The OC Register reported yesterday on a couple of city charter amendment ideas put forward by Mayor Curt Pringle during Tuesday;'s council meeting. Going by the information in the OC Register article, both strike me as sensible ideas. (I tried to hear the details myself via the online archived council video and MP#, but it's not working for some reason).

Mayor Pringle's first proposal is a charter amendment taking the proceeds from the possible sale of a city-owned, 51-acre parcel adjacent to Anaheim Stadium, and directing those monies into a neighborhood improvement fund for sidewalks, streets, parks, etc.

I think that is a prudent measure. The money from selling that parcel would be a one-time windfall, and Mayor Pringle is smart to seek a way to ensure those dollars are spent on capital improvements and infrastructure, rather than dissipated on ongoing costs like hiring more employees or new programs.

Mayor Pringle's other proposal is to expand the Anaheim City Council from five to seven members. Again, this makes sense for a city the size of Anaheim, with its population of nearly 350,000. Lacking any information to the contrary, I assume this expanded council would still be voted on city-wide, rather than switching to a ward system, or even an area-based system like Orange Unified School District.

I think expanding the size of the Anaheim Council would, overall, have a positive impact. It will tend to open up opportunities to serve on the council to more citizens, although it won't reduce the cost of running for office since candidates would still (presumably) have to campaign city-wide, rather than among the smaller voter universe of council ward.

I look forward to seeing more details on these charter amendments and the ensuing debate.