Answers From The Discipulus’ Student-led Candidate Forum of Irvine’s District 2

By Julian Kim and Alex Lingerfelt

November 6th, 2024

The Discipulus is proud to announce the completion of our first-ever Candidate Forum. We would like to thank Parissa Yazdani, Gang Chen, and Jeff Starke for participating in our forum featuring candidates in the upcoming Irvine District 2 City Council election. In addition to kindly giving us their time, each candidate provided valuable insight into their plans for Irvine’s future.

Image taken shortly after the forum of candidates, organizers, and moderators

The Forum was held on October 4th and can be seen as a continuation of our student-led interview, only this time with the goal of informing students at Portola about the positions of each candidate. The Hungarian Culture Union at Portola did the work for renting out the space and it is important to thank the club’s advisor and another teacher for helping out with the event and also the principal for going through the correct work for the correct spaces to be reserved for the forum. As was conveyed through all advertisements, the forum is not affiliated with Portola High School, is not affiliated with any of the staff of Portola, and is a nonpartisan event to abide by distinct policy. In helping with the forum, other clubs such as Portola Interact and the Filipino Club were of great assistance, there were also many unable to attend the event advertising online, and even an individual unaffiliated with any of the clubs who helped co-moderate the forum. 

Further details of how we managed to organize this event will be touched upon in a separate article. We hope to provide a simple layout for other students who are interested in setting up their own forums. The format of our forum was inspired by the procedures of a Model United Nations conference where delegates are given minute-long opening and closing statements, and two minutes to speak on issues. Candidates were given topics that concerned District 2 and some of the problems they planned to address At first candidates spoke in a fixed order, but very quickly it became evident that this put the first speaker at a disadvantage, so the speaking order soon rotated. Transcribed below is a synopsis of each candidate’s response to said questions:

Transportation: Plans for Ebike regulation, and speed? Plans to combat traffic along Irvine Blvd? A pressing issue at Portola Bryce Yee

Starke

• In order to create a safer Irvine we should implement better education programs for e-bikers where they will be issued licenses, in addition to adding more bike lanes. It is also important to support systems we already have in place like Irvine Connect which helps people get from place to place free of charge.

Chen

• Irvine was designed by the master architect, William Pereira, in the late 1950s. Our city was created so that everything was within a convenient one-mile radius of each other. Our youth should be able to take advantage of this while remaining safe by mandating helmets for all E-Bike riders. Early morning traffic is a problem but can be reduced by starting school bus programs to reduce the amount of cars on the road. We could also delay school start times so students aren’t competing with adults going to work in the morning. 

Yazdani

• As a mother, E-bike safety is an important issue for me because I have a daughter who rides an E-bike. By constructing more bike bridges we can get bikers off the roads and make their rides safer. If I am elected to Irvine City Council I will pressure Sacramento into adding real legislation that protects the safety of E-bikers.

Education: Plans to combat the use of vapes in schools? Getting students registered to vote? 

Starke

• As a council member for this district, I would really support coming to schools and holding an assembly for seniors at the start of the year to talk about the importance of voting. In terms of vaping on IUSD property, I’m not sure that the city can have a lot of influence on that. There’s already pretty strict regulations for smoking in public spaces, and schools have started to install vape detectors. To address learning loss from COVID, IUSD already donates to IPSF, which in turn helps elementary students interact with each other. It's important to continue programs like these to help students with the soft skills they couldn’t develop during the pandemic.

Chen

• This is a personal issue for me as my kids both graduated from Portola. IPSF is really important because it provides music education for IUSD, which receives some of the least funding in California. Once I am elected I will find a way to increase their funding. Another thing is that I would like to open more libraries, and create a world-class library at the Great Park. When I originally came to Irvine we had the same amount of libraries as we do now. The population has tripled from 100,000 to 300,000, which is why we need more libraries in Irvine.

Yazdani

• As my fellow candidates have mentioned already, vaping is already quite illegal in Irvine so it’s hard to enforce much beyond that. I do believe that having detectors in bathrooms could ideally help but I think that education is most important. I would like to see more resource officers at middle schools to guide the students on drug safety. We currently have one resource officer for all eleven middle schools, so it’s hard for them to get around to every kid. I know IUSD is putting more money towards children of these birth years, because they missed out on social learning from the pandemic. So if older students are also struggling I think we should get Irvine to help IUSD fund more of these programs.

Business: What businesses do you seek to bring to the Great Park, Plans for shopping district to Portola Springs, How you will support local businesses

Starke

• During my senior year of high school we would go off campus and have lunch outside. Kids in Irvine don’t have many options for food close by which limits their choices. With rezoning near the train station, we could have affordable housing and more food locations. We could also set up restaurant incubators in Great Parks and get a night market going for teens.

Chen

• The rent in Irvine is too high so we need to offer building incentives so more construction happens in Irvine. There is also the problem of having nothing to do at Great Parks outside of the field and tennis courts. We should find ways to allow more construction to happen and encourage restaurants to open up there.

Yazdani

• It’s hard for businesses to get real estate to open a shop in Irvine. The City of Irvine should use a lottery system for rent-capped land so it encourages the growth of restaurants and other businesses. We could support small businesses by increasing the amount of times they are entered into the lottery as a form of economic equity.

Quality of life Environment, Vision for Live Music at Great Park, Crime

Starke

• There’s more crime at night in Irvine so I think we would benefit from shifting some of the officers during the day to the night. Something important to note is that the population doubles on weekdays which means that a lot of people come into Irvine for work. In order to reduce traffic we should create more affordable housing so they can afford to live here. On top of reducing traffic by lessening the commutes of workers we should also sponsor more public transit like Irvine Connect, in addition to adding more bike lanes.

Chen

• There are two main aspects to quality of life, public safety, and the environment. The latter is a major concern due to Orange County’s trash dump which is close to Irvine. I own property around there and you can smell the pollution from all the garbage. Once I am elected I will make sure to take further action on this matter. In regards to public safety I have a lot of respect for the police and would support increasing their funding to continue keeping us safe.

Yazdani

• I am huge on public safety and think that our police are doing a good job keeping us safe. The prices for housing in Irvine are too expensive, so I support making housing more accessible. I also believe that we need to adjust the amount of traffic in Irvine.

Interaction: How will you get the views of those in the district? What are your ways to get the views of those at Portola? What experience do you have with representing District 2?

Starke

• I would say I’m pretty accessible when it comes to both in person and social media. I hold town halls as a good way to get the opinions of the people, and would be interested in holding some at high schools like Portola to get student’s perspectives too.

Chen

• I would like to thank the students for coming to this forum to learn more about democracy. When I am elected I will have an open-door policy for my office, and I will try to do outreach at high schools through town halls. I believe that it is important to work out solutions together, and to get the opinions from those who are directly impacted by them.

Yazdani

• As a millennial mom I’m active on a variety of social media so you can get in touch with me there. I am an active member of the community through protests and social media groups where I interact with many different people. It would be great if we could establish a partnership between schools and the city council to get student opinions.

We hope that after reading this article you feel more informed on those running in the district election. It is both our pride and duty to educate our local community, so we encourage you to do the same by spreading this knowledge to those around you. Even if they are not eligible to vote, having an early exposure will provide them with a strong base for when they can participate in local politics. The Discipulus would also like to thank all three candidates who replied to our interviews and consistently worked with us when planning the forum. No matter the outcome of this district election, whether each candidate wins or loses, they have already made a difference at Portola and for the Discipulus’ student writers. If they keep up their determination for bettering Irvine, they will continue to be a tremendous benefit to the community: regardless of the result of the election. Our next article will discuss the intricate and thoughtful process needed to create your own candidate forum, so make sure to stay on the lookout for new articles from us.

Chicago: Lingerfelt, Alex J., and Julian Kim. 2024. “Answers From The Discipulus’ Student-led Candidate Forum of Irvine’s District 2.” The Discipulus. https://feltgrad.wixsite.com/the-frumentarius/post/answers-from-the-discipulus-student-led-candidate-forum-of-irvine-s-district-2.

MLA: Lingerfelt, Alex J., and Julian Kim. “Answers From The Discipulus’ Student-led Candidate Forum of Irvine’s District 2.” The Discipulus, 6th November 2024, https://feltgrad.wixsite.com/the-frumentarius/post/answers-from-the-discipulus-student-led-candidate-forum-of-irvine-s-district-2.

APA: Lingerfelt, A. J., & Kim, J. (2024, November 6th). Answers From The Discipulus’ Student-led Candidate Forum of Irvine’s District 2. The Discipulus. https://feltgrad.wixsite.com/the-frumentarius/post/answers-from-the-discipulus-student-led-candidate-forum-of-irvine-s-district-2