The revival of a community safety task force, ongoing efforts to make the city more eco-friendly, coming attractions at the Orange County Great Park and plans for a new bike and pedestrian bridges were among Irvine Mayor Christina Shea’s highlights in her State of the City address on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

Today at the Orange County Great Park, innovative public space is taking shape. Based on a visionary plan for 1,300 acres of amenities and park space, more than 450 acres of park space have been completed, with more than 230 additional acres in progress. Visit today and see what’s here now, and learn more about what’s to come.

It was Shea’s biggest opportunity to lay out some of her goals since she took over the mayor’s seat last spring from Don Wagner, who resigned after winning a seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

Irvine Councilmember Anthony Kuo feeds goats that were brought into the plaza outside city hall in Irvine on Tuesday, February 25, 2020, as an educational and interactive experience to highlight the city’s environmental programs. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Before Shea’s speech, visitors were invited to mingle with goats in a pen outside City Hall – a display meant to call attention to the city’s environmental initiatives, such as hiring a goat herd that helps reduce wildfire danger by eating weeds and brush in the city’s open spaces.

The goats – who will be dispatched to more areas in the city this year – drew a small burst of applause when Shea mentioned them in her address.

She also pointed to the four-year-old program that opts for organic rather than synthetic pesticides and weed killers at parks and other city properties and the council’s recent move to create a community choice energy program, which would allow the city to purchase its own electric power from renewable sources.

“We care about the health of our children, our families, our pets, and our wildlife,” she said.

Shea noted the revival of the Safe Community Task Force, which was originally convened in the 1990s. Councilman Mike Carroll, who is part of the current group, said before Shea’s speech that he expects it to focus on potential threats to the community and safety at educational institutions in Irvine.

While 2019 was a big year for the Great Park, with the opening of the ice rink, more walking trails and a new playground, this year city leaders are expected to finalize plans for a new Wild Rivers water park, a fire safety museum, a joint police/fire training center and a permanent location for FivePoint Amphitheater, Shea said.

The city’s plan for a veterans cemetery, the location of which has been contentious for several years, also got a shoutout. The council voted in June 2019 to set aside land that had been planned for a golf course in the Great Park as a cemetery site; opponents who prefer another site are gathering signatures for a ballot measure that would force a switch.