Orange County Elections : Developers Seek Defeat of Irvine Measure to Elect Mayor

Several major Orange County real estate and land developers have contributed more than $10,000 to defeat an Irvine ballot measure next Tuesday that would allow residents to directly elect the city’s mayor.

Measure E is supported by Mayor Larry Agran, who is a leader of a slow-growth movement. It has divided the City Council and triggered unprecedented campaign spending on a ballot issue in Irvine.

Opponents of the measure, led by Councilwoman Sally Anne Miller, have received $14,530 in contributions, including $2,500 each from two of Orange County’s largest land developers, Koll Co. of Newport Beach and Birtcher of Laguna Niguel, according to the latest campaign contribution statements filed with the Irvine city clerk’s office.

Both companies are active in the Irvine real estate market, and Birtcher plans to build a 750,000-square-foot office complex on 15 acres at Von Karman Avenue and the San Diego Freeway.

Accepting political contributions from the two companies is not illegal.

But Agran, who has said he is unsure whether he will run for mayor if Measure E passes, said the contributions are examples of “powerful outside special interest groups” trying to shape and influence Irvine government. Agran said developers are fearful of Measure E because they “have always hoped to have their mayor, somebody . . . who would be responsive to their agenda.”

For the first time since Irvine incorporated in 1971, growth is not universally embraced in this master-planned community. Agran and Councilmen Ray Catalano and Ed Dornan have formed a council majority that promotes slower growth as a way to grapple with the city’s worsening traffic and other growth pains.

Opponents of Measure E contend that Agran is pushing the initiative’s passage to extend his stay in office and implement his vision for the city.

The opponents include Miller and Councilman C. David Baker, the council’s principal growth advocates.

Currently, the City Council decides once a year behind closed doors who will hold the mayor’s post. If Measure E is approved by the city’s 47,391 registered voters, the first mayoral election will be next June. The mayor would be elected for two years, but the responsibilities assigned to the job and the pay would be no different from those of council members, City Atty. Roger Grable said.

But Miller said Measure E is the first step toward a full-time, salaried mayor and, more importantly, violates the spirit of a 1986 voter-approved initiative that limits council members to two consecutive four-year terms. If Measure E passes, Miller said, a council member could serve two terms on the council, then run for and serve as mayor, and then run again for council, a cycle that could be repeated indefinitely.

“It is a direct attack on the will of the people,” Miller said, “and that is why I went out and asked for money to defeat this. . . . I’m not ashamed of who contributed to this effort.”

As of Oct. 17, the Committee Against Measure E had received $14,530, all but $380 in cash contributions, according to City Hall records. Eleven contributions of $500 or more accounted for 95% of the committee’s money. The committee had spent $11,400, including $6,300 on campaign mailers and flyers and $5,000 on a political consultant. Miller said that does not include $1,000 spent by the Irvine Board of Realtors on newspaper advertising opposing Measure E.

Agran ‘Miscalculated’

Agran’s group, Irvine Citizens for “Yes” on Measure E, had received $3,096 in contributions, including a $2,021 loan from Agran and a $1,000 loan from Councilman Catalano. The committee had spent $4,062.97, mostly on mailers.

Agran acknowledged on Friday that he had “miscalculated” how much money the opposition would spend to defeat the measure. The mayor said he assumed that the two sides would submit ballot arguments and let the voters decide based on the merits of the issue. “I just never dreamed that special interests would . . . attempt to buy the election,” Agran said.

Robert Kiley, a Yorba Linda-based consultant hired by Citizens Against Measure E, said it is nearly impossible to run a campaign in a short period of time without large contributions.

In Irvine, there is a $250 limit on contributions to candidates in city elections, but there is no limit on the size of contributions for initiatives like Measure E.

(Besides Measure E, Irvine voters on Tuesday must decide whether to lower the limit on contributions for candidates from $250 to $150. But Measure F, as it is known, would not apply to ballot measures.)

In an attempt to muster opposition to Measure E, Miller said she went around to various groups, including business people, voicing her concerns. She said the response was overwhelming, particularly in the business sector.

Concern for Business Climate

“Irvine is a good place for business with a stable government,” Miller said. “But there is a lot of fear that this measure might undermine our City Council-city manager form of government. . . . There is concern that the strong business climate here could go away.”

Through separation of the office of mayor--arguably the most visible and influential in the city--from the rest of the council on the ballot, Miller said, the mayor could become more powerful and create conflicts with the city manager, who is charged with the city’s day-to-day operations.

Agran said he just wants to make the mayor in a city of 100,000 residents more accountable to the electorate.

Brandon Birtcher, a partner in the Birtcher company, said Measure E is a “bad law that circumvents” the two-term limit on council members and gives incumbents a distinct possibility of staying in office indefinitely. Birtcher added that developers are often more involved in local elections than are others of the business community because they deal with city officials almost daily in getting projects approved.

“We understand the intricacies and importance of local government, so we are interested in helping make it better,” Birtcher said.

Besides Birtcher and the Koll Co., the Bowlen Corp., a San Diego-based developer, and Clayton Williams & Sherwood Inc., a Newport Beach commercial property management company, contributed $2,500 each to Miller’s committee. Other big contributions included $2,000 from the Lincoln Club of Orange County, a private Republican group, and $1,000 each from Navajo Investments, an Irvine firm, and $1,000 from Glen Stillwell, a Newport Beach resident.