Irvine council: Ex-Mayor Agran must appear before judge in Great Park deposition tussle

Longtime City Council member and three-time Irvine Mayor Larry Agran must go before an Orange County Superior Court judge because he didn’t show up for a scheduled deposition on the Great Park audit.

The city also is seeking to recover legal fees after Agran did not comply with a subpoena to testify last week.

“I think it’s very important to note, no other witness in this audit has failed to appear at their deposition in violation of a subpoena,” said special counsel Anthony Taylor, who is representing the city through the legal firm Aleshire & Wynder, at a special City Council meeting Monday.

An audit of more than $200 million in Great Park expenditures since 2005 was instigated in January 2013. The original council approval of $450,000 for the audit has ballooned to $1.2 million and the audit has dragged on for months.

So far more than 20 contractors and city officials have been deposed in the audit.

Agran was served with a subpoena on Dec. 23, a little more than a month after he was voted out of office as a City Council member. Agran responded with a 10-page objection filed on Jan. 15 stating he was not personally served with the subpoena and, while issuing some requested documents, arguing other records were already in control of the City Council.

Taylor said his office tried to work with Agran to set a date for his deposition, but indicated the former City Council member was evasive and insisted he wanted his lawyer present and the city to pay for his legal fees.

“Mr. Agran did not provide a date for his deposition,” Taylor said in the meeting, “Instead, Mr. Agran requested he be provided written questions rather than oral questions at a deposition.”

A second subpoena was issued Feb. 12, setting the deposition date for Feb. 25. Agran responded with an email six days later indicating he had a scheduling conflict and requested a date between March 18 and 27. Without such a concession, neither Agran nor his lawyer showed up for the deposition, which was nonetheless recorded and filed on the city record.

“The whole thing was manifestly unfair,” said Agran, reached after the meeting Monday. “It was too short a time to prepare answers for events that transpired over eight years.”

“If and when I give testimony, it will be with an adequate time to prepare to testify accurately,” Agran said.

A handful of speakers rose to Agran’s defense during the public comments portion of the meeting, echoing long-standing sentiments that the audit was a “political witch hunt” aimed at removing the 28-year councilman from office.

Councilwoman Beth Krom also defended Agran, noting his lawyer offered a window in late March to schedule a deposition. Taylor responded that his office did attempt to cooperate with Agran on scheduling a date, but there was no response before the second subpoena was issued on Feb. 12.

Ultimately the council voted 4-1, with Krom dissenting, to have the case sent to Superior Court. No date for Agran’s appearance has been set.