Bauer to lead local section of California’s League of Cities

Bryce Alderton

City Councilman Ralph Bauer was named President of the Orange County

Division of the League of California Cities at a ceremony Friday at the

Bower’s Museum in Santa Ana.

Bauer’s term as president runs for a year. He replaces Richard Dixon,

outgoing president, who is mayor of Lake Forest.

“I’m very flattered that my colleagues elected me to a responsibility

like this,” Bauer said. “I’m humbled.”

As the new president, Bauer will chair the division’s monthly

meetings, where city council members from all 34 Orange County cities

meet to discuss current trends and issues and help set the agenda for the

next year.

Bauer would like to have monthly breakfast meetings for Orange County

mayors and city managers to focus on regional issues such as urban

runoff, flood control, freeway transportation, drinking water, housing,

crime prevention, rail transportation and the environment.

He would like to form a partnership with the cities, the county, the

businesses and all educational institutions -- kindergarten through

graduate and professional schools -- called “Orange County Together.”

This alliance would place everyone under “one umbrella to form a

partnership to deal with the quality of life issues we all face.”

Finding ways to reduce traffic on Southern California freeways and

airports is another one of Bauer’s concerns that he hopes to address.

One of his ideas is the establishment of high-speed trains and rail

and bus systems to connect outlying airports to the population centers of

Southern California.

“If there is a north-south rail connecting Los Angeles, San Diego and

San Francisco, people may choose that as an alternate route,” Bauer said.

“This could reduce the impact on [Los Angeles International Airport] and

[San Francisco International Airport].”

Affordable housing close to where Southern Californians work, concerns

Bauer as well. He said industry might need to move east into Riverside or

eastern Orange County where many people live, or he suggests more

affordable housing [in coastal Orange County communities] where many

people work.

“The problem is the jobs are here, and industry is out there,” Bauer

said.

Bauer is a former Huntington Beach mayor who has served on the

Huntington Beach City Council since 1992.