{"id":292263,"date":"2026-04-30T00:10:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T00:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/292263\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T00:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T00:10:11","slug":"anaheim-mayor-looks-forward-but-not-without-first-revisiting-the-past-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/292263\/","title":{"rendered":"Anaheim mayor looks forward, but not without first revisiting the past \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken delivered her State of the City on Wednesday, April 29, and it\u2019s: \u201cStronger and better than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom 2023, my first State of the City, to how we have grown and evolved as a city today,\u201d Aitken told to a crowd at the Grove of Anaheim. \u201cI absolutely love talking about how great Anaheim is today.\u201d<\/p>\n

The annual address \u2014 the fourth delivered by Aitken \u2014 is a moment for the mayor to share reflections on the city\u2019s accomplishments and goals moving forward. But it is also a fundraiser for the nonprofit Anaheim Community Foundation,<\/a> and was expected to bring in about $50,000 in proceeds this year, emcee Ally Kay of the Anaheim Ducks said.<\/p>\n

In a step forward for the city, there\u2019s the $4 billion OCVibe entertainment and housing development around the Honda Center<\/a> that \u201cfeels like it\u2019s risen right overnight,\u201d Aitken said. \u201cEvery time I drive down Katella, there\u2019s a new parking structure or a new building up.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of that development led by the Samueli family, owners of the Anaheim Ducks, the city-owned Honda Center is getting a $1 billion makeover<\/a>, anticipated for a 2027 completion, in time to host LA28 Olympic volleyball. It includes a new entrance and interior refresh including redesigned food and beverage stations, seating and new amenities.<\/p>\n

\"Disneyland<\/p>\n

Disneyland Resort President Jill Estorino talks with Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken (not pictured) during the State of the City event in Anaheim on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Anaheim<\/p>\n

Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken addresses the audience during the State of the City event in Anaheim on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Audience<\/p>\n

Audience members listen during the State of the City event at the Grove of Anaheim on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Anaheim<\/p>\n

Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken talks with humorist Charles Phoenix during the State of the City event in Anaheim on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Tim<\/p>\n

Tim Kepler sings the National Anthem during the State of the City address in Anaheim on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Anaheim<\/p>\n

Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken addresses the audience during the State of the City event in Anaheim on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 6<\/p>\n

Disneyland Resort President Jill Estorino talks with Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken (not pictured) during the State of the City event in Anaheim on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Also among the accolades mentioned by Aitken: The DisneylandForward<\/a> expansion at the theme parks resort, investments flowing into Beach Boulevard and Anaheim Hills and the Ducks recently making their first post-season appearance in eight years.<\/p>\n

Accomplishments aside, Anaheim\u2019s mayor was also feeling \u201cnostalgic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year marks our 250th anniversary of America so I wanted to try to make a little bit of a connection,\u201d Aitken said. \u201cSo Anaheim is only just shy of 170 years old. And our nation\u2019s history is very intertwined with our city\u2019s own.\u201d<\/p>\n

She rattled off a laundry list of popular companies and people who got their start in Anaheim, including Vans<\/a>, Carl\u2019s Jr.<\/a>, Austin Butler, Taylor Dunn electric vehicles and Doritos<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She also noted the Beach Boys\u2019 famous 1976 Anaheim concert featured a full band reunion, with Brian Wilson returning to the stage for the first time in 12 years.<\/p>\n

Humorist and historian Charles Phoenix later joined in, sharing his memories of Angel Stadium and Disneyland, and later, Disneyland Resort President Jill Estorino chimed in with an announcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWalt famously said, \u2018Disneyland is your land. And if there\u2019s ever a community where that\u2019s true, it\u2019s this one right here,\u201d Estorino said. \u201cSo that\u2019s why in honor of our 71st anniversary, we\u2019re bringing back our Anaheim resident ticket offer later this summer with tickets starting at $71.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnaheim\u2019s incredible past is a prologue for our amazing future,\u201d Aitken said, closing out her address.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have always been a city that dreams big, but, of course, anyone can dream. Anaheim is a city that makes dreams happen, that makes dreams come true,\u201d she said. \u201cSo together, we are writing the next chapter for Anaheim.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken delivered her State of the City on Wednesday, April 29, and it\u2019s: \u201cStronger and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292264,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,7,179,1071,23,611,136],"class_list":["post-292263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-california","tag-community","tag-local-government","tag-local-news","tag-orange-county","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}