Sukhee Kang

Tony Rackauckas Is a Robo Cop

[Moxley Confidential] DA's election-eve robocall for Irvine Democrat Larry Agran angers Orange County Republicans

Irvine, 'America's Safest City' That Wouldn't Raise Cops' Pay, Has $9.3 Million Surplus

News item: At its meeting starting at 4 p.m. today, the Irvine City Council will discuss what to do with a $9.3 million surplus.It's a "problem" other city councils wish they were facing, and it's nothing new for Irvine, which the previous fiscal year "wrestled" with a $14.4 million surplus.Which wa ... More >>

Orange County Congressional Candidates Took Contributions of $2.3 Million In Recent Weeks

All of Orange County's major congressional campaigns recently filed mandatory financial disclosure reports with the Federal Election Commission in Washington, D.C. and there are interesting nuggets of information about the candidates and the notable interests that support them.For example: Which OC ... More >>

Irvine and Santa Ana (Yes, That Santa Ana) are Dueling Safest Cities in America

​UPDATE, DEC. 20, 12:39 P.M.: My morning coffee obviously had not kicked in yet when I posted the original version of this item on Irvine and Santa Ana appearing on dueling lists of the safest cities in America. For, had I been fully awake, I would not have read right over Mission Viejo being rank ... More >>

Irvine City Council to Allow Occupy Orange County to Camp

Brandon Ferguson​"I don't understand a lot of what your message is," said Councilman Jeffery Lalloway at tonight's meeting of the Irvine City Council. "But by all means, if you want to sleep on our lawn. Sleep on our lawn." It was a surprising turn of events coming from a planned city known m ... More >>

[UPDATED with Feinstein Fooked!] Kinde Durkee, Democratic Treasurer Accused of Fraud

​UPDATE, SEPT. 13, 11:05 A.M.: U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is the latest Democrat claiming to have been hornswoggled by campaign treasurer Kinde Durkee. Feinstein first revealed her accounts had been totally cleaned out, but her spokesman later corrected that to say the amount of missing funds is c ... More >>

Beth Krom on . . . Beth Krom!

[Moxley Confidential] Great Park chairwoman explains when she's a corporation and when she's a human being in VIP-party fiasco

[UPDATED with SJC Spooked:] Banning Pervs in Parks Sweeps OC

​UPDATE, AUG. 17, 11:17 A.M.: It's become so routine it's lost its news value: The District Attorney's office announces it's sending a rep before the latest of the 7,000 city councils in Orange County considering a ban on sex offenders in local parks modeled after the county law co-written by DA T ... More >>

[UPDATED with Early RSM Nod:] Banning Pervs in Parks Sweeps OC

​UPDATE, JULY 29, 9:41 A.M.: The Rancho Santa Margarita City Council voted Wednesday night to move ahead with a ban on registered sex offenders in city parks that is similar to the county law enacted in April.The council agreed that banning only those who have preyed on children would leave kids v ... More >>

Sukhee Kang to Run for Congress in 2012

Sukhee Kang​Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang announced today he's running in 2012 for what will likely be three-term Republican John Campbell's newly redrawn congressional district seat.Kang, obviously un-chilled by City Council colleague, former mayor and fellow Democrat Beth Krom's handy loss to Campbel ... More >>

[UPDATED with SJC Law on Agenda:] Banning Pervs in Parks Sweeps OC

​UPDATE, JUNE 22, 10:09 A.M.: While expressing some concern the county pervs-in-parks ban is too broad, the San Juan Capistrano City Council did decide Tuesday night to bring a local ordinance back for a vote July 5.Among the options the city with huge swaths of open space will explore are applyin ... More >>

Irvine Befuddled DA Tony Rackauckas on Perverts-in-the-Park Debate

Larry, Sukhee & Beth: The water's safe!​Having lost his push to get a defiant Irvine City Council to adopt his proposed ordinance banning convicted sex offenders from public parks, a befuddled Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas left Tuesday night's session and immediately thought ... More >>

[UPDATE: Council action:] Will Larry Agran Block Pervert-in-the-Park Ordinance?

Agran can't decide on sex offender issue?​Update: At last night's council meeting, an annoyed Larry Agran argued that Irvine parks are sex-crimes free (against minors) and so any ordinance banning convicted sex offenders from entering the properties is unnecessary. An even more annoyed Beth K ... More >>

Larry Agran, It's Time for You to Go

[Moxley Confidential] Recent interview inadvertently reveals the slimy side of Irvine's most powerful politician

[UPDATED with Split Response:] Rackauckas and Hutchens Support Ban on Sex Offenders in Irvine City Parks

Irvine council members Sukhee Kang, Beth Krom and Larry Agran​UPDATE, MAY 11, 9:54 A.M.: The proposal to ban sex offenders from Irvine city parks did not wow all council members Tuesday night. Mayor Sukhee Kang, Councilman Steven Choi and the councilman who brought the matter before the panel, Jef ... More >>

Morangak Has the Seoul of OC's Little Korean

[Hole In the Wall] This Garden Grove restaurant is famous for its Korean barbecue—but there's more

Election 2010: Moxley Watches The OC Republicans

Jonathan Ho / OC WeeklyTran: Not time to concede. ​1:00 a.m.: Van Tran Remains HopefulInside the converted Garden Grove Blockbuster store, Van Tran continues to hold onto his dream of defeating Loretta Sanchez. Tran is trailing by more than 5,000 votes--and the gap seems to be getting larger. But ... More >>

Election 2010: Who's In and Who's Out in Irvine?

​Updated throughout the night, with the freshest post on topLate: Oy. Squeezed my way through the madness (good-looking madness) that was the OC Republican election night party in search of some Irvine players to chat with. No luck. Instead, I got to wander through a sea of boos when Presiden ... More >>

Anti-Larry Agran Website Emerges in Irvine

Sukhee Kang (left) and his master, Larry Agran​Though a majority of Irvine's voters are registered Republicans, they've repeated supported the decidedly liberal political alliance controlled by Larry Agran, a onetime Democratic Party presidential primary candidate.That fact has had Republican insi ... More >>

The Great Park: Hot Air?

Thanks to Larry Agran, a few people have gotten very rich from the county's proposed $1.2 billion, still-not-built park

Coming Up Next From the Christina Shea Echo Chamber: Contamination Under the Great Park

​Christina Shea is not termed out as an Irvine City Council member until November, but she has given her first exit interview.If you expected the longtime City Hall fixture--who served as mayor from 1996 to 2000--to leave quietly, you obviously haven't been paying attention. Indeed, Shea lets slip ... More >>

Irvine is 22nd and Yorba Linda 38th on Top 100 Small Towns List, But Newport Beach is the Place to be if You are Rich and Single

​Out of the top 100 small U.S. towns to live in, Irvine falls at No. 22.So says CNN's Money Magazine, which ranked cities with populations of 50,000 to 300,000 based on a variety of criteria, including percentages of white, super-rich or out-of-work people versus the state median (the fewer, the b ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Today's Important Unimportant Election, From My TV Screen to Your Computer/Phone Screen

​11:15 p.m.: Don't be surprised if KOCE is accused of turning over its election coverage to that rare Orange County bird known as the "Democrat." The "live, election night edition of Real Orange" came from the Artists Village in Santa Ana, OC's version of Havana. Their election expert was the Voic ... More >>

OC, Regional and State Officials Descend on Washington D.C.

​Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens will be at the National Sheriff's Association winter conference in Washington, D.C., this week--just one of several local, regional and state officials heading to the nation's capital."Sheriff Hutchens will have her notepad out; she'll host the Sheriff's Asso ... More >>

More Republi-Drama at OC GOP Meeting

Chris Norby, in the fray​After a not-so-harmonious Western Conservative Political Action Conference last weekend and amidst a downright ugly state assembly race in north county, Red County's Alan Bartlett reports that last night's OC GOP Central Committee contained a few moments of strife and hand ... More >>

Agran Crony and Gore Campaigner Agrees to Guilty Pleas in Federal Wire Fraud Case

Irvine attorney Sandeep Baweja, the 39-year-old money man for that town's "progressive" political boss Larry Agran and a former official with Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign, agreed in court papers to plead guilty to two felony charges related to a scheme where he ripped off nearly all of the $ ... More >>

Irvine Cops Angry at Agran Machine Scheming Plan Protest Today

Agran: Screwing Irvine Cops?​It's always fascinated me that Irvine's Larry Agran, Orange County's most liberal (and wily) politician, has enjoyed solid political support from two groups: corporate executives and cops--especially considering most folks in those two categories sit on the other end o ... More >>

Tale of 2 Police Forces: While Irvine's Fumes, La Habra's Bites the Bullet

To protect and serve . . . for less.​While their counterparts in "Safest City in America" Irvine fume over an employer-proposed wage freeze, officers who belong to the La Habra Police Association seem to have gladly accepted a deal that imposes what is essentially a 5 percent pay cut. "Although di ... More >>

Park Place Owners Have a Rocky History in Irvine

Maguire had this office tower built at Park Place in 2006.​Maguire Properties' announcement today that it has sold its Park Place I office property in Irvine is just the latest twist for a massive campus that seems to have been dogged by controversy since the Los Angeles-based developer acqu ... More >>

"Press Conference" Against Iran Government Produces No News, Much Political Support in Irvine

Rep. Laura Richardson (inset), Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Rep. Ed Royce, together at last.If the goal of a press conference is to produce a "big announcement" that makes news and warrants coverage--the usual reason one calls a press conference in the first place--then the Iran Sup ... More >>

Irvine Police Association Blasts Mayor Sukhee Kang, City Council Members Beth Krom and Larry Agran

Irvine Police Association has criticized Mayor Sukhee Kang (left) and City Council members Beth Krom and Larry Agran over stalled contract talks.​Anyone who has attended a city-run meeting in Irvine has heard elected officials, especially City Councilman and Orange County Great Park Corporation ch ... More >>

On Safest-City-In-America Irvine and Its Orwellian Reality

Like Gustavo's car, except much, much nicer...Larry Agran and his acolytes will undoubtedly crow about Irvine getting ranked for the fifth straight year as America's safest big city, and good for them! Irvine is a cool town, with lots of parks, great restaurants, and a multicultural community that s ... More >>

"Art" Stands in the Way of Demolition at Irvine Hospital

The fountain of disputeInternationally recognized Laguna Beach artist Marlo Bartels creates whimsical-but-functional sculptures that grace parks, museums and even the inside of people's homes. The city of Burbank commissioned him to make "Early Burbank," a 10x10 foot tile mural. Two undulating mosai ... More >>

As Stephen Smith Leaves Town, Irvine's "Tattler" Calls on Others to Step Up

Stephen C. Smith calls on others to keep tabs on Irvine City Hall.CORRECTED!Lost in Santa Ana a few months ago, half paying attention to the street signs and half to Larry Mantle's KPCC interview show blaring out of the car speakers, I heard the host steer his Orange County "roundtable" guests--Oran ... More >>

Great Park Thanks Barbara Boxer. In Yer Face, Chuck DeVore!

Chuck DeVore may be a long-time Orange Countian, the member of the state Assembly whose Irvine-based district includes the future Orange County Great Park and a possible friend in a high place if he scores an upset victory next year to become the junior U.S. senator from California. But it is DeVore ... More >>

Will Obama's Stimulus Plan Help Make the OC Great Park a Reality?

Calling the action "momentous," the Great Park Corp. Board of Directors voted unanimously today to recommend the Irvine City Council adopt the Great Park Design Studio's Comprehensive Park Plan, the final planning piece required before the building phase can begin--as soon as March 20--on the ambiti ... More >>

It's Thursday, Must Be Time for More Irvine City Campaign Sliminess

If you thought the man and organization behind Larry Agran's campaign slush funds was only involved in Irvine political shenanigans (as we previously reported here), now comes word that Frank Lunding is up to his eyeballs in it in the Carmel Valley as well. Jessica Lyons reports in the Monterey Co ... More >>

Attorney Who Misspent Clients' $2.7 Million Was at Center of Irvine Election Controversies

The Register's Greg Hardesty has the scoop on 38-year-old Irvine attorney Sandeep Baweja admitting to burning through nearly all of a $2.7-million settlement that was supposed to be shared by about 1,000 plaintiffs he represented in a class-action labor lawsuit.According to the story, Baweja played ... More >>

Auto Industry's Demise is Orange County Great Park's Gain

No one is buying cars in this country. That means new cars aren't leaving dealer lots. That means U.S. ports are getting backed up with cars that, at least temporarily, have no place to go. And that means ships bringing these cars into those ports are getting backed up as well.Gee, if only there was ... More >>

I'm Not Dead Yet

Christina Shea had one of those gut-check moments when Orange County Great Park Corp. board clerk Steve Larsen read the roll at this morning's regular meeting at Irvine City Hall. "How come you didn't call my name?" Shea asked defensively. Last month's defeat in the mayoral race against Sukhee Kang ... More >>

Cirque du Great Park?

The Orange County Great Park Corp. board today unanimously recommended that the Irvine City Council authorize the board's CEO Michael Ellzey to enter formal negotiations with Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil to bring its winter 2010 touring production to the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station ba ... More >>

You Read the Irvine Election Results Here First

Kang, Krom and Agran: staying put. Allow me to take you way, way, way back in time to last Thursday, Oct. 30, when the following was posted here (and it was in the print edition that hit the streets that day, too): [Irvine mayoral candidate Christina] Shea and fellow incumbent Sukhee Kang are the ... More >>

Three Local Elections Worth Watching. Call It Morbid Fascination

Irvine Candidate Forum: Mostly Civil, Some Fireworks

Irvine is either a city where the sun does nothing but shine, the streets are lined with gold and bad stuff never ever ever ever ever ever ever happens, or it's a swirling cesspool of cronyism, backroom deals and looming Muslim threats. That was the message voters were given as a busload of people r ... More >>

Muffle Scuffle

*Moved up, 'cause the conversation's fun! Irvine's reigning feet-to-the-fire holder Stephen C. Smith has a very interesting post on his IrvineTattler.com site. Here is an excerpt from “Sukhee Kang Knows Your Birth Date”: Councilman and mayoral candidate Sukhee Kang used a California Public Re ... More >>

Agran's Irvine Machine Gets Challenger

A majority of Irvine voters are Republicans and yet for years Larry Agran's progressive political machine has controlled the mayor's office. It's a reality Republican city councilwoman Christina Shea hopes to shatter next year. This morning Shea announced that she will run for the job herself. She ... More >>

Chairman Jao

It looks like Irvine Republicans may have finally developed their own alternative to the Hometown Voter Guide. The Irvine City, School and Neighborhood Leaders Committee (ICSNLC) has paid for $28,011 worth of independent expenditures opposing Beth Krom, $7,612 to oppose Mary-Anne Gaido, another $7, ... More >>

Agran Dispenses Great Pork

Massive PR spending will aid park chairmans allies in upcoming election

Great Park With All the Fixins

Agran doling out pork at $441 per hour

Say Youre Gay, Larry!

Irvine Mayor Agran could learn damage control from New Jersey Governor McGreevey