Anaheim : Pickler Announces He Will Run for Mayor

Mayor Pro Tem Irv Pickler announced Thursday that he will run for mayor, ending speculation that he will seek a seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors next November.

Although no other City Council members have announced their candidacy for mayor, several indicated they might during a scramble for the job of mayor pro tem last November.

Mayor Don Roth said Thursday that the race for mayor actually began when he announced last August that he will seek Ralph Clark’s position on the Board of Supervisors.

Councilwoman Miriam Kaywood said that candidacy announcements are “getting earlier and earlier” but that it is too early to announce whether she will be joining Pickler in the mayor’s race.

Councilman Lew Overholt Jr. agreed that “everyone on the council is a potential candidate for mayor, including myself. But I haven’t made that decision nor even whether to run for council again.”

Pickler, Kaywood and Overholt face reelection in November.

Council members say that a mayor pro tem has a better chance of being elected mayor by the city’s 106,430 voters because the title is included on the ballot next to the candidate’s name.

Last November, the council chose Pickler, 64, who is completing his first term, as mayor pro tem after two discussions over filling the position.

The lack of consensus was an indication that “in the back of everybody’s mind, everybody is running for mayor,” Pickler said then.

During a City Hall press conference Thursday, attended by Roth, Clark and about 50 friends and family members, Pickler vowed to “hold the line on utility rates.”

Last year, the council raised utility rates, increasing the average, two-month household bill from $84.54 to $87.12. And residents may see another increase this year unless the city Public Utilities Department uses money from an $11.3-million settlement with Southern California Edison Co. to offset the proposed increase.

Pickler also pledged to “nurture, conserve and protect three of Anaheim’s most important natural resources--Disneyland, the Angels and the Rams.”

“They helped to put our community on the map. They are as important to our future as they have been to our past. Working with them to design a shining future will be the highest priority on our agenda,” he said.

The mayor’s position pays $800 per month, plus $50 per meeting, held each Tuesday. In comparison, other Anaheim council members receive $400 per month.