Ahead of the special election for the Irvine City Council District 5 seat, the Orange County Register compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates who wish to represent you. You can find the full questionnaire below. Questionnaires have been edited for spelling, grammar, length and, in some instances, to remove hate speech and offensive language.

Name: Dana Cornelius

Other political positions held: HOA board member

City where you reside: Irvine

Also read: As voting begins for Irvine’s Fifth District election, here’s where the candidates stand on issues

In your opinion, what are the biggest issues facing Irvine? And, what do you plan to do about them?

Based on information collected from canvassing over the last several weeks, the No. 1 concern for the residents in District 5 can be summed up in one word: Cars. Folks are complaining about gridlock and parking issues.

A few ways to mitigate this issue:

• More Irvine Connect bus routes. E.g. Michelson from Jeffrey to Jamboree.

• Seek a moratorium on ADUs in Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) District 5 is already maxed out.

• Require a parking permit for households with more cars that can fit into their garage or designated parking space(s)

• To encourage bike use, lower speed limits, improve bike lane barriers or create separate bike lanes that aren’t shared with cars traveling at highway speeds.

No. 2 concern: E-bikes. Education, management and enforcement needs to be re-evaluated so this type of transportation doesn’t continue to scare pedestrians. If it has two wheels and a motor, then it’s a “motorcycle.” Irvine ought to require a license or permit to make it visible to law enforcement and those directly impacted by errant e-bike behaviors. A course and testing, similar to that which is required for a motorcycle license, ought to be required, as well as periodic testing. What the city is doing is good, but it’s not enough. We need better ordinances.

What is your vision for the city as undeveloped land becomes scarcer but its population continues to grow?

Preserving the Master Plan created by the visionaries back in the ’60s and ’70s is one of my top priorities. It’s what attracted me here in 1991 and what keeps me here. We ought to explore ways to convert unused, hard-to-lease office buildings into dwellings for those not yet in the financial place to buy a home. Irvine was designed for the family unit. Each village is equipped with shopping center(s), so restocking the refrigerator is easy and quick. District 5 has the most private parks than any other district. We love to recreate. I shall help protect the retention of these good health-promoting activities.

What do you think the city should do to address homelessness? Are you in support of building and operating a city-run shelter?

I consider it a cruel measure to leave someone out in the hard elements: rain, wind, cold or blazing hot sun. Who in their right mind wants to live without a roof over their heads, food in their stomach or sleep on a comfortable mattress at night? “When I grow up, I want to be homeless,” said no child ever.

I believe in tough love. My idea of tough love will likely involve a combination of explicit and implicit acts of compassion, including both immediate assistance with basic needs and encouragement for independence and motivation to help them rebuild their lives. My approach is designed to support homeless individuals in regaining self-worth and confidence rather than simply removing them from the streets. Everyone wins.

Irvine’s design was made for housing. I.e. four walls and a roof, not for camping.

Irvine was designed for learning. It’s home to one of the most prestigious public institutions in the world, UC Irvine. Irvine is a city of intellect. We love to learn, grow, share and teach.

Irvine was also designed for families to enjoy their children and aging parents. Having a homeless shelter within city limits would have to be decided by the nearby homeowners — not by a panel of seven on the dais, but by the majority of those directly or indirectly impacted. I support sharing the cost to fund them.

Also, having volunteered as a C.A.S.A., I saw first-hand how valuable foster parenting is to displaced youth and society. We ought to explore a similar program for our city’s “disenfranchised.” Get these folks fully vetted and prepared to transition into a temporary home. Give a stipend and a full spectrum of support to the volunteer foster family. This program would surely have a degree of success right out of the starting gate.

To quote Oprah, “Give a leg up, not a handout.”

Irvine set a goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030, but staff said last year the city won’t hit that target in time. What are your ideas to make Irvine more energy-efficient and greener? 

Increase Irvine Connect bus routes. I’d love to use it but would take me 20 minutes just to walk to the closest bus stop. Make riding a bus fun again — take the stigma out of it. Having grown up near Chicago where there were two train lines and an intricate system of bus routes, everyone rode public transit! It’s where you met new friends or decompressed after a long day. I say, make riding public transit fun again. Hire musicians or the like to entertain passengers — get folks to ride the bus and keep their cars at home.

And build more bridges between villages — also make it fun to walk again.

What makes you a good leader, and how would you represent the diverse communities of your district and city?

Good leadership requires a calm, clear decisive mind that is willing to speak directly to the constituents in solution-based, compassionate, non-partisan ways. I have that. Over the past few years, there’s been too much emotion in the council chambers and on the dais. Sometimes, when I observed council meetings in person, I felt like part of a live audience at a Hollywood sit-com taping.

Good leadership means keeping things in control and swiftly extinguishing behaviors that could erupt in violence.

I’ve a diverse professional background spanning over 35 years as described in my candidate statement found on the city of Irvine’s Website. Executive management, my last position before retiring seven years ago, will surely serve very well my endeavors to meet the needs of my constituents. My 13-year, 24/7 care-giving duties to my late father, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, carved out a special place in my heart for our aging population. Enjoyed many a conversation with patients at the Irvine Medical Center while I pushed them around in wheelchairs. I graduated from Irvine’s Community Police Academy and Community Emergency Responder course (FEMA’s C.E.R.T.). I was trained as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate who routinely delivered in-person reports to the judge at Lamoreaux Justice Center. And now (hopefully) a grand juror (application in process). I’ve been finger-printed and back-ground checked more often than anyone I know!

I enjoy diversity, too. I grew up in East Wilmette, Illinois by two Yale-trained attorneys in a 4,200-square-foot home near Lake Michigan. Chicago was considered then to be America’s melting pot. My mother loved learning about world religions, but due to family obligations had to put her dream of traveling the world on the back burner. So she brought the world to her through foreign exchange students. Learning about Venezuela, Kuwait, China, France, Chile, Mexico, Mongolia, and Canada directly from a native enriched my childhood. And it wasn’t uncommon to see both a Menorah and a Crucifix in our dining room. Didn’t confuse us at all — quite the contrary.