City weighs in on Halos

Dave Brooks

Surf City is stepping up to the plate in the feud over the name of

the Anaheim Angels.

At the prompting of Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, outgoing Mayor

Cathy Green is planning to ask the City Council to adopt a resolution

asking Angels owner Arte Moreno not to change the Orange County

team’s name to the Los Angeles Angels. The resolution would be

introduced at the council’s Dec. 20 meeting.

“Until we step forward and say ‘We’re Orange County, we’re not

L.A.,’ we’re going to continue to have to fight for our own

identity,” Green said.

Outside of Southern California, many people associate the county

with the greater Los Angeles area, Green said. The popularity of

television shows like Fox’s “The O.C.” and “Arrested Development”

have given the area national attention, but many still think of

Orange County as a bedroom community to its northerly neighbor, she

argued.

Moreno, however, thinks that Los Angeles in the name will give the

team a bigger regional draw and open the door for lucrative

television and radio deals. Attaching Los Angeles to the name will

draw in more national fans, he argues, and ultimately more revenue,

which could mean better players and a more successful post season.

The name change has prompted an outcry of protest from city

governments in both counties. The Los Angeles City Council recently

passed a resolution condemning the name change. And, in a letter to

the media, Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach and Chris Cox

of Newport Beach opposed renaming the team. The letter references a

1996 agreement that includes the name of the team as the Anaheim

Angels.

The Anaheim City Council has also passed a resolution threatening

to sue Moreno if he proceeds with a name change. A lease agreement

with the city, which included taxpayer-funded improvements to the

stadium, requires Moreno to keep Anaheim in the name.

Pringle recently asked all Orange County mayors to pass a

resolution condemning the name change. Newport Beach passed a

resolution supporting Anaheim at its last meeting.

A resolution from Huntington Beach would only carry symbolic

significance, but if passed, would be presented to Moreno along with

similar resolutions passed by Orange and Los Angeles County cities.

“There’s a certain amount of pride in having a team that has won

the World Series,” Councilman Dave Sullivan said of the team’s 2002

championship. “Anaheim made a deal and I think Moreno needs to live

up to it.”

Incoming Councilman Keith Bohr is an avid Angels fan and said he

sympathizes and respects Moreno, but would like to see a compromise.

“The Los Angeles Angels,” he said. “That just doesn’t really roll

off my tongue.”

Part of the problem, Bohr said, is that there is no television

network dedicated to covering local news in Orange County.

“All the news networks are based in Los Angeles,” he said. “Unless

there is a double homicide or something, you’re not going to see

Orange County on at 6 o’clock.”

-- Bohr would suggest calling them the So. Cal. Angels, then the

team can use marketing campaigns that play off the word “so” as in

“So good, so fun, So Cal Angels.”

“That’s a freebie for Moreno,” he said. “Go ahead, take it and

run.”