For an electronic copy of the Chamber's Voter's Guide, click here.

Mayoral Candidates

Sukhee Kang is a 30-year resident of Orange County and a core advocate of civic participation. Mr. Kang was elected to Irvine City Council in 2004. He was re-elected in 2006 for a four-year term and continues to offer leadership as Mayor Pro Tem.
Using his successful background in business management and non-profit organizations, Mayor Pro Tem Kang has served as a member of the Orange County Great Park Board, Orange County Sanitation District Board, Transportation Corridor Agency Board, Executive Steering Committee of the League of California Cities Orange County Division, and Orange County Transportation Authority Measure M Super Committee.
Sukhee Kang’s own American success story has helped to shape his inclusive and engaging leadership style. Active throughout the Irvine community, he has forged strong and supportive relationships with the business community, the education community and the many cultural, service and non-profit organizations that serve the citizens of Irvine. An advocate for the interests of all Irvine residents, Mayor Pro Tem Kang has demonstrated his ability to “listen, learn and respond” by walking door-to-door in every neighborhood in Irvine, engaging in “doorstep dialogues” with Irvine residents, then working diligently to respond to their interests and concerns.

Christina Shea was elected to the Irvine City Council in a landslide victory in 1992. She was elected Mayor in 1996 and re-elected in 1998. In 2002, after a two year absence from public office, she was re-elected to the City Council.
Shea is a strong supporter of local law enforcement; under her leadership, the City of Irvine was designated many times as one of America’s Safest Cities. Shea was  named  Orange County “Leader of the Year” by California Women’s Leadership Association, featured as one of the “Most Influential Women in Orange County” by Orange County Metro Magazine. In 2008, she was named “Woman of the Year” and honored by the California State Assembly
A strong fiscal conservative, Shea has consistently opposed municipal tax increases, supported privatization, downsized and streamlined Irvine’s municipal services,  creating a leaner operation, providing  high quality services for residents.
Shea fought the County airport proposal for 8 years, envisioned the Great Park,  and empowered the Great Park Corporation, but only as a fully vested corporation, protecting City assets.
A resident of Irvine since 1977,  she raised her three grown children here and has 7 darling grandchildren all who support her efforts to become Irvine’s next Mayor.
 

City Council Candidates

Councilmember Larry Agran graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California at Berkeley in 1966, majoring in both History and Economics. In 1969, he graduated with honors from the Harvard Law School, where he specialized in public interest law.
Mr. Agran has served as Legal Counsel to California State Senate Committee on Health and Welfare. He has taught legislation and public policy at the UCLA School of Law and at UC Irvine’s Graduate School of Management.
Larry Agran first served on the Irvine City Council from 1978 to 1990, including six years as Mayor. Under his leadership, Irvine received national recognition for its pioneering programs in child care, affordable housing, recycling and open space preservation.
As a highly respected public interest attorney and public policy expert, Mr. Agran founded and, in the 1990’s, led a number of non-profit organizations: the Local Elected Officials Project; the Center for Innovative Diplomacy; and CityVote. As the founder and volunteer chair of Project ’99, from 1994 to 1999, Mr. Agran was especially active in working to promote creation of the Orange County Great Park at the former Marine Corps Base at El Toro.
Mr. Agran returned to service on the Irvine City Council when, on November 3, 1998, he was elected to the Council. On November 7, 2000 he was elected Mayor of Irvine with a record-high 35,000 votes, and on November 5, 2002 he was re-elected Mayor. After completing two consecutive terms as Mayor, Larry Agran was elected to a four-year term as an Irvine City Councilmember on November 2, 2004.
Since 2005, Councilmember Agran has served as the Chairman of the nine-member Board of Directors of the Orange County Great Park Corporation.The Great Park Corporation is the entity designated by the Irvine City Council to help bring about the design, construction and operation of the Great Park, America’s first great metropolitan park of the 21st century.
Larry Agran resides in Irvine with his wife, Phyllis, who is a pediatrician. Larry and Phyllis have a son, Ken, and a five-year-old granddaughter, Morgan Elizabeth Agran.
 

Dr. Steven Choi was elected to the Irvine City Council for the first time in 2004. Previously, he was a Trustee of the Irvine Unified School District for six years, making 2008 as his 10th year in public service.
Dr. Choi came to the United States forty years ago from Korea as a Peace Corps language instructor for the State Department. He earned his Master’s degree in Library Science from Louisiana State University and his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.  Dr. Choi has taught at several universities and colleges including USC, UCI, and California State University, Los Angeles. He founded and serves as Director of Dr. Choi’s Academy.
Dr. Choi’s priorities for the City include more effectively managing traffic, getting the Great Park on track fiscally and ethically, keeping Irvine one of America’s safest cities, stopping the Musick Jail expansion which threatens the Spectrum, providing quality programs for children, seniors and the disabled, and economic growth of our business community and ensuring the City’s fiscal stability with no new taxes.
Dr. Choi serves on the Concordia University President’s Advisory Council and is Irvine’s representative to Growth Management Areas 4 & 9 and the Newport Bay Watershed Executive Committee, Coastal Greenbelt Authority, Orange County Housing Authority Advisory Committee, and the Santa Ana River Flood Protection Agency Commission. Dr. Choi is also a member of the Orange County Public Library Advisory Board, and is Chairman of the Irvine Library Advisory Committee.
Dr. Choi has lived in Irvine since 1993. He and his wife, Janie, have two children.  Michelle recently graduated from  UC San Diego, where  Daniel is a medical student.  

City Council Candidates

Bea Foster has lived in Orange County since 19663.  The last 24 years she taught at Santa Ana Unified and Rancho Santiago College.  Semi-retired, she still substitutes for Santa Ana.  As a community activist, she served on the O.C. Community Housing Corp., was a Common Cause Coordinator, chaired the Committee to Incorporate North Tustin, and ran various political campaigns including her own Congressional run in 2005.
 

Todd Gallinger first moved to Irvine when he was less than one year old and his father, Dave, enrolled in UCI.  Todd’s earliest memories date back to this time, playing in their on-campus apartment and roaming Irvine’s amazing open spaces.
Todd grew up in Irvine, attending elementary school through junior college at Irvine’s public schools.  He then went on to study Comparative Religion at the University of California at Santa Barbara, from which he graduated with honors.   Todd then returned to Irvine where he worked at a major OC law firm and the Boeing Company while his then fiancé, Parisa, finished her degree from Cal State Fullerton.
After Parisa graduated, she and Todd got married in Newport Beach.  Within a week, he was off to law school at the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C.  After three years of hard work, he was awarded his Juris Doctorate degree, again with honors.
After graduating law school, Todd and Parisa came home to Orange County.  He passed the bar exam and opened up his law practice in Irvine.  Since then, Todd’s professional focus has been on helping small businesses.  From this, he is intimately aware of all the struggles that small businesses go through and the importance of government support for small businesses and entrepreneurs, who form the backbone of our economy.
In addition to running his own business, Todd has always tried to give back to the community that gave him so many opportunities.  He does significant pro bono work, normally focusing on non-profit issues, including with the Public Law Center.  Todd has continued his advocacy for businesses by being active with the Irvine Chamber of Commerce, where he currently serves as Chair of its Housing and Transportation Committee.  He also works with the education community, including serving on the Board of Directors for the New Horizons School here in Irvine.
Todd is running for City Council to keep Irvine moving in a positive direction.  He will use all his business and legal skills to ensure that all of Irvine’s kids have the same opportunities he did growing up.

City Council Candidates

Eric Johnson is truly one of Irvine’s native sons.  He attended its schools and was an active Boy Scout, earning his Eagle Scout award in the summer of 1995, thus continuing a three-generation family tradition.
Mr. Johnson attended the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) where he received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.  For three and a half years at UCSD, he was an integral member of NASA-ISS EarthKAM, a NASA-sponsored educational program allowing middle-school students, both in the Irvine Unified School District and around the world, to take photographs of Earth from the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station.
Upon graduation from UCSD, Eric worked for Sally Ride Science, quickly taking on challenges and roles on the business-side of the company—a continuing trend until his departure for the USC Marshall School of Business, where he earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration.
At USC, Mr. Johnson was active on the leadership boards of three student organizations and completed several successful consulting engagements with companies, both domestic and international, that included Sharp Electronics, and an internship with Guidant.
Since 2007, Eric Johnson has been involved with an investment management start-up with a focus on automated trading systems and platforms for financial securities.
Eric Johnson is a lifetime member of the National Eagle Scout Association (NESA), and a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).  Mr. Johnson has continued to be involved with USC, both participating as a guest in the entrepreneurship course of the Masters of Medical Management program and making his technology and business expertise available to the students in that program.
 

Beth Krom has served on the Irvine City Council since 2000.  In 2004, she won her first term as Mayor of Irvine and in 2006 was re-elected with nearly 60% of the vote — the highest margin of victory for any Irvine Mayor running in a contested race.  An advocate for creating balanced communities, Mayor Krom has focused on ensuring a sustainable future for the City of Irvine. Mayor Krom believes in the value of investing in the quality of life priorities that define the City of Irvine — environmental stewardship, public safety, balanced planning and education. She has also been a leader in advancing the Orange County Great Park project — the first Great Metropolitan Park of the 21st century.
Mayor Krom is proud of Irvine’s distinction for four years in a row as the Safest Big City in America based on FBI statistics on violent crime.  Recently Irvine earned another great distinction, being named #4 of the top 100 places to live in America by Money Magazine.
Mayor Krom recognizes the importance of a strong economy to the success of Irvine.  She works collaboratively with the business, education and non-profit communities to strengthen the fabric of this diverse and dynamic community.

City Council Candidates

Paris Merriam
Age: 49

Education:
B.A. University of California, Santa Cruz (Environmental Studies)

Occupation(s):
Licensed Pari-Mutuel in the horse racing business.Published Author. I currently write for the American Orchid Society magazine Orchids.

Community Service:
Member, Housing & Community Development Commission, County of Orange
Member, Homeless Continuum of Care Leadership Cabinet, County of Orange

Irvine Resident: 7 years. I currently reside in the Quail Hill area
 

Pat Rodgers first came to California in 1960 to complete his U.S. Marine Corps Basic Training in San Diego.  He was stationed at the Marine Corps Air Facility in Santa Ana until his discharge in 1964. 
He then attended Orange Coast College (OCC) in Costa Mesa, majoring in Police Science.  After graduation from OCC, Pat then attended Cal State University in Los Angeles majoring in Police Administration. 
In 1967, Pat accepted a position as a Police Officer with Costa Mesa Police Department.  During the next eight years, he worked a variety of assignments including; Uniform Patrol, Accident Investigation, Traffic Enforcement and a two and one-half year stint as an undercover Narcotics Investigator.
Pat began his employment with the Irvine Police Department in 1975 and as a charter member was part of a Public Safety Team that built Community Policing into a nationwide model.  During the next twenty-seven years, he worked a variety of assignments and was promoted several times.  His last seventeen years was as a Police Lieutenant, managing one of several bureaus, within the department.  He also served in a collateral assignment as the Emergency Management Coordinator for the City of Irvine, planning and training for disasters, both natural and man made. 
A believer in formal education, Pat continued school throughout his career.  He holds a Bachelor’s Degree, two Masters Degrees and a Doctorate in Human Behavior with an emphasis on leadership.  He has completed intensive professional training at the FBI National Academy, California Peace Officer Standards and Training Command College and the Los Angeles Police Department – West Point Leadership Program.  Recently, Pat has continued his studies online through American Military University, working on a certificate in Terrorism Studies. 
After retirement in 2002, Pat formed his own consulting company, accepting a contract with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).  In Afghanistan, he managed the Police Training Program consisting of six Regional Training Centers and ninety-eight international trainers.  He then accepted an assignment as a Police Trainer at the Basic Police Academy in Baghdad, Iraq.       
Pat has been active in the community, coaching youth football and baseball teams for many years.  He serves on the Irvine Sister City Foundation Board of Directors and is a member of the Spectrum Rotary Club.  Pat was recently appointed to and serves on the Community Services Commission for the City of Irvine.  He is a member of the California Promise Chorus, a barbershop group based in Irvine.
Pat and his wife Jan have lived in Irvine for the past thirty years.  They have three adult children and four grandchildren.

City Council Candidates

 Margie Wakeham was born the second of three girls n
San Diego and grew up in Lemon Grove a suburb of San Diego.  After high school she attended the University of Oregon and graduated with a degree in sociology. During college she indulged a lifetime love of animals working summers and holidays when home at the San Diego Zoo.  Margie grew up in a community-centered household, her uncle Charles Dail served on the city council and mayor of San Diego for 20 years.  Her father John was active in local government and served a year as Deputy State Treasurer under Bert Betts. 
Following college Margie went to work as a Group Counselor at Juvenile Hall for the San Diego Probation Department. She loved the job and had great fun with the girls she worked with.  The “Hall” taught Margie a great deal about the importance of families, education, and the need for clear expectations.  The 2 years were informative.
Leaving the Hall she then worked in Juvenile Court investigations with kids referred for either delinquency or neglect. 
John and Margie married in 1969 and left San Diego ultimately moving to Irvine in 1971 where they purchased their first home.  They continue to live in the same house, several remodels later.
They raised their 3 children in this home.  All three attended Irvine schools and all three married in 2000.  $ grandsons delight Margie.  Both Greg and Leslie reside with their families in Irvine and Dean, Amy and Ben are a short drive away in San Diego.
Margie began volunteering in Irvine after retiring from Probation to raise her family.  Childs World Pre-School, PTA and school site council were the beginning.  .  Involvement in the community came naturally and Margie became involved with the Junior Ebell Club where she participated for many years.  Most notably she chaired the Walk for Mankind for a number of years.  This international health care organization benefited primary health care in a unique program successfully educating people to improve their health simply with the tools and resources at hand.
PICH (People for Irvine Community Hospital) successful obtained a certificate of need for the now Irvine Medical Center.  Margie served on the Board of Irvine Child Care Committee, Boys and Girls Club, Irvine Temporary Housing and others.  This involvement lead her to run for the Irvine Unified School District Board of Education in 1985.  She was elected 4 times leaving the Board after 17 years in 2002.  She was elected President several times and also worked with Coastline Regional Occupation Program for 14 years, 3 times as President.  CROP is a joint power authority with 5 south county school districts providing career path training for high school students and adults.
In 1993 Margie became the Director of Families Forward.  The organization serves families in crisis and has grown from a small grassroots program serving local families with 10 transitional homes to a south county organization owning 26 homes, a food pantry serving over 3000 individuals and both homeless prevention and career coaching for families needing assistance.   Under Margie’s leadership the program has grown and is recognized for excellence in service and has successful outcomes for all programs.  www.families-forward.org    In 2002 Families Forward Families Forward was invited to the White House for a forum on homelessness.
Currently she serves as a founding Board Member for the OC Partnership and the Advancement Board for California State University Fullerton Department of Education.
John and Margie are 30-year members of University United Methodist Church.
Margie has been recognized for her service several timers:
1996 Citizen if the Year by Irvine Chamber of Commerce
1998 Marian Bergeson Award for Orange County School Board Association
2000 OC Metro Magazine 10 Women Making a Difference
2002 Servant Leadership Award by Concordia University
 

Ruby Young
6 years experience in civil litigation.
20 years at UCI Medical Center after BS in Medical Science and chemistry at the University of North Dakota and postgraduate study at the University of California
30 year resident of Irvine