Mike Carroll (politician)

Michael Christopher Carroll is a member of the Irvine City Council in Irvine, California, as well as the Chairman of the Orange County Great Park and the former Vice Mayor. Before joining the city council, Carroll served as Vice Chair of the Irvine Planning Commission and as Chair of the Community Services (Parks & Recreation) Commission. Carroll was a bi-partisan appointment to fill a council vacancy in May 2019, and in November 2020 he won a 4-year term as Councilmember, receiving the second highest number of votes in the City’s history.

Appointment
In 2019, Donald P. Wagner, the mayor of Irvine, California at the time, became a member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors. As a result, Christina Shea, a current member of Irvine City Council, was promoted to the position of mayor. This left an opening on the City Council, which was filled when the remaining members of the City Council appointed Mike Carroll to the position.

Attempted Recall
Near the end of 2019, a petition was started to recall Irvine Mayor Christina Shea and Councilmember Carroll. The recall effort was suspended in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and no recall election was held. The Mayor and Councilmember claimed the petition was a campaign effort by a political opponent preparing for a run in the 2020 elections. Ultimately, the recall effort failed and was abandoned.

City Mailer Spending
In September 2020, Councilwoman Melissa Fox, filed a complaint to the City Council stating that in the last year, Councilman Mike Carroll had spent $70,000 on city mailers. Similar to events held by federal, state, and county elected officials, the mailers promoted neighborhood town hall meetings attended by residents and featured Carroll's name. The California Fair Political Practices Commission, dismissed all claims and rejected any investigation into the complaint.

First Amendment Controversy
On May 14, 2024, four First Amendment auditors attended an open town hall hosted by Councilmember Carroll which was intended to "discuss upcoming planning commission decisions." The auditors entered with the purpose of recording the town hall meeting, but frequently recorded and interacted with attendees and city employees, often resulting in verbal confrontations. Although this recording was legal, many attendees perceived the auditors' actions as disruptive. Upon entering the town hall, Carroll stated "I don't know what this is, but the good news is: there's 60 of you and there's a few of them. So, you guys do what you want." Afterwards, the town hall was moved to a restricted area, with the auditors being denied access. Irvine Watchdog contributor Tiffany Im further criticized Carroll's conduct during the town hall meeting itself, including his alleged dismissal of public inquiries and failure to address the hostile behavior of attendees.

The auditors then attended the following city council meeting, in which Carroll expressed how their presence made him feel unsafe due to the unsubstantiated possibility of them possessing firearms as well as them filming the meeting despite them already being recorded and readily available to the public. The incident followed a series of city council meetings which were repeatedly overwhelmed by activists protesting the Israel–Hamas war, resulting in multiple Irvine councilmembers, including Carroll, to step out during public comment due to feeling that the matter was not within the City's subject-matter jurisdiction.