Evan J. LancasterIrvine Mayor Farrah Khan announced on Tuesday, Dec. 15, the establishment of a pair of city-based task forces that will aid in Irvine’s economic recovery through the COVID-19 pandemic.
In order to help support the growth of small business, and support local entrepreneurs, Khan has established the Business Reopening Task Force. This task force will assist Irvine in responding to issues directly pertaining to the business community.
In a statement Tuesday, Dec. 15, the city of Irvine revealed the list of candidates appointed to Irvine’s Business Task Forces, which included the names of well-known Orange County business leaders:
- Jeff Davis, Vice President – Entitlement, Irvine Company
- Bryan Starr, President and CEO, Greater Irvine Chamber of Commerce
- Dianne Morris, General Manager, Marriott Irvine Spectrum
- Pamela Waitt, President, OC Restaurant Association
- Lucy Dunn, President and CEO, Orange County Business Council
“In order to ensure the best service to our community during these extraordinary times, I am creating the COVID-19 and Business Reopening Task Forces, which will allow the City Council to make the best informed decisions for the safety and well-being of all Irvine residents, businesses and visitors,” Khan said.
Secondly, Khan announced an additional task force, specifically created to “help navigate and advise the City Council on COVID-19 response efforts,” as Irvine looks to reopen, as quickly and safely as possible.
“The task forces will be comprised of local health officials and business leaders who have a clear understanding of the issues we face during the ongoing pandemic and can offer insight on how to best overcome them, Khan added.”
Khan has selected the following Orange County health professionals as Irvine’s first COVID-19 Task Force roster:
- Marnie Baker, MD, MPH, Memorial Care – Pediatrics
- Clayton Chau, MD, OC HCA
- Amy Durham, Director of Development, NAMI
- Shruti Gohil, MD, UCI – Medical
- Grace Lozinski, MD, Hoag
- Hassan Movahedi, MD, PhD, Kaiser Permanente
“We’re looking at ways to really improve and encourage our community to safely support businesses that are, in turn acting safely as well. So, we want to build this partnership up, making sure that businesses they protect themselves, their employees, their customers – and follow the guidelines,” Khan said in an interview with Irvine Weekly prior to the announcement.
Irvine’s Business Reopening Task Force is set to meet for the first time in January 2021. While Irvine’s new COVID-19 Task Force will meet within the following week.
On Tuesday Dec. 15, Orange County Health Agency reported 2,173 new COVID-19 cases, with one COVID-19 related death. The Orange County Health Agency recently announced it would deploy Mobile Field Hospitals to bring much needed beds into the on-going surge.
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