I have to admit I haven't really been paying attention to all the turmoil here in Anaheim. I say "here" because, technically, that's where we live. More on that in a minute.
The riots and protests were triggered by Anaheim police shooting and killing two un-armed gang members in the space of one week. That didn't catch my attention because we'd only recently moved from California's lawless Central Valley where police shootings are so common the rarely raise an eyebrow. In Hooterville, do you know what we'd call a week with two unprovoked police shootings? "A slow week."
The police shootings were only a symptom of a bigger problem which gets back to the subject of where exactly we live. While technically we live in the City of Anaheim, in reality we live in Anaheim Hills. Big difference.
Anaheim was once just rural farmland, but the arrival of Disneyland and Interstate 5 turned it into a middle-class bedroom community. A white middle-class bedroom community. But that was then and this is now and now the City of Anaheim proper is a mostly Hispanic, working class and low wage.
The trends were obvious even back in the 60's and I have to think the powers-that-be took a look at the fate of next door Santa Ana. Santa Ana was once quite prosperous and now it's what passes for "the ghetto" in Orange County. There had to be a way to counteract the prevailing trend and the city officials hit upon a novel solution...
A land grab.
To the east, along the foothills was a huge swath on un-incorporated County land which had already been zoned for upscale planned communities. The boundaries of this land only touched the Anaheim city limits at one very narrow, itsy bitsy spot, but that was enough. The City of Anaheim annexed it and overnight had their own version of Beverly Hills. And the tax revenue and luster that went with it. If you look at a map of the city, Anaheim Hills shoots off to the east like a barely attached baby's arm.
The people who live here are loath to admit they live in Anaheim. You always make a special emphasis on the "HILLS" if you mention it at all. A lot of people still refer to it a "Nohl Ranch", which was the very first community that was built. I grew up here and dated a girl who lived around the corner and I actually thought it was a separate city when we moved here. And that's what the locals would like everyone to believe.
And that's really the crux of the issue here. Anaheim elects all it's city officials on an "at-large" system, not by various wards or districts. And for years all the city officials have come from Anaheim Hills. People in the less well off city proper have absolutely no representation in the city. Things in Anaheim Hills are really quite nice. Things in the rest of the city, not so much. And the shootings just triggered some very long simmering (and completely justified) resentment.
We'll see how things play out. Disney is mortified to have all this going on blocks from their investments. I expect we'll see a major Mickey Mouse donation for some parks or rec centers or something to keep the natives less restive.
And speaking of Disney gifts, look what I found, at the top of the post!
It's "Andy Anaheim"!
A character created by the Disney folks and given to the city as a mascot in anticipation of the opening of Disneyland.
What is he exactly? A squirrel?
Maybe they should update it and put a gun in his hand.
