Irvine to hire special counsel to explore apartment approval

They sat on the dais Wednesday afternoon, accusing one another of political grandstanding and exchanging sharp words about a decision to hire special attorneys to look into potential misdeeds.

This time Irvine City Council members weren’t talking about the Orange County Great Park — at least not at first.

Instead, they met at Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Lalloway’s request to discuss the Planning Commission’s approval last week of an apartment development in the Irvine Business Complex.

At issue, Lalloway said, was whether council candidates Mary Ann Gaido, who is on the Planning Commission, Melissa Fox, a community services commissioner, and Councilman Larry Agran “pre-committed” their approvals of the 280-unit project.

The three are running as a slate in the Nov. 4 election, hoping to overtake the Republican council majority led by Mayor Steven Choi, Lalloway and Councilwoman Christina Shea. Lalloway and Choi are up for reelection.

In a memo laying out his concerns, Lalloway wrote that Gaido and Fox voted in favor of the project during recent meetings of their commissions, though their campaigns center on “slow-growth” policies and they have been critical of the current council’s approval of big developments.

In particular, Lalloway wrote, red flags were raised by an email to local business people from lobbyist Pamela Sapetto, inviting them to meet candidates and contribute to their campaigns.

Sapetto is registered with the city as representing 360 Fusion LLC, the developer that proposed the apartment project.

At the end of the email, Sapetto wrote: “I know there has been discussion about whether [Gaido], [Agran] or [Fox] will be supporting development. I have been assured by them that they will continue to support [Irvine Business Complex] development.”

Though Lalloway emphasized that he wasn’t making any formal allegations yet, he said he called Wednesday’s special meeting to appeal the Planning Commission’s decision and to propose a vote on whether to hire a special counsel to look into the matter.

“We’re not Chicago. We’re not a city that has a pay-for-play situation,” he said. “We owe it to the city of Irvine to make sure there is no cloud hanging over this project.”

He said specialized attorneys could look into whether Gaido and Fox should have recused themselves from votes on the project, even if they didn’t explicitly promise certain votes ahead of time.

But an attorney for 360 Fusion said it was hypocritical for Lalloway to raise concerns about candidates who accept contributions from those with development interests.

“If you’re not going to practice what you preach, then leave the dialogue,” Ed Connor told Lalloway. “Otherwise, this is a kangaroo court — it’s a three-ring circus.”

Agran questioned why Lalloway suggested paying extra for an outside legal firm when Jeff Melching, a Rutan & Tucker attorney who serves Irvine, would be qualified to perform the same analysis.

He likened the move to the city’s hiring of a special counsel for the forensic audit of the Great Park, an ongoing process that Agran said has resulted in more than $1 million in expenses and has come up “with nothing.”

Choi said that based on how he interpreted Lalloway’s request, he felt it would be better to have an “impartial” third party take on the issue rather than involve Melching or another Rutan & Tucker attorney who might also have a relationship with commissioners.

Agran said Lalloway “left hanging in [the memo] an indictment of me as somehow engaged in a pre-commitment on this particular project,” a notion that Agran called “an absurdity” and “an insult.”

“I think everybody knows what’s going on here,” he said. “It’s a campaign stunt.”

Ultimately, the council voted 3 to 1 to hire a special counsel to report back on the matter. Agran voted no. Councilwoman Beth Krom was absent.