News

Pringle addresses city’s future

Published in OC Metro

Feburary 14, 2008

Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle wants to take a page from Disneyland – he envisions a monorail as a connector to a burgeoning public transportation system – as well as businesses that do customer-satisfaction surveys to move the 350,000-resident city continually forward.

Pringle, in his sixth year as mayor of one of Orange County’s most dynamic cities, skirted the dismal economic climate, but missed little else in his annual State of the City Address.

“Every year, Anaheim is reborn,” he said, noting the difficult times in 2007 when a divided council wrestled with a proposed residential project within the Anaheim Resort. He talked about the specifics, such as hiring JD Power and Associates to do a customer-satisfaction survey, as well as anecdotally suggesting any city that moves forward must recruit the “creative class” of workers. “We all have a stake (in the) highly skilled workforce that we need here.”

Pringle said he is hopeful that public-private partnerships will continue to pay for expensive projects – the proposed monorail that would be part of a citywide effort to whisk perhaps millions of passengers annually around high-density areas, such as the Platinum Triangle, Convention Center, Disneyland and the sports parks.

“(We want to attract) the innovators, the inventors, the designers and the thinkers who create the big things,” he told the 800-person audience of business leaders, chamber members, government officials and special guests.

The city celebrated its 150th anniversary last October, and Pringle made a point of noting that cities that stand still, decay: “You can think of Anaheim in many ways – tourist destination, job center, growing cultural hub.”

Mayor Pringle Named One of the Hottest 25 People in Orange County by OC Metro Magazine

Big-City Mayor CURT PRINGLE

Mayor of the city of Anaheim

Age: 47

Residence: Anaheim

Family: Wife Alexis; 2 children

Hobby: Family

Curt Pringle’s name has the ring of a big-city mayor in a county that has never rhymed with “Giuliani” or “Villaraigosa” or “Daly.” One of his strategies is to think big. Among his goals is to “advance Anaheim into a place where it deserves. What’s important is not only to continue (moving forward) with Anaheim as a leader, but also to do the same for the county. It’s interesting; we are very much discounted, or disregarded, because of our proximity to Los Angeles. Anaheim is a microcosm of the county, and also the state.” He adds: “I think we ought to get our proper due.” As he prepares for a second and final four-year term ­ he runs against William Fitzgerald in next month’s election ­ Pringle is poised to help shape the most invigorating city in Orange County in the most challenging of times.

Running a city ­ Anaheim is among the state’s top 10 largest cities with 343,000 residents ­ is no easy feat. Constituencies range from a growing Latino population to the world-famous Disneyland Resort to professional baseball and hockey teams. He has been there to greet NFL luminaries who want to plant a team in either the Los Angeles market or in Anaheim. Pringle was there as the Platinum Triangle ­ Orange County’s largest urban redevelopment project ever ­ took shape. The concept is one that could create the first true downtown in a county that has been more village-inspired than urban. The 820 acres could have up to 9,500 housing units, 5 million square feet of office space, more than 2 million square feet of commercial uses and several high-rises. In the eight to 10 years for buildout, the project promises to have the stamp of both Pringle’s early work ­ allowing the free market to build a viable project with city support, rather than act as a hindrance ­ and of his hope that it will emerge as the county’s true downtown. “That’s the definition of an urban center,” he says. “The streets don’t roll up at 5 o’clock. I think you’ll see that here.” This has been a busy year.

The activist mayor has had a hand in several major city initiatives. These include: Wi-Fi is now available throughout the city; the Tiger Woods Learning Center opened; transportation initiatives in the form of the newly purchased land for the planned Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodel Center, which will provide shuttles to Disneyland, regional routes to neighboring cities, the Amtrak and Metrolink platform, and perhaps even high-speed rail to Ontario Airport and later to Las Vegas and possibly San Francisco. Also this year, the City Council gave the final go-ahead for GardenWalk, a 19-acre outdoor shopping center and hotel complex that opens in 2007. Not everything is a win, though; the Angels prevailed this year against the city in a naming lawsuit (officially the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim). The former state Assembly Speaker hosts an annual State of the City address that actually matters regionally. More than 800 people turned out this year. His annual prayer breakfast every October draws even more. The question that makes him squirm is what he will do after his mayorship. “Those are always the nagging questions that show up. I’m at a point in my life where I don’t have to be in office … I’m very confident in God’s plan for my life, and at this moment in time have no interest in running for anything else.” —Craig Reem

Mayor Pringle Named One Of The "100 Most Powerful People In Southern California"

West Magazine (formerly Los Angeles Times Magazine) has published The West 100, which the editors bill as their list "of the most pwerful people in Southern California." Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle is the only Orange County elected official to be included in the list:

Curt Pringle Anaheim mayor; 47, Anaheim Pringle has taken some heat for having lost Anaheim's name-change fight with the Angels and for struggling to muster consensus on courting the NFL. Still, Pringle is not only running unopposed, he's also been endorsed by his biggest critic. It's a testament to the skill and war chest of the ambitious GOP leader of Disneyland's hometown. More broadly, Pringle has built such a strong reputation for his aggressive pro-business approach to governance (creative tax waivers, sweeping zone changes, market incentives to redevelop run-down parts of the city) that other local officials have coined a verb for his philosophy: "to Pringle-ize."