Morton Irvine Smith, an actual member of the family that gave the city of Irvine and the sprawling ranch before it their names, wants to be mayor of Irvine.
Smith also holds the, erm, distinction of being among those cited in the Weekly's “Son of Scary” list of Orange County's Scariest People of 2002.
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Son of Scary: Evil spawn of OCs Scariest People
There is no mention of that, uh, honor in the Smith bio included in his campaign announcement released Tuesday. That lists his roles as CEO of Irvine Capital Holdings, managing director of Regency Capital Partners and board memberships with Crystal Cove Conservancy, Irvine Museum and Capistrano Valley Conservancy. He was also chairman of the San Juan Capistrano Traffic Commission and a founding member of Friends of the Cove.
“Morton Irvine believes in family values so much,” reads the release. “He has partnered with several other individuals in helping children, families and communities make a difference in their lives. Morton Irvine believes that we can't do everything but we can do something. He and his colleagues are dedicated to strengthen and expand philanthropy through charities, donations and good will.”
Here's how we described him back in 2002:
The son of the late, renowned horseman Morton “Cappy” Smith, who once described his 37-year-old son as the type who would rather hang around a pool with a beer than actually work for a living. The younger Smith's mother–Irvine Co. heiress Joan Irvine Smith–is less diplomatic. She became estranged from Junior in the 1990s because of his college girlfriend, Marianne Campbell. As the years went on, Joan cringed whenever Morton showed up to high-society functions with Marianne, whom Joan felt didn't act or dress the part of society wife. The scorn went both ways, with Marianne constantly backstabbing Joan. It all came to a head when Morton broke the news that he would marry the working-class girl in 1994. Joan decreed he was officially cut off from the Irvine Family fortune. He was convicted in 1995 of driving while drunk in Newport Beach. A year later, he was arrested for possessing and being under the influence of cocaine–charges that were dismissed when he agreed to enter a rehab. Mitigating Factor: As Morton himself once put it, he was not raised by parents but boarding schools.
Whoa, are you sure it's not Morton Irvine Smith Kennedy? Of course, given some of that bunch in Irvine (the city, not the man), that might be an improvement.
Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.