Change is in the Air: Meet Irvine Mayor-Elect Farrah Khan
Mayor-elect Farrah Khan. Photo credit Derek Humphrey.
On December 8th, Irvine’s leadership will change hands as the role of mayor transitions from Christina Shea to Farrah Khan. The Vine spoke with the Mayor-elect Khan about her priorities, her style of leadership, and her favorite nature trails. She is clearly going to hit the ground running.
“Right after I get sworn in, we have our first meeting,” says Khan. “I’m currently working on a transition plan. The priorities will be tackling this pandemic, making sure we’re taking the right steps as we move forward, and protecting our residents and our small businesses. I’m developing an economic recovery plan that includes a COVID task force which will include members from UCI, Hoag, and Kaiser, to really help guide us on our next steps and what we need to be doing.”
The COVID task force members have not been announced, but will include representatives of pediatrics and mental health in addition to adult medicine. Beyond the medical experts, Khan will reach out to businesses as well as Irvine residents.
“I’ll be meeting with the business community to make sure we’re meeting their needs as we navigate our way out of this economic crisis,” says Khan. “I’ll also be staying in touch with community members and being as open as possible. Whether that’s via Zoom or the Facebook Live that I do regularly just to stay in touch and to hear community members out, I want to know what’s going on on the ground so I can bring that back to the council. It’s so important right now. The steps we take today are going to determine how we come out of this in the months to come.”
Khan’s steps to connect to the community are part of her leadership philosophy. She wants to get beyond divisive politics.
“Leadership is about building bridges and bringing people together,” says Khan. “I want everyone to understand that the leadership I’m looking forward to is a leadership that unites everyone. I’m here to serve each and every individual out there regardless of whether they voted for me or not; to serve them and to help them get through whatever issues they might be going through. We’re going to work together.”
This cooperative ethos not only guides Khan’s interactions with Irvine residents but also with city council. Cooperation is a priority for her as she takes the city’s reigns.
“I’m looking forward to sharing the same thought with my council colleagues,” says Khan, “and making sure that we’re setting our differences aside. We’re not going to always agree on everything, but we’re going to work through it. We’re going to compromise where we need to compromise for the betterment of our community members and that’s really the goal here.”
Khan’s goals to better the city of Irvine come from her love of it. She is passionate about the beauty of our nature trails.
Upper Bee and Bosque area in the Great Park.
“Irvine’s open spaces are the best,” says Khan. “We have the most amazing trails whether it’s in Bommer Canyon, which I frequent a lot, or even our regular trails and bike paths throughout the city. Our Bee and Bosque trail is amazing. It’s adjacent to the Great Park and it’s one of our newest trails. It’s developed in a way where it kind of blends into the mountain side so you get a really good feel of going from the city landscape into nature. I recommend it to everyone. I love the idea that you can step outside and get on a trail and either bike or take a walk and feel like you’re out in nature.”
In addition hiking Irvine’s the nature trails, Khan appreciates shopping in Irvine’s more unique businesses. She hopes to strengthen the small business community during her time as Mayor.
“I think our small businesses are really special,” says Khan. “There are all these little shops I love going to and they bring a unique perspective to our city. I would love to see more of that. I don’t see that enough in our city. I really am hoping to work with not only the Irvine Company but other landlords that deal with commercial properties to really focus on bringing in those mom and pop shops. That’s the flavor that comes into a city and makes it unique and brings culture into a city. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
Khan is not only a proponent of small businesses but also a customer. In order to support small restaurants, she launched the Taste of Irvine restaurant program with UCI professor Catherine Liu. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the Taste of Irvine continues.
“We pick a local restaurant in Irvine and invite community members to join us,” explains Khan. “We order food, share food, and have conversations about all sorts of things. During the pandemic, we converted it to a Zoom. We still pick a restaurant, tell people to order take out or delivery, and bring their food to the Zoom conversation. We still share the food we are eating and topics that interest us about the city or anything else. I think that’s really important to continue because not only are we highlighting our local restaurants and providing them a little boost, but at the same time we’re having those conversations that we normally might not have.”
It is this type of effort that shows Khan’s passion for Irvine and her tenacity to support the city even in adversity. Her optimism for Irvine’s future shines bright.
“I’m excited,” says Khan. “I think this is a challenging year and at the same time I’m very hopeful. And I think that with our community support, with my colleagues’ support, we’re going to get through this and be bigger and better than ever.”
The Swearing-In Ceremony for Mayor-elect Farrah N. Khan, as well as Councilmember Mike Carroll, Councilmember-elect Tammy Kim, and Councilmember-elect Larry Agran, will be held in the Council Chamber at City Hall and public attendance will no longer be permitted. The event had originally been organized as a drive-in event at the Orange County Great Park.
The Swearing-In Ceremony will take place from 2 to 3 p.m. and will be available to view live on ICTV, which is available on Cox Communications Channel 30 and on AT&T U-verse Channel 99. It will also be available live on the City’s YouTube Channel and the Facebook Page.
The City Council Meeting will follow at 4 p.m. and can be viewed on ICTV30 or streamed at cityofirvine.org/ictv.