Background Shared in City Politics : After 12 Years on Council, Roth Ready to ‘Move Ahead’

Donald R. Roth had lost two races for the Anaheim City Council when a group of city leaders approached him in 1976 and asked if he would try again.

The group, including representatives of Disneyland, the California Angels baseball team and Carl Karcher of the Carl’s Jr. hamburger chain, “the movers and shakers in the community,” approached Roth because of his stand against an admissions tax at amusement parks, stadiums and theaters, Roth said.

They “came to ask me if I was interested in running if they’d put the money together to run a good campaign,” Roth recalled. After being assured that there were no strings attached, he said, he ran and won. He has been on the council since, serving as mayor since 1982.

Roth moved to Anaheim in 1955, when he was transferred to the U.S. Naval Air Station at Los Alamitos. In 1963, he retired after a 20-year career in the Navy and began a second career selling real estate in Anaheim.

Roth said he “had an interest in politics all my life,” the legacy of a father who was a Republican precinct worker in suburban Chicago.

His father, a fire prevention engineer, also was president of a homeowners’ association and “was the one when anyone had problems, they would come to him to talk about how to get their streets fixed or their alleys fixed.”

While selling real estate, Roth served on Anaheim’s City Charter commission, got to know the City Council members, and in 1970 was appointed by the council to serve Councilman Ralph B. Clark’s unexpired term when Clark became a supervisor. Then followed the two losses in council races, and the 1976 victory.

Roth said he wound up his real estate business in 1982 so he could be a full-time mayor.

“It’s a challenge I’ve enjoyed for 12 years on the council and as mayor,” he said. But “I think that it’s time” to move on. “You know, anything I’ve done in my life, I’ve always tried to move ahead, to a new challenge and new things.”