October 2006 Archives
Mayor Pringle Named One of the Hottest 25 People in Orange County by OC Metro MagazineBig-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 On - Hand for Dedication of New Underground Electrical SubstationOctober 17, 2006 01:00 PM Eastern Time
Anaheim Unveils Cutting-Edge Technology with Dedication of Park above Electric Substation
City Leaders Help Celebrate Launch of First Underground Electric Substation in U.S.
ANAHEIM, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Anaheim Public Utilities, in a partnership that included the city’s Community Services Departments as well as some of the nation’s top energy contracting and consulting firms, today dedicated Park Substation, the first underground electric substation in the United States. Adding to the uniqueness of the substation is the fact that it sits below Roosevelt Park, a two-acre facility that serves the East Anaheim neighborhood.
The 100 MVA electric distribution station has the capacity to serve 25,000 current and future residential customers. It uses state-of-the-art technology in substation design with Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS), which reduces the required space for the substation to approximately 30 percent of a conventional station design. The use of this technology is more common in Europe and Japan.
“I am pleased to see Anaheim continue its transformation into a city of the 21st century with the completion of this innovative project,” Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle told an audience of more than 100 invited guests that included city and utility leaders, project team members, as well as local residents and business owners. “With this new technology, we will be able to build substations closer to where we need them, in spaces that are considerably smaller than their predecessors and within enclosures such as buildings or underground.”
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Mayor Pringle and Councilmembers Hear Constructive Ideas for Revitalization of Santa Ana River AreaFriday, October 20, 2006
Students' plans would enhance Santa Ana River area
Anaheim, already at work on sprucing up the Santa Ana River area, praises extension students' visions.
By SARAH TULLY
The Orange County Register
A shopping and dining promenade could line a strip by the Honda Center. Paddle boats and kayaks could launch from docks on an expanded urban lake. Nature trails could wind around water basins.
These lofty ideas and others for the Santa Ana River came from UCLA Extension students, who developed a plan for a class project and presented it at an Anaheim City Council workshop this week. The council has no funding for the projects and is unsure which proposals are even feasible, but members lauded the grand vision for the river in Anaheim, which means "home by the Santa Ana River" in German.
"What this plan does is embrace the river (in a city) that has a great potential for being a riverfront city," instructor Kathleen Bullard said.
As part of Mayor Curt Pringle's long-term goal to revitalize the river, more than 100 landscape architecture students were assigned to think big at an April brainstorming gathering. Eleven students then came up with beautification plans for a nine-mile stretch of the river, which is usually dry.
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