Update: Council Member Campos Kurtz was sworn in as Council member for District 4 on Feb. 7, 2023. You can read more here.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (Jan. 24, 2023) — Norma Campos Kurtz has been appointed to the Anaheim City Council representing District 4.
The City Council voted on Tuesday to appoint Campos Kurtz to the District 4 seat, which has been vacant since Dec. 4.
Campos Kurtz is set to be sworn in as the District 4 representative and join the City Council at its next meeting on Feb. 7.
"I’m pleased to welcome Norma to the council," Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said. "She has deep Anaheim roots and her service to our city and community speaks for itself. She will be a great representative for District 4, and I look forward to working with her. She will come in focused on issues that are critical to District 4 and all of Anaheim, including addressing homelessness, affordable housing and building a strong, diversified economy. Many engaged, committed and strong applicants applied and were ready to step up and represent their community, and we received extensive feedback from residents on what they wanted to see in a representative. As a result of that process, Norma will be a responsive voice on the Council for the people and businesses of District 4. She is also helping to make Anaheim history as part of the first four-member female majority on our City Council."
Since 2021, Campos Kurtz has served on the Anaheim Public Utilities Board, a seven-member board that makes recommendations to the City Council about the electric and water operations of Anaheim Public Utilities.
With appointment to the City Council, Campos Kurtz is set to step down from the Public Utilities Board.
Campos Kurtz recently served for eight years as a commissioner on Housing and Community Development Commission, which advises the City Council on community development and use of federal housing funding.
She is currently a board member for nonprofit Anaheim Beautiful, where she is committee chair for the annual Holiday Lights contest, which promotes neighborhood pride by recognizing homes that stand out with decorations.
Campos Kurtz is a retired associate vice president from AT&T Inc., where she worked for more than 20 years, including as a service representative and in directing corporate contributions.
Most recently, Campos Kurtz served as district director for former California Assembly member Tom Daly, who chose not to run for re-election in 2022.
Campos Kurtz is a 20-year resident of Anaheim. She lives in District 4 with her husband Ken.
Anaheim’s District 4 seat was made vacant by the December resignation of former Council member Avelino Valencia.
In November, Valencia was elected to the California Assembly representing the 68th district, which includes Anaheim and is the newly redrawn district of former Assembly member Daly.
The City Council appointed Campos Kurtz after more than two hours of hearing from the public and applicants, on top of discussions with applicants ahead of Tuesday’s meeting.
The Council initially heard from 13 District 4 residents who came to the meeting for consideration (a 14th applicant withdrew a day before Tuesday’s Council meeting).
From there, six finalists were selected to answer questions from members of the City Council.
Nominations were made for four candidates with Campos Kurtz garnering a majority of votes.
The City Council voted on Dec. 20 to move forward with an appointment as called for by Anaheim's governing city charter.
Per Anaheim’s charter, the City Council had until Feb. 2 to appoint a representative to fill the District 4 vacancy.
If the Council had not made an appointment, a special election would have been required at an estimated city cost of $206,000 to $227,000.
Per California election law, a special election would have to be held on the next regularly set election date within 114 days of calling a special election, in this case Nov. 7.
District 4 covers central-south Anaheim and includes neighborhoods as well as the theme parks, convention center and other businesses of The Anaheim Resort.
Until Council Member-appointee Campos Kurtz is sworn in, residents and businesses are welcome to reach out to the city manager’s office, the mayor’s office or any Council member for help or assistance.