ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Anaheim Votes for the Future

The City of Anaheim has not been able to nail down much in recent months in pursuing its laudable effort to upgrade itself as a seat of entertainment and sports.

Moreover, after all the talk about public-private partnerships, it has been left pretty much to its own devices, having to carry on without the firm commitments it would love to have from other key players.

The Walt Disney Co., for example, is keeping things on hold by delaying its decision on whether to go ahead with a planned theme park expansion, and the big sports franchises are either somewhat restless, as in the case of the Angels, or actively looking for greener pastures, as in the case of the Rams.

Ultimately, there is only so much the city can do. At least credit Anaheim with having the courage to put itself on the line in the Disneyland area in the hope of a more promising future. Last week, it declared it would go forward with its $200- to- $300-million plan to widen streets around the park, plant lush foliage, bury power lines and generally clean up the area’s appearance.

The Anaheim announcement represents a vote of confidence while others calculate how much money is enough to make and how much the city is supposed to do for them.

The Rams, for example, suggest that only lucrative offers need apply, even as they step up efforts to talk with St. Louis and Baltimore. Respondents gave them a raspberry in a Times Orange County Poll, which found that nearly 70% of those polled said it was unimportant to keep the team. Moreover, the public appeared extremely unwilling to offer county subsidies. Anaheim Councilman Irv Pickler struck an appropriate tone when he suggested that the City of Anaheim simply cannot prop up the team.

Disney, meanwhile, has put off its decision on the proposed $3-billion theme park and resort next to Disneyland at least another year, maybe longer, while the city presses on with needed improvements. This decision by Anaheim constitutes a shrewd recognition that it rises or falls by the quality of its entertainment franchise and landscape, and the city rightly intends to be competitive in luring tourist dollars.