On Tuesday, March 23, the Irvine City Council addressed a letter, now obtained by Irvine Weekly, that asks for an investigation into conflicts of interest involving Councilmember Larry Agran and the veterans cemetery in Irvine. 

During the meeting, Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan addressed the letter, which she said the council received from an attorney on behalf of concerned Irvine residents. 

The letter, which provides more than 100 pages of documentation, shows that Agran has contributed more than $100,000 to Save the Veterans Cemetery, through personal loans or a Political Action Committee he established through his newspaper, Irvine Community News and Views.

Specifically, the letter alleges that Argan contributed a total of $124,000 in loans, adding that those loans will not be repaid if the ARDA site is not selected. 

The letter also asks that Agran “cease from participating” in any cemetery-related discussions until the matter is resolved.

Khan explained she felt it necessary to ask the advice of City Attorney Jeff Melching about the letter, considering it involved a potential conflict of interest with a council member.   

“I wanted to hand it over to you to see that we needed to be concerned about,” Khan said. “I think it’s important for all of us to have some answers just so we know what we’re getting into.” 

Melching said he did not have adequate time to review the documentation prior to the meeting, but provided an outline of what he interpreted.  

“The gist of the documentation is, it outlines various loans that were made by the council member and or Irvine Community News and Views to a committee,” he explained. “The allegations in the letter are wide ranging. It discusses the ethics ordinance, the city’s ethical public service ordinance, the city’s lobbying ordinance, Fair Political Practices Commission regulations.”

Melching said he did not have time to “dig into” all of the documentation provided, which is 111 pages total, but said he had a responsibility.

Agran voiced his displeasure with the matter during the meeting, saying he was not advised the matter would be addressed publicly. 

“I must protest here. To have broad sweeping allegations of impropriety and even illegality associated with my involvement as a private citizen with the veteran cemetery matter over the years, this is really quite outrageous as a matter of procedure,” he said. “Nobody advised me that this was filed. I question our city attorney for not bringing it to my attention – and mayor, I must not only protest, I’m going to be looking for an apology.” 

The letter also details a “private legal opinion” which was sent to state Senator Tom Umberg’s office by the Grossman Palmer Strumwasser & Woocher law firm. The legal opinion offered in the letter to Umberg is written by Grossman Palmer, and points to the ARDA site as the only legal site for a veterans cemetery in Irvine. 

However, Grossman Palmer is also listed as the treasurer for Build the Great Park Veterans Cemetery, sponsored by Irvine Community News & Views LLC committee. 

City Councilmember Mike Carroll called for a point of order, saying that he supported Mayor Khan. 

“You can ask for all the apologies you want, Councilmember Agran, but the allegations in the letter are pretty steep,” Carroll said during the meeting via Zoom. 

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