ANAHEIM, Calif. (Feb. 7, 2023) — Anaheim’s City Council on Tuesday returned to a full seven members for the first time in seven months and made history with the city’s first four-woman majority and continued its recent first Hispanic majority on the Council.
The swearing in of Norma Campos Kurtz as representative for District 4 brings Anaheim’s City Council back to full representation and helps move the city past the challenges of 2022, when the city’s former mayor resigned after the disclosure of an FBI investigation.
“This is a new day for Anaheim,” said Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, who made history in December when she was sworn in as the city’s first woman mayor. “We continue to move our city forward from the challenges of 2022 with a fully seated City Council. In the process, we are making history. For the first time, our City Council now has a four-woman majority and continues a Hispanic majority from 2022.”
Full seven members
Anaheim’s City Council returned to a full seven members after operating with six since May 2022.
Anaheim’s Council was first left shorthanded when former mayor Harry Sidhu resigned on May 24 amid concerns raised around his role in negotiations to sell Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
The Council again found itself at six members after November’s election.
That’s when Mayor Aitken and three other members were elected and also when former Council member Avelino Valencia was elected to the California Assembly representing the 68th district, which includes Anaheim.
Valencia resigned from the City Council in December.
Female majority
The new City Council marks a first for Anaheim.
With Mayor Aitken as the city’s first woman mayor in its 165-year history and three other female representatives, Anaheim’s City Council now includes its first four-woman majority since the Council expanded from five to seven members in 2016.
Anaheim previously saw three-woman majorities in 2010-11 and 2012-14 when the Council was made up of five members.
The current Council’s female members are:
- Mayor Aitken
- Mayor Pro Tem Natalie Rubalcava
- Council Member Campos Kurtz, District 4
- Council Member Natalie Meeks, District 6
Hispanic majority
The new Council also continues Anaheim’s Hispanic majority, first set in 2021, with four members of Hispanic heritage.
Those of Hispanic heritage make up 54 percent of Anaheim’s 341,000 residents.
Anaheim’s Council has included several Hispanic members through the years, including four of seven members starting in September 2021.
The current Council’s Hispanic members are:
- Mayor Pro Tem Rubalcava
- Council Member Jose Diaz, District 1
- Council Member Carlos A. Leon, District 2
- Council Member Campos Kurtz, District 4