Mayor highlights Irvine’s successes
Citing an array of statewide and national recognition for civic and business success, with only cursory mention of traffic congestion and Great Park development challenges, Irvine Mayor Steven Choi delivered “a snapshot of our accomplishments and our goals” in his State of the City address Tuesday night.
Choi noted the city’s retention of semiconductor giant Broadcom, along with Masimo and Allergan as vital Irvine businesses that considered moving elsewhere. The mayor even took a little personal credit as “an unpaid consultant.”
He called attention to the Irvine Valley Tech Initiative, which he calls InnoVine, as a progressive cradle for seven carefully selected start-up tech companies that Choi said “will be incubated and nurtured until they succeed.”
The list of honors presented in the half-hour speech included Irvine as the No. 1 city in 24/7 Wall Street’s 2014 listing of Best Run Cities, No. 1 in California for Money Magazine’s Best Places to live, and No. 1 Safest City with a population over 100,000 for the 10th year in a row, based on FBI statistics on violent crime.
“Irvine is one of America’s best-run cities,” said Choi with a nod to his fellow City Council and staff members as well as law enforcement officials. “That is a tribute to those who work for the city of Irvine and a challenge to keep the bar raised very, very high.”
Recognizing UC Irvine, Concordia and Irvine Valley College along with a number of other higher education satellite campuses within city limits, Choi emphasized the role of the business community partnering with local institutions as Irvine gets set to host the 2015 International Solar Decathlon in October.
The City Council previously approved a $200,000 grant to Team Orange, made up of students from around Orange County, for this year’s event.
The issue of growing traffic congestion was addressed with only the mention of the council’s recent directive of a traffic study to assess problems.
Despite a year of controversy over Great Park expenditures and lack of development over the past decade, Choi emphasized progress that will produce a 175-acre sports complex to be completed within five years.
The facility is to include dozens of ball fields, soccer pitches and tennis, basketball and volleyball courts. The mayor also cited the construction of a 187-acre golf course and 178-acre wildlife corridor to fill out the 688-acre Great Park.
On the subject of expenditures, Choi said only, “The final report of the forensic audit regarding the Orange County Great Park is expected to be completed soon.”
Development for the Cultural Terrace featured a rallying cry for the mayor’s pet project, a metropolitan central library that city staff reported in a presentation earlier this month could cost up to $220 million.
“We are a diverse community of many pieces,” Choi stated, “but a city of one heart.”