Shaping Anaheim’s Future : A Look at Some of the Up-and-Coming Leaders and the Role They Might Play in the City’s Future

Stephen Mather

Mather, 42, is pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Anaheim and a leader of the Orange County Congregation of Community Organizations, an anti-drug and anti-gang coalition of 18 Christian churches, including six in Anaheim.

As spokesman for one of Anaheim’s strongest activist groups, Mather wants city leaders to pay more attention to residents’ issues. The coalition’s Anaheim protests, the largest one attended by 1,000 people, prompted city officials to organize a committee of police, civic and community leaders charged with finding ways to stop crime among the city’s youth.

Mather says Anaheim’s leaders need to see that gangs, drugs, crime, overcrowded schools and neighborhoods--as well as other city problems--are interrelated.

“The city is a seamless garment, but the problems have been dealt with as patches,” Mather said. “We are putting Band-Aids on hemorrhages. We need to have a comprehensive policy between the city, the schools, the police.”

Further, the City Council needs to map out a vision of what the city can be “other than just being the home of Disneyland, the convention center and the Angels,” Mather said. City leaders pay more attention to the concerns of the tourism industry than they do to the problems of Anaheim’s residents, he said. “Other cities that don’t have Anaheim’s advantages don’t have its problems because they have a vision of themselves.”

Brad E. Mayne

Mayne, 36, is the general manager of the $103-million Anaheim Arena, which is scheduled to open in 1993.

Working for one of the city’s partners in operating the 19,200-seat arena, Mayne is searching for both a National Hockey League and a National Basketball Assn. team willing to relocate to the city. He is also trying to book conventions and concerts in the arena.

It is a critical task. If the arena--which is being financed with a 1% tax on hotel and motel bills--does not fill a significant percentage of its open dates, the city could face losses of up to $2.5 million annually for eight years.

Mayne is confident. The arena is a prime candidate to land a hockey team because the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings have sold out every game this season and the league is looking to expand within the next eight years, he said. Getting a basketball team might be more difficult because Los Angeles has two NBA teams, the Lakers and Clippers, so Orange County, with its 2.4 million residents, will have to show it can support a team on its own.

“The No. 1 comment local people tell us in our research is that they drive enough in their daily lives, and they don’t want to drive again to Los Angeles for the entertainment available at indoor arenas such as the Forum and Sports Arena,” Mayne said.

Maria-Elena Romero

Romero is director of strategic planning for the Anaheim City School District.

Trying to find classroom space for 15,500 students is no easy job. The kindergarten-through- sixth-grade district is said to have 21% more students than its 21 schools were designed for.

With enrollment increasing about 750 students a year, Romero’s primary goal will be to get $90 million from the state to build five new 700-student schools needed by 1997.

Without an increase in local funding from developers or taxpayers, however, she is not optimistic that deadline will be reached. Unless developers voluntarily contribute more money, the district may have to go to the voters for a bond sale, paid for through property taxes.

In distributing money for schools, the state gives top priority to districts that have both a year-round calendar and are able to pay 50% of the construction costs themselves, Romero said.

“We are on a year-round calendar, but we can’t afford a 50% contribution, so that drops us to the No. 2 priority level,” she said. “At that level, it will be eight to 10 years before state funding is available. . . . And I just don’t think we can expect to win a bond election.”

Kerry Hunnewell

Hunnewell, 37, is Disney’s vice president for development who is in charge of Disneyland’s upcoming $3-billion expansion.

Hunnewell will be responsible for the construction of the 550-acre Disneyland Resort, which company officials say will include a world’s fair-style theme park, “Westcot Center,” three hotels, a retail center by a six-acre lake and a 5,000-seat amphitheater. His obstacles include a rigorous environmental impact report process, which could lead to confrontations with neighborhood activists, and the purchase of an additional 100 acres in the surrounding area for a multistoried parking structure and long-term expansion of the park.

The expansion will improve the city economically and physically, Hunnewell said. It translates into 28,000 new jobs in Southern California, including 17,000 in the Anaheim area, $45 million in new tax revenue to Anaheim annually, $13 million in new tax revenue to Orange County, $90 million in new tax revenue to the state and $2.5 billion in new economic activity in the area, he said.

“This is also a window of opportunity for the city to use the fund-raising power of the private sector” to improve its streets, utility lines and sewer systems, he said. “For Anaheim, this (expansion) is going to be the steppingstone to a lot of wonderful things.”

Mary Doman

Doman is program manager of the Episcopal Service Alliance, which provides assistance to 12,000 poor and homeless people annually.

Doman said that for the poor, Anaheim’s near future is a mixed bag. On one side, the Disneyland expansion will provide numerous service industry jobs. On the other side, it could displace many of the city’s low-cost motels, which provide housing for many of the poor for as little as $500 a month.

“I think it’s ironic that many of the people who would benefit most from the jobs might not be able to take them because they will no longer be able to live in the area because the rents will be so high,” said Doman, who has worked at the alliance for two years. The organization is supported by government grants, including a recent $15,000 donation from the city, and contributions from businesses, individuals and a variety of churches.

“The expansion will be helpful for underemployed families that are looking for a second job to make ends meet, such as a woman whose husband is unemployed,” she said. “But I’m afraid that many of the jobs will go to teen-agers and college students who don’t require their job to be their sole means of support. But the city has been good about helping to take care of its residents. I hope that continues.”

Ramon E. Torres Jr.

Torres is president-elect of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce and for 11 years the owner of Torres & Associates, a business and management consulting firm.

Currently the chamber’s vice president of financial planning, Torres has served as president of the Anaheim Private Industry Council, which advises the city on economic issues and assists with its job training program.

Torres said that while Disneyland and the Anaheim Arena have gotten the most attention from the media, there are other business expansion plans in Anaheim, now in development by the city in conjunction with the 1,100-member chamber. Despite some recent public rifts between the city and chamber, particularly over the city’s imposition of a utility tax, the bonds between the two are solid, he said.

“The city and the chamber in partnership are looking five and 10 years ahead to see what the business community might be like, and we are optimistic,” Torres said.

“There are plans for light industry, offices, commercial districts, retail in East Anaheim and, obviously, entertainment. It’s unfortunate that the public sees the disagreements between the city and the chamber (over the utility tax) but doesn’t always see the behind-the-scenes cooperation that goes on.”