Besides serving as the Mayor of Orange, Mark Murphy works full-time at Hewlett-Packard, sits on the Orange County Transportation Authority Board, and still finds time to occasionally perform on the guitar with other musician friends.

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Mark Murphy: Orange City Mayor

Born at St. Joseph’s Hospital and a graduate of Orange High School, Mayor Mark Murphy has always engaged with the Orange community.

“It’s a very rewarding experience to be mayor of your hometown,” says Murphy. “I feel very fortunate that the City of Orange placed their trust in me.”

From a young age, Murphy was taught to be an integral part of his community. “My folks always instilled in me the idea that if you care about where you live, you should do what you can to help out,” he says.

Before serving as Orange Mayor in 2000, 2002 and 2004, Murphy served the community through other elected positions, including Planning Commission Chairman and Centennial Commissioner.

In October, Orange celebrated the Plaza’s designation as one of five Great Public Spaces on the American Planning Association’s Great Places in America list for 2018. Murphy says he agrees with the distinction, especially in light of the area’s historic value and recent business growth.

“Orange is certainly a prosperous place, considering housing values and flourishing local businesses—yet the city retains a small town feel.”

It’s clear to residents and colleagues just how much Murphy appreciates the community he guides.

“I’ve known very few people who love Orange to the degree Mark does,” says Mike Spurgeon, who worked on the Orange City Council for seven years alongside Murphy. “His compassion for others in the community is commendable.”

Throughout all of his years of service, Murphy has found that he loves the Orange community spirit the most. He’s seen firsthand how everyone in the neighborhood focuses their energies to help the city overall.

“The most valuable commodity all of us have is time. When you see people invest significant amounts of time in something selfless, to me that signals the health of a community,” says Murphy. “On that report card, I’d say we’ve earned an A+.”

Murphy says he’s awed by how the community gets behind a big idea, including for the Main Library renovation. In the future, he hopes to work on creating additional community facilities, such as a center for music, art and drama.

“Unfortunately, none of the schools have an arts center, and there are no facilities like that in the community, except for the ones that Chapman shares with us,” he says. “If we can set such an arts center project in motion, I’m confident we’ll see it through.”

Besides constructing an arts center, Murphy hopes to focus on the city’s relationship with the business community during his term.

“I want to make sure that Orange is always a friendly place to do business,” he says. “We want to be sure that we’re the best partners we can be when someone wants to invest in our community, whether it is something simple or complex.”

Orange City Hall
300 East Chapman Ave, Orange CA 92866  /  714-744-5523