for city approval.

Arguing in support of Measure B will be Richard Israel, a leader of a group called “Yes on B and C--Save Our Open Space” that formed to campaign for the Westpark II development. Arguing against the measure will be Mary Ann Gaido, a former city councilwoman and Irvine Tomorrow member.

The two will also discuss the related Measure C, which the council placed on the ballot as a non-binding advisory measure.

Measure C will ask residents whether they still support the 1989 Open Space Agreement. The agreement between the city and Irvine Co., which voters endorsed in a 1988 initiative, requires the company to give up about 9,000 acres of open space, mostly in the hills surrounding the city, in return for development rights on about 9,000 acres of flatter land.

Both Israel and Gaido will speak in support of Measure C, but from different perspectives.

Supporters of Measure B say that if residents oppose development in the form of Westpark II, they must then oppose the open space agreement. Irvine Tomorrow, however, says that the open space agreement does not require residents to accept whatever development plan the Irvine Co. brings before the city.

The third measure, Measure A, will be debated by two members of the city’s former Election Reform Committee, which drafted the plan. The measure offers voters a potential solution to an election law that potentially leaves a City Council seat open immediately following a council election.

An open seat arises when a council member two years into his or her term runs for and wins the mayor’s seat. Since that person’s council seat was not being filled during that election, a council seat becomes open after the person takes over as mayor.

Measure A would change the law to allow voters to choose a third council candidate--an extra above the normal two--during elections when a mid-term council member runs for mayor. If the sitting council member is elected mayor, the council candidate receiving the third-highest number of votes would fill the newly opened seat.