Anaheim Mayor Wants Stiffer Casino Ban

Gambling is illegal in Anaheim. But Mayor Curt Pringle announced Tuesday that he wanted to make it even tougher for casinos to gain a foothold in the city by asking voters this fall to enact a ban on gambling establishments.

The current city ordinance against gambling could be overturned by a City Council majority. But if the council puts the measure on the ballot and voters approve a ban, it could be overturned only by passage of another ballot measure.

Highlighting the issue in his state of the city address before a packed crowd in the Grove of Anaheim concert hall, Pringle said afterward that he had his eye on neighboring Garden Grove, which recently considered a Las Vegas-style resort.

“I want to make sure it doesn’t happen here,” he said. “I don’t want the temptation of resources to appeal to any future council.”

Pringle, a former Assembly speaker, is a longtime opponent of casinos in urban areas. “It is horribly inconsistent with the family-friendly entertainment destination that Orange County has become,” said Pringle, who is up for reelection this fall.

Pringle sits on the five-seat City Council, and at least two other council members -- Bob Hernandez and Lorri Galloway -- share his opposition to casinos in the city.

Casino talk heated up in Garden Grove in September when its City Council authorized city staff to resume talks with developers and Indian tribes that were cut off by a previous council vote, which came weeks after a casino was proposed by developers.

Garden Grove City Manager Matt Fertal said that after the council’s latest action, he had inquiries from four parties interested in building a casino on Harbor Boulevard near Disneyland, where the city owned redevelopment land. Fertal said no proposals had emerged.

“What they do in Anaheim is good for Anaheim, but what we do in Garden Grove is good for us,” Fertal said.

If an Anaheim council majority agrees with Pringle, gambling could be joined on the November ballot by an eminent-domain issue.

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that local governments can seize private property for transfer to another private party to stimulate tax-generating development, the council approved more protections for property owners.

Pringle said Tuesday that he wanted to give voters a chance to permanently ban the city’s use of eminent domain for such purposes.