Evan J. LancasterWhile the veterans cemetery project has yet to break ground in Irvine, Mayor Farrah Khan has addressed the notion that the proposed project is currently being delayed by members of the City Council.
In an interview with Irvine Weekly, Khan explained that the project is not being delayed in any way, adding that once the California Department of Veterans Affairs completes site assessment studies on both the ARDA and Golf Course sites – which will be completed in May – the city will move forward.
“The cemetery issue has just been politicized so much. When my colleagues and I adopted the initiative, we didn’t want the community fighting anymore on this issue,” Khan said in a phone interview with Irvine Weekly. “I was just on the phone with CalVet yesterday, and it’s a straightforward matter – there’s a bill that’s signed by the governor, the bill requires CalVets to do its study. We can’t build a cemetery without knowing its cost and preliminary design – and that’s what the CalVet study is going to bring to us in May.”
The CalVets studies – which are required per Assembly Bill 368 – will review both potential sites: The ARDA site, which is located south of Cadence between the Bosque and Agua Chinon, and to the east of Pusan north of Cadence to Agua Chinon. And the Golf Course site, in the area north of there to be extended to Great Park Blvd, from just west of Skyhawk Blvd to about midway to Agua Chinon.
The studies will be funded by $700,000 set aside for CalVets in the state budget, and will determine which site will be the most cost-effective to build a veterans cemetery.
Last May, Irvine City Attorney Jeff Melching pointed out that the decision of the cemetery’s location would ultimately be made at the state level – after the studies on both sites have completed.
“Whether it’s adopted tonight or voted in by the electors in November, the initiative doesn’t bind the property as long as it’s in the hands of the city,” Melching said in May.
In the past weeks, Irvine City Councilmember Larry Agran has issued resolutions proposing the city forgo the CalVet study. However, none of Agran’s submitted resolutions have been supported by Khan or other council members, and have failed to appear on the council agenda for a vote, as agenda items now need the support of two members of the City Council, or mayoral support to appear as an agenda item.
Khan said she has not accepted any of Agran’s resolutions regarding the cemetery, and does not understand why a new resolution is needed.
“I cannot support any of them because they ask the city to neglect due diligence by taking a step ahead of the CalVet Study. My question, still unanswered, is why would we do this?” Khan wrote in a text to Irvine Weekly. “I don’t understand the narrative that ‘we got to build it now,’ I don’t know what to build right now, because there’s nothing there to build.”
Irvine Weekly reached out to CalVet for more clarity.
“Irvine determines the site that will be offered to the state for construction of a veterans cemetery. A prerequisite for a cemetery moving forward is the site determination,” CalVet wrote in an email to Irvine Weekly, responding to questions specifically asking if the Irvine City Council was delaying the project.
Khan said that she was willing to make a compromise with Agran’s resolution, under the impression that the city would not get additional state funding for the cemetery, but later discovered that Agran could potentially be delaying the CalVet study altogether.
“I started finding out, they’re actually trying to stall the CalVet study from coming out, and that cannot happen,” she said. “I think it’s because the CalVet study is going to bring us back to the cost analysis for both the ARDA site and the Golf Course Site, and I have a feeling there’s going to be a substantial difference in the two sites – and I don’t think certain people want that number coming out.”
Referencing new support from state Senators Dave Min and Tom Umberg, who have joined Argan’s push for the ARDA site, Khan said her main priority is to make sure she represents all residents in Irvine.
“I’ve told this to Senator Min and Senator Umberg – we have residents living across the street from ARDA – and my job is to represent everyone in this city. If they’re uncomfortable with this cemetery, then I need to make sure that the way the cemetery is built protects them as well.”
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