Newport / Costa Mesa / Irvine : IRVINE : Council Stepping Up Meetings During Crisis

The City Council agreed Tuesday night to meet once a week in reaction to the county’s fiscal crisis and will issue twice-weekly news releases to keep residents informed.

Council members said they want to take a high-profile approach to Irvine’s $209-million investment in the county pool.

The council decision mirrors actions of the Irvine Unified School District board, which on Monday agreed to meet each week and issue news releases three times a week. The school district has $102 million in the county investment portfolio.

Irvine and the school district are the top investors among all cities and school districts in the county pool. And both have imposed a freeze on hiring and “non-essential” spending. But school and city leaders continue to say they anticipate no cutbacks in services for the remainder of the fiscal year.

“You’re not going to see a reduction of service levels in the community at this time,” said City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. at Tuesday night’s meeting.

With $300 million invested in the county pool by the Irvine Ranch Water District, recent estimates of a 27% decline in the portfolio’s value amount to a total loss of $165 million for the three Irvine agencies.

Peer Swan, water district board president, says the district has $130 million in other accounts which will fund three years of operations and debt service. Irvine Mayor Michael Ward said the city has $80 million on deposit in the state investment pool.

But school board President Tom Burnham said the school district needs access to investment fund money to make a $54.5-million debt payment due in June.