Irvine finance commissioner John Park is running for city council in the Nov. 8 election to maintain what he calls the city’s “unique village” culture.
“I want people to hold me accountable,” Park told The Epoch Times.
Park said public safety will always be his top priority, if elected.
He likened public safety to that of a home’s foundation, where pillars—such as grade schools and quality of life—would eventually collapse if the base is faulty.
The city of over 300,000 is renowned for being one of the safest of its size. But Park said he is concerned that as its population grows—transitioning from “mid-sized” into a “large city”—there could be an increase in crimes like petty theft, robberies, and vandalism.
“We need to refocus our efforts on public safety and make sure it’s first and foremost,” he said.
Part of the city’s allure, he said, is that each neighborhood of Irvine has “everything you need,” with its own schools, retail, and parks and trails.
He said this is because Irvine is built upon a master plan that started in the 1970s and has not deviated much since.
Park said he’d like to keep it that way.
“As we continue to grow exponentially, it’s very important that we maintain that and we don’t forgo that for the sake of growth,” he said.
In his role as the city’s finance commissioner, Park said he looks at the city’s revenues not just as numbers, but as the result of families who “worked hard to pay these tax dollars, so we have to protect every penny and be wise about how we spend that money.”
Park said during the pandemic, he saw how city governments suffered financially, with certain revenue channels disappearing overnight.
Irvine is “very strong financially,” he said, and “my goal is to keep it that way,” and grow the city’s reserves.
Park also said, if elected, he would like to work with the city’s fire department to better prevent a disaster like the Silverado fire of 2020 that scorched over 12,000 acres just north of Irvine.
“That was a really big wake-up call,” he said.
He said he also wants to alleviate traffic congestion by working to build pedestrian bridges on some of the city’s main roadways.
He also mentioned using caution lights instead of traffic signals in some areas and better synchronizing signals in other areas to ease traffic.
Park additionally said, if elected, he plans to work toward building a retail center at the Great Park to give nearby residents a closer option for their shopping needs.
“We’re building giant neighborhoods over there, [but] they have no shopping. They have no retail. They have no local grocery store,” he said.
He said many residents that live near the park shop in Lake Forest—"taking our sales tax revenues right out of the city”—or at the already “packed” Woodbury shopping center in Irvine.
During his campaign, he said he has met with the city manager, police, and other city departments.
He said winning the seat is not a “stepping ladder” to higher office, but only his desire to serve the city’s residents.
“I have no political ambitions besides the city council,” he said. “That’s really all I care about.”
Park, who owns an advertising agency, moved with his wife to Irvine 22 years ago from Newport Coast. Their three children attend public schools, one of whom goes to UC–Irvine.
He ran for council unsuccessfully in 2018 and 2020, receiving nearly 33,000 votes—or 11 percent—in the latter race.
He is running against incumbent councilmen Larry Agran and Anthony Kuo, climate scientist Kathleen Treseder, Irvine commissioner and technologist Scott Hansen, and college student Navid Sadigh.
