Former Irvine Mayor Larry Agran officially filed to run for city council at the end of July, further packing an already crowded field of candidates ahead of the November election. 

Agran is one of the most controversial figures in Irvine politics, having served over 20 years on the city council on and off from 1978 to 2014, with ten of those years as mayor. 

Agran was one of the leading proponents behind the start of the Orange County Great Park, but many have blamed his decisions as leading to skyrocketing costs for the park, as well as public cost estimates that were far lower than what the actual projected cost of the park ended up at. 

Part of why Republicans took control of the city council in 2012 was a call for new fiscal oversight measures in the Park, which they claimed the Democratic majority led by Agran had mismanaged.