ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : Anaheim Says It’s Still Thinking Big : Development: Fiscal crisis is regarded as a bump in the road, but city officials pledge to proceed with ambitious building program.

December was the month when this city, home of Disneyland and three professional sports teams, expected to add the final details to its blueprint for the next century.

City officials hoped to reach an agreement by year’s end to build a new baseball stadium for the California Angels and choose the designer for a dazzling entertainment complex that would surround it.

Moving ahead with that project and the Anaheim Resort--a $172-million renovation proposed for the area surrounding Disneyland--was the key to the city’s plan to spruce up its shabby commercial areas, widen streets and make itself over as a modern metropolis.

But Orange County’s Dec. 6 bankruptcy filing rocked the city, which had $169 million--about 20% of its money--in the investment pool that has lost $2.02 billion through risky investments.

Though the financial crisis raised serious doubts about whether Anaheim can proceed with its ambitious redevelopment, city officials vow that they will proceed. “This is a bump in the road,” said James D. Ruth, Anaheim’s city manager. “It’s going to hurt, but there are ways to deal with it.”

Still, the city faces other potential setbacks. The Los Angeles Rams are reportedly close to announcing plans to move to St. Louis, in spite of an intense effort by community leaders to keep the football team with enticements that include a new or renovated stadium for football only, rather than one shared with the Angels.

The city’s newest professional team, the popular Anaheim Mighty Ducks, had a spectacular first season at the new city-built arena, the Pond. A continuation of that success is expected--if the National Hockey League can settle its labor dispute, which has stalled the season.

The week before the bankruptcy filing, Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly met with Rams President John Shaw to assure him that the city is serious about keeping the team. A detailed proposal for a new stadium was to have followed, but city officials have had to focus instead on financial crisis management.

Negotiations with the Angels also have been postponed, dashing earlier hopes that an agreement on a new stadium could be sealed by year’s end.

“We’re still hopeful in terms of Rams negotiations and optimistic about the Angels, but this is obviously not the right time to sit down and cut deals,” Ruth said.

Officials are also anxious to see what effect the financial setback will have on Walt Disney Co.’s proposal to build a $3-billion resort next to Disneyland.

Disney’s plan is insulated somewhat from the county’s problems because it does not depend on public money. But county-financed roads and other infrastructure improvements envisioned as part of the project could be in jeopardy.

“Obviously, there will be some impact,” said Michael Johnson, manager of communications for Walt Disney Development Co. “But we are going to look for ways to keep our plan for a project in Anaheim on track and work closely with Anaheim officials to see that we’re able to do that.”

Daly is optimistic that the city will continue its progress, even if it has to take a different approach.

“What the county bankruptcy makes clearer than ever is that we will have to rely on partnerships with the private sector to build major projects,” Daly said.

It is not clear yet how much the city is out. Anaheim invested heavily in the county pool. And because that strategy netted the city $12 million in revenue over the past three years, officials borrowed $94 million early in 1994 solely to invest in the fund, Ruth said. That loan comes due in April, and it is not clear where the city will get the money to repay the loan if it loses some of the principal invested with the county.

“At the time, it was a very prudent business decision, and we were advised that it was almost no-risk,” Ruth said. “We feel somewhat misled.”

In a worst-case scenario, the city could lose as much as $45 million out of the $169 million it put in the fund, Ruth said. Until city officials learn the final figure, they have put a hold on all new capital improvement projects, instituted a city hiring freeze and canceled the order for a new fleet of city vehicles.

Work on the Anaheim resort project is continuing, though, with the city now placing utility lines underground.

Councilman Bob Zemel said that the board has no contingency plan yet to deal with a major loss and that any solution will have to include a way to proceed with major projects such as the Disney resort and baseball stadium.

“It’s extremely difficult to think that a city can take a hit like this in stride, but it is up to us to make sure that we do,” he said.

City officials have made several moves to regain their momentum, including a meeting last week with 50 members of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce to update them on the crisis.

“They gave us a relatively upbeat presentation,” said Jay Walton, government affairs manager for the group. “The bankruptcy doesn’t help, but these dreams can still happen.”

Ruth said that in January the city is “going to hit the track running” and resume meetings with the Angels and Disney. Also, he said, the council will vote on a consulting firm to develop an updated land-use strategy for the stadium area, a step that officials say must be taken regardless of what the Rams do.