Garden Grove Councilman Will Retire

Accusing the City Council majority of halting 14 years of progress in Garden Grove, Milton Krieger, the council’s senior member, announced Thursday that he will not seek a fifth term in November.

Krieger, who has held his seat since 1974, blasted Mayor J. Tilman Williams and Councilman Raymond T. Littrell, who have become antagonists of Krieger at recent council meetings.

‘Negative Aggressiveness’

“Following Tilman’s election (in 1987), the council’s inability to move forward was perpetuated by the negative aggressiveness of Councilman Littrell,” Krieger said.

The 52-year-old councilman said the persuasive factor in his decision was the controversy surrounding the Grove Shakespeare Festival, which has polarized the council in recent weeks.

Littrell, joined by Williams and Councilman Robert F. Dinsen, blocked the annual city subsidy to the theater troupe in June, declaring that the “hard-hat community” of Garden Grove had little use for the plays of Shakespeare.

That action caused an uproar among theater supporters, and subsequent council meetings came to be dominated by acrimonious debate over the role of the arts in the city of 135,000.

Littrell and Williams later softened their opposition to the festival and its sponsor, the Grove Theatre Company, eventually joining Krieger and Councilman W.E. (Walt) Donovan in extending $53,000 to the troupe.

Krieger said the controversy over the Shakespeare festival illustrated the council’s discord on various issues which, he said, pitted Williams, Littrell and Dinsen against himself and Donovan.

“They say they support Garden Grove, yet they vote against every progressive agenda item,” Krieger said. Littrell’s reference to “hard hats” was “insulting,” he added.

Krieger said his retirement from the council allowed him to express his opinions of his colleagues.

“It would be impossible to speak this freely if I was a candidate,” Krieger said, “and I want to speak the truth. This is a council that’s sad.”

‘An Angry Man’

Krieger said Williams had “politicized” every council action and that Littrell was “an angry man” who had driven away some members of city’s professional staff.

Littrell could not be reached for comment, but Williams said of Krieger’s retirement: “I guess there is a beginning to all things and an end to all things. He’s been there a long time, and maybe it’s time for him to move on.”

He added, however, that he would not be convinced of Krieger’s departure from Garden Grove politics until the deadline for filing nomination papers passes on Aug. 12.

“People change their minds,” Williams said. “You know Krieger--he may flip-flop again.”

Krieger said he would endorse Donovan in his run against Williams for the mayor’s post, and retiring Police Chief Francis Kessler in his bid for City Council.

Krieger, a real estate development consultant, defeated Councilman Woodrow W. Butterfield--who currently is Williams’ campaign manager--in his first bid for office in 1974. He was reelected in 1976, 1980 and 1984, served as mayor pro tempore for four years and as chairman of the Garden Grove Agency for Community Development from 1980 to 1987.