Daunting Proposition: Irvine Splits Over Bond Issue : Public policy: Political rivals both back it while Chamber of Commerce calls it too expensive. All agree it will win a majority in Tuesday's vote, but it needs two-thirds.

By JIM NEWTON

March 4, 1990 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

IRVINE — If there is one rule of thumb that is usually reliable in Irvine politics, it is that Mayor Larry Agran and Councilwoman Sally Anne Sheridan will almost always find themselves on opposite sides of a major issue.

So when the two political rivals--both of whom are running for mayor this year--co-signed an open letter supporting Tuesday’s $57.5-million Irvine park bond and assessment district referendum, it seemed to signal the breadth of community support for the proposal known as Proposition Parks.

“For 33 cents a day, we can buy a can of soda for our household, or we can add parks, biking/hiking/riding trails, cultural activities, more lighted athletic fields and landscaped park areas for picnics and activities for all our citizens,” the letter read.

But a trickle of community opposition has arisen to the plan, and the Irvine Chamber of Commerce, whose members would pay significantly higher taxes if the proposal is approved, recently voted to oppose it, casting some doubt on whether the referendum can muster the two-thirds majority it needs to pass.

“It’s a tax increase,” said Hank Adler, an Irvine accountant and longtime community activist who opposes the bond proposal. “I really don’t think the council has made that clear.”

Jacquie Ellis, executive director of the Irvine Chamber of Commerce, agreed.

“This is the Cadillac of bond issues,” she said. “We’re not opposed to parks. We support parks, but the reason we’re opposed to the bond issue is that we’re opposed to additional taxation.”

If approved, the proposal would fund 27 new community service facilities, including three community parks. Revenue from the bonds and the assessment district would pay for the maintenance and operation of the facilities, in addition to construction and other costs.

Getting residents to vote for the proposal, however, means getting them to overcome the traditional reluctance of voters to tax themselves, even for popular items such as parks and recreation centers.

In the first year, Irvine homeowners would pay $120 per household to fund the bond issue, the equivalent, as Agran and Sheridan noted in their letter, of about 33 cents a day. That amount would increase annually, topping out at $174.82 in 20 years. Commercial properties would pay significantly more. Owners of a 5,000-square-foot building, for instance, would pay $507.50 in the first year and $739.33 in the 20th.

Mobile home owners are given a special break in the bond proposal, and would have to pay $60 in the first year, increasing to $87.41 by the time the bond is retired.

After 20 years, the bond debt would be paid off, but residents would continue to pay at least some fee for maintenance of the facilities.

Projects under the proposed bond are scattered throughout Irvine and would touch the entire spectrum of the city’s constituencies: new lighted fields for athletes; new trails for hikers and bikers; new parks for neighborhoods, a new gymnasium for students and new centers for senior citizens.

Rounding out the eclectic package would be a riparian habitat, scenic viewpoint, a new community theater and a “model farm,” a two-acre site with a 2,000-square-foot farm building to teach visitors about Irvine’s agricultural history.

Supporters say the range of services and facilities is the proposal’s strength, making it a parks and recreation package that reaches far into the future.

“We’ve put projects in every community of the city,” said Libby Cowan, Irvine’s community services superintendent. “This bond has something for everyone in it.”

But that same breadth of services has aroused some suspicion at the Chamber of Commerce, where officials contend that the bond is padded with excessive luxuries and has gone too far in an effort to please everyone.

“In some cases, they’ve put things in there that don’t need to be,” Ellis said. “We don’t even know what the model farm would be.”

Both proponents and critics of Proposition Parks are wary about trying to predict the outcome of Tuesday’s balloting. There are 53,502 registered voters in Irvine, but city officials say voter turnout is expected to be light.

Virtually all observers predict that the bond likely will garner more than 50% of the votes, but getting two-thirds of the city’s residents to vote themselves a tax increase will not be easy. Chamber officials say the calls they’ve received have been unanimously opposed to the bond measure. City officials say the response they have received has been strongly positive.

“My gut feeling is that the bond will easily get 60%,” Cowan said. “But when it comes to getting the two-thirds, I’d say it’s a complete tossup right now.”

Danica Kirka contributed to this report.

TUESDAY’S VOTE

Irvine residents will go to the polls Tuesday to cast ballots on a $57.5-million park bond and tax assessment district proposal.

What: If approved, the measure would finance construction and maintenance of 27 parks and recreation and cultural centers. Residents would pay $120 per household in the first year, though that sum would increase by small amounts annually until the bond is retired in 20 years. After that, some fee would continue to be levied for maintenance of the facilities.

When: Thirty-eight polling places will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

Information: Questions about polling places or results should be directed to the City Clerk’s office at (714) 724-6205.