By Krista Chandler

The Orange Leader

 

Patrick Pullen said he loves three things the most – his family, serving his community and the City of Orange.

The four-year city council District 1 representative said he does many things in the community for fun, but above all else, the most fun he has is interacting with and serving the public.

Texas-born Pullen moved to Orange, and specifically the district he now serves, in the early 1980’s, when he joined the Orange Police Department until he retired in 2012.

Upon being requested to run for city council in 2014 after a short retirement, Pullen said he only hesitated because he felt he would give his 100 percent effort to the council and community and would have to balance that with family- and personal time.

“I knew I wouldn’t be the guy that goes to city council meetings on Tuesdays and then does nothing,” Pullen said. “I chose to still serve Orange. I’ve always served; I served in the military as a Marine, for the police department, and now this. I serve the Lord. No matter what I do, service is No. 1 in my book.”

Pullen said aside from actively serving the community; he enjoys his role in city council because the members “work as a team.”

“As a council, we work together to protect and give amusement to citizens,” Pullen said. “It’s an enjoyable council to be on, and we get along great. We have exciting ideas for Orange to make it a better city than it already is.”

As a councilmember, Pullen said he had had the opportunity to meet and engage with even more residents of Orange than he already knew.

Some recent noteworthy actions vital to him during his time on the council, according to Pullen, include continuing to work on having lights installed on MacArthur Drive and instituting criminal background checks, drug screens and other safety measures for ice cream truck drivers within city limits.

According to Pullen, the best thing about Orange is the people who live there.

“The people are great,” he explained. “They are friendly and part of the community. No one seems to be a stranger here. I’ve really come to enjoy and like Orange even more.”

Pullen extended an invitation to residents of Orange to make their voices heard by not only attending meetings and speaking during public comments, but staying after the meeting where he and the other council members can devote unlimited time to listening to the public.

As part of his outreach to hear more from residents of Orange, Pullen invited the public to engage with the council’s Facebook page — something he said has been beneficial to the council and community recently — and to also visit his own Facebook page to get to know him personally.