IRVINE : City to Review Role in Failed Investment Pool

The City Council today is scheduled to review a 594-page report on the actions of city officials in relation to the failed county investment pool.

The review was postponed from an April 13 meeting at which weary audience members waited until 1:20 a.m. to take part in a discussion on the report, almost nine hours after the meeting began. This time, council members have made it the first order of business.

“We’re going to do it right after the consent calendar,” Mayor Michael Ward said. “People have now had a lot of time to read it, and this will give them the opportunity to comment publicly.”

The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m.

Former Democratic congressional candidate Gary Kingsbury has targeted Ward, along with council members Barry J. Hammond and Paula Werner, for recall. He has criticized them for voting last summer to borrow $62 million to make an additional investment in the county pool. Council members Christina L. Shea and Greg Smith voted against the plan.

Kingsbury offered to drop the recall drive if the council fired City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. and Finance Director Jeff Niven.

But Ward said the report concludes that no city officials broke any laws or violated any city policies. “The City Council can only hire and fire the city manager and the city attorney,” Ward said. “There’s no cause for firing either of them.”

Shea has expressed concerns about information in the report that she says indicates city staff members reported a $319,000 increase in the cost of the $62-million loan one day after the investment was made. If the increased cost had been known earlier, Shea said, the City Council might have rescinded approval of the investment plan.