Great Park audit released: Irvine might be able to recover money; City Council to discuss tonight (OC Reg)

     …Warnings from an architecture professor overseeing the jury that reviewed competition finalists that the Design Studio was a risky selection because of its inexperience and “uncertainties about who would be on site overseeing the project and other management issues” were “largely ignored,” [the auditing firm] HSNO found.
     The auditing firm also reported former Councilman Larry Agran “misled the public” in 2006 when he said the Great Park could be built for $401 million. He had heard in November 2005 an estimate of $1 billion, the report stated. The longtime politician’s recommendation got consultant George Urch hired and he directed work to be done that was outside of the project’s scope, HSNO said.
     Public relations firm Forde & Mollrich was paid $7.2 million from July 2005 to December 2012; $6.3 million was under design contracts, according to HSNO. “Strategy and Public Relations do not appear to be consistent with design function,” the auditing firm stated….

Final Audit Report Shows Larry Agran's Great Park Plan Was A Debacle From Outset (OC Weekly)

     …"The Master Plan was killed not by the recession or the loss of the redevelopment funding, it was killed by its own hubris, the failure to engage in a honest dialogue about how it could be funded, and failure to keep the consultants operating with any sort of affordable budget," Aleshire and Taylor concluded….