LOCAL ELECTIONS IRVINE CITY COUNCIL : Candidates Are Divided Over Issue of Growth

As city residents see tile-roof houses and condominiums replacing citrus groves, the issue of growth has taken center stage among the candidates for City Council this November.

“The city is at a crossroads,” candidate Christopher B. Mears said. “We are either going to embark on a path of reasoned, managed, limited growth or continue at the record, breakneck pace of development that the council has marshaled in the last two years.”

But candidate George A. Gallaher, reflecting the views of others who welcome the growth, said the city’s expansion is both reasonable and beneficial.

“You have a master plan; the densities are all arranged,” Gallaher said. “Just build out to that and get it done with. Every time a new development comes in . . . the changes are good.”

Eight people are seeking two open seats on the council, with six others seeking to be the city’s next mayor. The only incumbent in the race is Paula Werner; the other two incumbents whose terms expire in November, including the mayor, are not seeking reelection.

The city’s growth is not the only subject the next council will have to grapple with, candidates said. The City Council will have to continue finding ways to maintain community services with limited funds and to entice businesses to stay in or move to Irvine.

But growth is the issue that divides the candidates.

Irvine’s General Plan, sometimes called the “master plan,” outlines a city that over the next 30 years will expand in land area as it annexes unincorporated land to the north and east and reaches a population of about 240,000. Irvine’s current population is about 110,000.

Mears, who as the former chairman of Irvine Tomorrow fought a losing battle to scale back the Irvine Co.’s Westpark II planned community now under construction, said he is convinced that residents would not endorse the city’s growth plans if asked.

Development has brought more traffic and more crime to Irvine, Mears said. Those problems will continue to worsen with future development unless residents decide to scale back the city’s plans for growth as outlined in the General Plan.

Council candidate Dale Peterson said Irvine likely will need growth limits as the only solution to worsening traffic problems. The current pace of growth, he said, is too rapid.

But Gallaher contends that new homes will keep home prices down and will shelter the increasing number of people who will move to the region regardless of whether housing is sufficient. Without planned development, the city will see more density and traffic but without the new streets that development would bring, he said.

Four other candidates running for the City Council seats, John Boardman, Kenneth Bruner, Christina Shea and Werner, said they believe the General Plan’s growth guidelines are workable, but that the city needs to carefully plan the new communities to accommodate the people and their cars.

Werner said that in her four years on the council, the public has never raised major concerns about the growth levels allowed in the General Plan. She said she does not believe the General Plan will be a major issue during the campaign.

Candidate Philip Bui could not be reached for his view on growth.

Mayoral candidates also are split on their views on city growth.

Albert E. Nasser said he would like to reduce the amount of growth allowed now under the General Plan. To maintain the city’s quality of life, future residential villages should never approach the density the City Council approved for the Westpark community in 1985, he said.

“It’s like putting a bunch of rats in a cage,” Nasser said. “The more rats you put in, the more hostile they become. Humans act the same way.”

Fellow candidate for mayor Marc Goldstone said he believes growth is creating problems for the city, but is uncertain whether residents oppose the growth.

To give residents a chance to decide how large the city should become, Goldstone said, future large residential development projects should be placed on the ballot with size options, including a no-build option.

If the Irvine Co. knew its projects had to go before voters, it would work harder to design residential villages with more benefits to current residents, he said.

The other four mayoral candidates, Helen Cameron, David Fondots, Leslie J. Racey and Michael Ward, disagree.

Irvine’s growth plan has “never been this big, deep, dark secret,” Ward said, reflecting the general view of the other four candidates for mayor. The General Plan should be modified if needed to enhance residents’ quality of life, the candidates said. But they see no need to revise the growth outlines in it.

Irvine Mayor and City Council

Six candidates are seeking the job of mayor and eight are running for two at-large seats on the City Council in the Nov. 3 election. The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 5. To register, pick up a form at any post office, library or city hall. For information, call the County Registrar of Voters at (714) 567-7600. Mayoral Candidates Helen Cameron

Age: 46.

Occupation: Business owner and executive.

Background: Served on the Irvine Unified School District Board of Education 1983-91; former schoolteacher; board member of the Industrial League of Orange County.

Issues: Advocates forming “focus groups” of residents to help determine city spending priorities; supports reviewing city regulations to determine their effects on businesses; supports expanding cooperative agreements with school district; opposes city mandates that builders provide a certain amount of affordable housing; believes a monorail system will not be financially possible soon. David Fondots

Age: 29.

Occupation: Owns and operates California Suntel, a long-distance telephone company.

Background: Two-year resident; served in the Army 1980-84.

Issues: Supports current building level outlined in the General Plan; opposes having a large number of commissions and wants to abolish Cultural Affairs Commission; opposes city subsidies for day-care businesses; opposes city mandates for affordable housing; opposes a monorail system unless it would be profitable. Marc Goldstone

Age: 36.

Occupation: Principal design engineer for Western Digital in Irvine.

Background: 14-year resident; lives in Woodbridge community; board member of the slow-growth Irvine Tomorrow group; was active in two citywide petitions opposing large Irvine Co. residential developments.

Issues: Supports requirement that every future large housing development obtain voter approval; favors requiring developers to pay more for city improvements necessitated by their developments; advocates regular Town Hall meetings to hear residents’ concerns; advocates residents’ review of the growth outlined in the General Plan. Albert E. Nasser

Age: 73.

Occupation: Part-time lawyer.

Background: 12-year resident; lives in San Joaquin Villas community; member of city’s former Helicopter Task Force; former Tulare County deputy district attorney.

Issues: Opposes the amount of building called for in the General Plan; opposes the City Council’s legal battle against residents trying to stop development; supports mass-transit proposals such as monorail and trolley service. Leslie J. Racey

Age: 65.

Occupation: Owner of retail business.

Background: Six-year resident; lives in Westpark community; master’s degree in engineering from USC.

Issues: Supports law that would require campaign donors to be city residents; supports city’s paying campaign costs; supports providing C-SPAN cable TV channel free to every resident; supports current development guidelines as outlined in the General Plan; supports a review of each business regulation to ensure it is still needed. Michael Ward

Age: 46.

Occupation: Regional salesman for metal-finishing manufacturers.

Background: Member of city Planning Commission; 12-year resident; lives in Woodbridge community; five-year member of the Woodbridge Village Assn. board of directors.

Issues: Supports level of development outlined in the General Plan; supports working with businesses to explore ways the city can help them; opposes idea of putting large development projects on the ballot; opposes building a fixed-guideway system in Irvine if it requires more taxes or fees.

City Council Candidates

John Boardman

Age: 42.

Occupation: Mechanical engineer for Southern California Edison Co.

Background: 10-year resident of Northwood.

Issues: Supports development guidelines outlined by the General Plan; opposes a tax on Northwood residents to build a linear park unless all city residents pay equally; opposes spending local money on a fixed-guideway transit project such as a monorail.

Kenneth Bruner

Age: 49.

Occupation: Aide to Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley.

Background: Member of city Transportation Commission; retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel; 13-year resident; lives in University Park community.

Issues: Supports plan to build underpasses at the Culver Drive and Jeffrey Road railroad crossings; supports creating “one-stop shopping” for businesses needing several city permits; believes Irvine should take leading role in a fixed-transit system such as a monorail; supports continued building as called for in the General Plan. Philip Bui

Age: 18.

Occupation: Student.

Background: Freshman biology student at UC Irvine.

Issues: Bui could not be reached and did not respond to telephone messages. George A. Gallaher

Age: 65.

Occupation: Civil engineer.

Background: 27-year resident; lives in the California Homes community; served in the Navy during World War II and the National Guard during the Korean War.

Issues: Opposes any slow-growth effort because of area’s housing needs; opposes any plan to reduce capacity of surface streets; supports future development as called for in the General Plan; opposes plans for a monorail through Irvine as a waste of money. Christopher B. Mears

Age: 41.

Occupation: Attorney.

Background: Former board member of Irvine Community Housing Corp.; former chairman of the slow-growth Irvine Tomorrow group; eight-year resident; lives in the Turtle Rock community.

Issues: Supports building a monorail through city as quickly as possible to reduce traffic congestion; opposes General Plan growth outline as too dense for the city; supports holding monthly Town Hall meetings with entire City Council to hear and discuss residents’ concerns. Dale Peterson

Age: 27.

Occupation: Retail store manager.

Background: 13-year resident; lives in the Ranch community; bachelor’s degrees in history and psychology from Cal State Fullerton.

Issues: Opposes current pace of city’s growth and supports growth limits; proposes a monthly city newsletter to keep residents informed; opposes any cuts in current community services; opposes government subsidies of affordable housing. Christina Shea

Age: 42.

Occupation: Partner in family-owned carwash consulting company.

Background: Chairwoman of the city Community Services Commission; board member of Irvine Child Care Development Center; 15-year resident; lives in Woodbridge community; leader of Irvine Values Coalition that successfully fought to remove homosexuals from list of groups protected by anti-discrimination ordinance.

Issues: Advocates evaluation of city government to find ways to reduce its size; proposes a “shop Irvine” program sponsored by businesses; favors beginning a local trolley system rather than building a fixed-transit system; advocates a plan to synchronize traffic signals and monitor traffic; favors using City Hall as a venue for artistic performances; opposes high-density residential development. Paula Werner

Age: 44.

Occupation: Incumbent.

Background: Elected to the City Council in 1990; former teacher; former press secretary to a U.S. senator; 11-year resident; lives in the Deerfield community.

Issues: Supports maintaining current programs such as arts, senior-citizen day care, sports facilities and child care; supports the city’s active involvement in regional planning groups; opposes building a monorail-like system until cities agree on how to pay for it and where the line will run; supports assigning a current employee to act as an ombudsman to help businesses through the permit process and to recruit new business.