The Irvine City Council this week finalized a new anti-nepotism ordinance prohibiting councilmembers from appointing family members to city boards and commissions. The council also looked ahead to broadening it to include a bar on council members appointing business associates to city bodies.
Councilman Larry Agran once again mounted a last-ditch effort to derail with anti-nepotism policy. Agran said nepotism is not a problem, and criticized the measure as a “very poorly put together ordinance in search of a problem that doesn’t exist.”
READ: Irvine Adopts Anti-Nepotism Policy For Commission Appointments
Agran’s wife, Dr. Phyllis Agran, has served for many years on the Irvine Children, Youth and Families Advisory Committee, and will have to resign once the ordinance takes effect. There has been speculation Agran had plans to appoint his son to a city commission.
The anti-nepotism ordinance was brought forward by Mayor Farrah Khan and Councilmember Tammy Kim, and was passed on first reading on April 12 by a vote of 4-1.
Council May Further Tighten Restrictions On Appointments
Mayor Farrah Khan also signaled her desire to also have the council adopt a prohibition on council members appointing residents with whom they have business, employer-employee or other financial relationship.
“There’s been input from community on whether we can add, employer, employee, employee, supervisor, employee, subordinate, co-owner and a business business partner,” said Khan. “I’m not sure how exactly that would work, but I’m interested in maybe seeing how we can have a discussion in the future in adding this as well.”
Councilmember Kim agreed.
“One of the things, when we put this together, was taking a look at these various these other types of relationships and I do agree that it is something that we should be adding.” said Kim. “The sentiment of business partnership is definitely something that I think we want to address.”
Even Agran, who scored the anti-nepotism policy, warmed to this proposal.
“There are a lot of suspicious relationships in the city,” said Agran. “That is a problem.”
