Betty Martinez Franco is the Councilmember representing District 5. This Interview was conducted in mid-August. This Interview was originally published on Irvine Watchdog. Questions and Responses have been edited for clarity
Utilities
Christopher Wong: The cost of living in Irvine is getting higher with the rising cost of utilities: water, electricity, gas, waste, internet. Everything keeps going up. While many of these things are controlled by the state on the state level through CPUC, what initiatives and programs is the city doing to help kind of alleviate this?
Betty Martinez Franco: We’re in the lowest tier for OCPA. I think that is helping our residents, for those who are struggling to pay their bills. I know they still have the option to upgrade to 100% energy, and for those who have the money, I am very grateful for them. But we also need to think about our people who cannot afford to pay the entire thing. So that is a really good thing. Now, for people who cannot afford their bills, we have those federal programs, FERA and CARE, and those can be helpful for people who need a little bit of subsidy to pay their bills.
On the waste management part, I asked staff to study the possibility of a subsidy to those who can prove that they cannot afford the increase of their trash bill. Again, as you mentioned, this is a really important issue for all our residents, and we’re seeing it not only in our bills, but in the prices of our goods, food, and everything that we are paying, and in the future, even medical costs for those who are on Medi-Cal. So, definitely, we need to do more.
Expenditures and Services
Christopher Wong: Shifting to the budgets, let’s talk about the budget of Irvine. How do we handle the prioritizing of incoming expenditures in Irvine? How do we determine what we should actually spend money on, and how do you categorize that?
Betty Martinez Franco: We need to see first what the most urgent needs are. One of the reasons I ran and am running for City Council is because I saw how much we have been avoiding taking care of the people who cannot afford this city.
Irvine has done really well in providing the most affordable housing, and it’s sprinkled throughout the city, but because we have this thinking that we are a very wealthy city, we put ourselves in a bubble, thinking that our citizens don’t need the resources.
We need to give more resources to people who cannot afford to live in this city, and we need to prioritize the people who have been ignored for the longest time in this city. Those in their later years, where the cost of living has gotten up and is unbearable for a lot of people.
Christopher Wong: So, let’s talk a little bit about those kinds of services. What other kind of services is the city prioritizing, and what other services are you looking at?
Betty Martinez Franco: Well, we have the two senior centers here, both very old, and both need some refurbishing. I know there are some acoustics issues going on in the Lakeview Senior Center, and we know how important it is for people with hard of hearing to modify those.
We need to improve our programs, and we have done really well with having programs in the city, but we don’t want to cut any of the programs that our seniors currently have. Our buildings need more improvements as well.
We are going to have a silver wave in the next few years. A lot of us are going to be retirees in that age of having to use our community centers, and we are going to overwhelm these community centers. So we need to be prepared, we need to invest in those community services that we offer to seniors.
We need to be prepared, We need to invest in those community services that we offer to seniors.
The other thing is that food insecurity has grown tremendously. Our office has been providing food distribution, and I think we need to prioritize those food distributions to all the city, not just to one district. We need to move these food distributions all through the city because there is a big need. 9% of our children, according to the county statistics, go hungry every year or receive food stamps. And as we know, with the cuts to Medi-Cal, those need to be a priority.
Economic Development
Christopher Wong: Let’s shift a little bit. Let’s talk about economic development. How do you, as a councilperson, especially in your district, handle and encourage economic development?
Betty Martinez Franco: I am very excited about the new Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. I think that’s going to be a good place for all entrepreneurs to come and just create ideas, network with other business owners. And I know our Economic Department is going to be able to be empowered to go after big businesses that come to our city and provide more jobs.
We are going to be investing a lot in healthcare. As I mentioned, we are going to have a big silver wave in the next few years, so those services are going to be the most needed. And once you have these big companies coming here to Irvine, we are going to be able to expand to small businesses, because all the people that are going to be employed by these big businesses are going to need small businesses to do their dry cleaning, to grab a cup of coffee, and those are going to come together after we have all this development.
Christopher Wong: How do we ensure that those workers can actually live in Irvine? District 5 is fairly built out, so there’s much room for any growth within this particular district. So how do we tackle that challenge?
Betty Martinez Franco: Like I mentioned, in all the places where we are building our hospitals or all the centers of work, we need to build more high-density around those areas so we are able to provide more workforce housing. And partner with some companies. I have heard of some companies saying, “Hey, I want to just invest in providing this kind of affordable residences for my employees because they are traveling from afar.”
The other thing is that we have a very cool project going on right now by the train station. The city owns that property, and it’s going to build high-density apartments, and there is a big opportunity to do more affordable housing for workforce housing, for those nurses that cannot afford to live here, those firefighters, and teachers.
I am also pushing staff to do more research on: how do we help with homebuying loans to employees of the City of Irvine, as well as to people who work here in the city? So, I think those are going to be good. As you know, buying a home is still the best way to build wealth in the future. If we invest in those right now, we are going to have more families that are going to be growing here in Irvine and building that family wealth in the future. But, they need to be affordable for them to be able to buy those, so hopefully the city can find some grants and ways to do it. Santa Ana does it; we can do it, too.
Equity and Needs
Christopher Wong: As a councilmember for District 5, you want to see your district thrive and grow, you know. How do you make sure that your district is treated fairly among the others, getting projects? How do we make sure that we are equitable compared to the other districts, and then how do you balance the needs of your district versus the overall needs of the city?
Betty Martinez Franco: My focus is my district. I am very centered in what the needs of my district are, like the library, the senior centers, and our playgrounds that need remodeling, or the bike paths that need some sort of protection for pedestrians and bikes. I am very embedded in this district, and I know the needs of my district, and that’s what makes me a good candidate, because I am already looking for ways to improve our district.
However, I’m not going to compromise our emergency services that we receive as a citywide. I think that it’s something that we all need to fight for and conserve our Orange County Fire Authority and make sure that they are giving us the best emergency services that we can get, as well as supporting our Police Department in everything they do citywide. It’s a citywide effort; I cannot compromise that.
Christopher Wong: Is there a specific prioritization of those services that you want to make sure that we tackle? You mentioned OCFA. We don’t really pay for OCFA from the general fund, it comes out of our property taxes through the county. We pay for our library now, we pay for—I can’t really say Irvine Connect, because that comes out of a separate fund as well but we have parks and services, we have public works. Is there a prioritization that you’re looking at when you are looking for those kinds of services?
Betty Martinez Franco: Yes, there is a prioritization on everything that we do. And I look at all these things, even Irvine Connect. Let’s clarify, like you mentioned, Irvine Connect receives the funds through OCTA, and if those funds go away, we will get no Irvine Connect, but we need to find another form of transportation. So it doesn’t come from the General Fund, but we need to expand transportation to every district, because we don’t have that connection throughout the city. But we need the funds.
The senior centers, like I mentioned, need a lot of love and they need a lot of investment. With the library, I want to support and keep the library open, but with that, I actually want to save money and not pay $40,000 a month, but pay what it’s really worth right now, and we will save thousands of dollars. Either that or buying it for the long term would be the best outcome that we can have.
Expanding protection in San Diego Creek, I don’t know if you have gone through there, but you can easily fall into the rocks just right here, and I want some sort of protection right there. And I want, even if it’s a painted division between the bicycles and the pedestrians, I want some sort of protection for the pedestrians, because I have almost gotten run over by bicycles while I’m walking in the trail. It’s a beautiful space. We need to work closer with the county on those partnerships.
The Library
Christopher Wong: I’m going to shift over to that library question we kind of talked about a little bit. The city is going to develop a master plan and have the library committee. Do you have any personal goals for that library, and are there any other services that you want to see the library provide?
Betty Martinez Franco: You know, I’ve been doing some research on what other counties are doing in the libraries. I’ve seen that they have like, podcast rooms, they have things where everybody can just go and just be a creator. I want to see more of those. Those kinds of services are good. I have heard from the community that they want a kitchen, so they can learn how to cook or they can use the kitchen. So those are always good to have.
Christopher Wong: Is that part of the library or part of a community center, though? In District 5 here, we really don’t have that kind of center, right?
Betty Martinez Franco: If we’re providing the Library of Things, a kitchen might be fitting if you have all those cookbooks, right? And it’s like, “Come and try the new recipe from this author.” It’s not just one person that I have heard about, so a lot of people are very interested in that.
Priorities and the Future
Christopher Wong: What are the main priorities for the rest of your term? What are the improvements you are still looking to make, not just maybe this term, but for the future term as well?
Betty Martinez Franco: My main priority is continuing to work on housing affordability. Like I mentioned in the beginning, I still want to find solutions for workforce housing and to help first-time buyers for families that work here in the city and want to be able to find their first home here.
I still want to find solutions for workforce housing and to help first-time buyers for families that work here in the city and want to be able to find their first home here
I want to be able to extend Irvine Connect and connect it with our bike share program that we have here, and hopefully in the future expand that pilot program.
I want to continue providing resources to women that cannot find jobs, that are experiencing domestic violence. The first thing that I did this year was the Women’s Conference, and I want to continue bringing the Women’s Conference for next year, even if it wasn’t approved by the City Council. We have our CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) resolution. That it one of the best resolutions in all of California, and we need to really make sure that we are doing more for women.
I want to keep on investing in safety, and that includes e-bikes, and tackle e-bike problems. I just did an e-bike workshop where I partnered with the Police Department. I invited a panel of people to come and talk about e-bikes. So I am very excited to keep on bringing and improving that program and working closely with state legislators to push for more legislation for the kinds of problems that we are having here. So those are a few of my priorities right now.
Christopher Wong: And the last part of the question that I held off a little bit is, what kind of direction are you looking to lead Irvine into?
Betty Martinez Franco: I think that goes back to what I’m passionate about. I’m passionate about accessibility and equity, and I think I will continue guiding our city into that. Again, I’m the only voice in the City Council—and I believe I’m the only voice among all the candidates—that is a tenant in affordable housing and knows how it is to be struggling. I don’t live in million-dollar houses like the other candidates, and I’m not criticizing their success, but I am bringing an issue that has not been brought to the City Council.
There are people who have never had their voices heard in the City Council, and I’m bringing that voice
There’s an inequity in the city. There are people who have never had their voices heard in the City Council, and I’m bringing that voice of a single mom raising her two kids, a student that just graduated with a master’s with a bunch of loans and understands how hard it is to find a job, a business owner that is struggling every day to keep their business open. So I bring a lot of perspectives that my other candidates don’t bring, and I want to keep on moving forward to see everybody. We’re going to go in that direction into stability and equity.