Mayor’s Address on Santa Ana Is in Irvine

SANTA ANA — He hasn’t even uttered the first word of his state of the city speech, and already, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel A. Pulido Jr. is in hot water.

It’s not the content of the address. It’s the locale. Pulido is giving his speech in Irvine, not Santa Ana.

The Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the speech, will hold the breakfast gathering at the Orange County Airport Hilton in Irvine next Wednesday because it could not find a Santa Ana banquet room large enough for the 225 or so expected guests, chamber President Mike Metzler said.

“We don’t want to do that, but there’s not a whole lot in the city that can accommodate our events,” Metzler said. “I don’t think people should interpret this as a slight in any way.”

Critics, however, already are angry over the location and $25 price tag for the breakfast and speech.

“That’s like President Clinton going over to Moscow, and giving the State of the Union address on pay per view,” Sean Mill, a frequent government critic, told the City Council on Monday. “It’s ridiculous.”

The $25 is to cover the costs of the event, Metzler said, and Pulido has said that he will not receive one penny from the speech.

Pulido did say that it was “a shame” the chamber chose Irvine for the event.

“I’ve already noted to them that I think in the future they ought to really hold all functions in Santa Ana,” Pulido told the council.

Metzler said he wanted a formal, catered affair, and though the Embassy Suites Hotel in Santa Ana could accommodate 250, it would be too tight once a podium and other fixtures were included.

But Paul Amante, assistant general manager of the Embassy Suites, said the hotel could accommodate about 330 in its Pacific ballrooms for a catered breakfast. He did not readily know if the May 14 date was available.

Annual state of the city speeches are routine in most cities, but are usually held on home territory.

In Huntington Beach, the outgoing mayor delivers a speech each year to the City Council in council chambers, spokesman Jim Hanggi said.

Anaheim held its first state of the city address at the Anaheim Marriott this past January, said spokesman Bret Colson, who termed the $40 luncheon a success given the 255 people who showed up.

Colson expected the address to become an annual event, but doubted that it would ever be held outside Anaheim.

“It’s the state of the city address for Anaheim,” Colson said. “It would be in very poor taste to have it outside our city limits.”

Santa Ana’s state of the city address is the second sponsored by the chamber, Metzler said. The first, held in 1995, was attended by 100 people and held at a Santa Ana hotel.

Metzler said the chamber does attempt to hold events in Santa Ana but had no choice this time around. He added that the Airport Hilton, like several other businesses outside the city limits, is a Santa Ana chamber member.

Metzler said that other chamber events with large turnouts, such as its scholarship awards, have been held in hotels outside the city limits, including the Airport Hilton.

In the future, however, Metzler said he would consider holding a free state of the city speech in Santa Ana.

Irvine City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr., who himself gives the annual state of the city address to the local chamber of commerce and his City Council, was glad to host Pulido for the Santa Ana speech.

“We always welcome the mayor to our city,” he said.