Anaheim Island, California
Encyclopedia
Anaheim Island consists of several unincorporated
neighborhoods
located in the northwestern part of Orange County
, California
, United States. Established between the 1910s and 1960s, the neighborhoods are bounded by the cities of Anaheim
to the east, north and west, Stanton
to the southwest, and Garden Grove
to the south. The Orange County Board of Supervisors
has variously referred to these unincorporated areas as "Anaheim Island," "Anaheim West," and "Southwest Anaheim." The Anaheim City Planning Commission refers to the entire area in the singular as the "Garza Island." Local residents know the area as the "Gaza Strip."
, Orange County experienced dramatic growth, the formation of many new municipalities
, and the expansion of existing municipalities through annexation
of neighboring county territory. With economic development
driving expansion, cities sought to annex prosperous neighborhoods and commercial district
s; neighborhoods that were less prosperous, neighborhoods with older housing stock and large families drawn by its affordability, and neighborhoods largely populated by Mexicans found themselves bypassed by city governments reluctant to provide services to aging residential districts
, or to increase their minority
population. Cities set their sights on the most economically productive or promising county territory; in turn, many residents of unincorporated areas resisted potential tax increases
, sought to preserve community identity, and sought to preserve perceived (and often disputed) advantages of their neighborhoods' unincorporated status. Thus was born the phenomenon of the county island
, either partially or wholly surrounded by municipal territory.
Since the 1960s, the unincorporated neighborhoods of west Orange County that fall within Anaheim's sphere of influence
have been colloquially called the "Gaza Strip" or, more recently, the "Garza Strip." Both nicknames allude to Garza Avenue
, the area's oldest and southernmost street; the area's strip-like shape; and its popularity as a dragstrip
frequented by scofflaws cognizant of the county sheriff's jurisdiction
and delays in response to complaints to law enforcement resulting from the distance sheriffs must travel to reach the area. Additionally, the word "Gaza" alludes to the area's unincorporated status, similar to that of the Gaza Strip
in Palestine
.
The mid-1990s witnessed an influx of Middle Eastern immigrants into west Anaheim, with many businesses serving the Arab American
population established on a stretch of Brookhurst Street adjacent to the unincorporated areas. This migration has earned the commercial district the nickname Little Gaza
, which conflates the unincorporated area's "Gaza Strip" nickname with the "Little (place name)" naming convention
for ethnic enclave
s. Although "Gaza Strip" is also occasionally used to describe the Brookhurst Street corridor, the term predates the arrival of significant numbers of Middle Eastern immigrants to the area.
A local urban legend
has it that a fire once broke out in one of the unincorporated areas near an Anaheim city fire station
, and that firemen on duty witnessed the fire but allowed the structure to burn since it was not within their jurisdiction. Although the story's veracity is questionable, its existence is generally indicative of the disputes that have often arisen between residents of unincorporated, marginalized neighborhoods in urbanized areas and the cities that abut and surround them.
. A 2008 survey of residents found that approximately 25% of Anaheim Island homes are in need of rehabilitation. Low-income first-time homebuyers purchasing in the area are entitled to receive down payment assistance loans through the County of Orange Mortgage Assistance Program.
Demographic information cited below is drawn from the Orange County 2005-2010 Consolidated Plan, which cites 1990 United States Census
statistics, gathered prior to the arrival of significant numbers of Middle Eastern immigrants.
tracks) on the north, between which run Garza, Berry and Harcourt Avenues. The neighborhood contains 101 single-family homes. La Colonia has approximately 1,700 residents, one-third of whom are children. 66% of its residents are Hispanic
, 17% are white
, 11% are of Asian/Pacific Island
descent, and 4% are black
. Many families have lived in the neighborhood for generations, and residents express a strong sense of ethnic and community pride.
Originally a "citrus camp" established by Mexican farm laborers
at the edge of a now-defunct orange grove
, La Colonia Independencia ranks with El Modena
as one of the oldest surviving barrio
s in Orange County. The community was born after the United States' entry into World War I
, when relaxation of immigration restrictions spurred by the citrus industry's demand for cheap labor drew thousands of Mexican men and their families to the United States, where they made their homes in segregated communities near the railroad tracks that ran through the groves. Misión del Sagrado Corazón, La Colonia's Catholic church, was built in 1926; Magnolia School No. 2 was established shortly thereafter on Garza Street, and was attended exclusively by Mexican students. In spite of the 1946 decision in Mendez v. Westminster
outlawing racial and language-based segregation in California schools, and in spite of then-Governor Earl Warren
's subsequent repeal of provisions of the California Education Code that allowed segregation in the state's public schools, Magnolia School No. 2 continued to operate until 1954, when community activist Gloria Lopez challenged the district to transfer white children into the barrio school rather than build a new one. In the face of protests from white parents, Magnolia School No. 2 was closed and replaced with a school bus warehouse. As late as the 1970s, the community had no paved streets, sidewalks or sewers.
La Colonia Independencia is home to the La Colonia street gang
, its tag
"VLCR" signifying the motto "Varrio La Colonia Rifa." In 2001, the need to remedy public neglect of the area and address an increase in gang-related crime led county supervisors to secure federal funding for increased community services in La Colonia and the adjacent Southwest Anaheim neighborhood.
The Devious Hoodlums ("DH") street gang claims West Anaheim as its territory; the group began as the “Destroying Highways" tagging crew
, then evolved into a violent criminal organization engaged in narcotics sales, auto theft, felony vandalism, driveby shootings, robberies, and assaults. The United States Department of Justice
has associated the gang with heroin distribution activity. In 1996, two gang-related shootings, one fatal, occurred in West Anaheim. In 1995, complaints by neighbors led to the discovery of a large-scale methamphetamine lab in the district; two years later, smoke rising from another house several blocks away led firefighters to a smaller methamphetamine production operation. DH members count the La Colonia gang among their rivals; several DH members received lengthy prison sentences for their participation in the 2005 shooting of a La Colonia gang member.
Another well known and violent street gang in West Anaheim is the Anaheim F.O.L.K.S(family of latin kings surenos). This gang claims the area on Knott avenue and Ariel PL their neighborhood along with Neighbors avenue further east.This gang has many rivals including both the devious hoodlums and the la colonia gang. In March 2009, a couple members of this gang snuck onto the magnolia high school campus and stabbed a member of the la colonia gang.Although most of the local street gangs in this area are of mexican or hispanic heritage, there is also an African American gang known as the Del Monte Blocc Gangster Crips Gang.This violent gang in west anaheim claims most of Lincoln Avenue as there territory. This gang counts most of the other hispanic gangs as their rivals. as a result, members of this gang have been known to harass or assault mexican youth who look like rival gang members or are found hanging out in their territory
The West Island Neighbors Group was established after the city of Anaheim's announcement of its plans to annex the area (see below). The organization publishes a newsletter, the West Island Breeze, which is distributed to community residents.
For purposes of community planning and needs assessment, the Orange County Board of Supervisors
groups two additional, non-contiguous county islands bounded only by Stanton and Garden Grove with those adjacent to Anaheim, due to their close proximity. These two islands are not, however, included in the city of Anaheim's annexation proposals (see below).
, the Anaheim Public Library, and the Stanton branch of the Orange County Public Library
.
. Fire protection and emergency services are provided by the Anaheim Fire Department
through a contractual agreement with the Orange County Fire Authority
.
in United States history, the result of a $1.7 billion loss sustained after Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert Citron
invested county funds in various risky financial instruments
. Since that time, county officials have sought to reduce and eventually eliminate county responsibility for provision of municipal services
such as policing
, street sweeping
, trash removal
and building code
enforcement, in order to focus greatly diminished county resources on provision of regional services such as public health
, social services
, flood control
, environmental protection
and regional planning
. One means of achieving this goal has been to encourage municipalities within the county to annex unincorporated areas within or adjacent to their boundaries.
Reduction of the number of unincorporated islands in California municipalities has been an express priority of the California state legislature
since the passage of the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000. The Act establishes procedures for annexation
s and consolidations of cities or special districts
, and delegates responsibility for the process to Local Agency Formation Commissions (LAFCOs)
. Among the purposes of LAFCOs are the encouragement of the orderly formation, development and consolidation of local agencies and the discouragement of urban sprawl. The Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act allows cities to annex areas up to 150 acre (0.607029 km²) without a vote by property owners; however, annexation can be blocked by a petition
signed by over fifty percent
of voters.
In April 2005 the Anaheim City Planning Commission reversed its historic opposition to proposals to annex the "Gaza Strip" and approved a plan newly developed by the Orange County LAFCO. City and county officials and Anaheim Island homeowners who supported the plan contended that annexation would result in increased efficiency in the provision of community services and decreased police response time; that more assiduous building code enforcement would improve residents' quality of life and slow neighborhood blight
by reducing the number of illegal garage-to-apartment conversions and substandard repairs, and by motivating property owners - many of them absentee landlords - to adequately maintain deteriorating homes; and that grant-assisted upgrades from septic systems to sewer hookups would increase home values and lessen the potential for groundwater contamination
.
After learning of the plan, a group of Anaheim Island residents formed the West Island Neighbors Group and circulated a petition opposing annexation. Opponents of the plan argued that annexation would result in increased taxes
and public utility
rates, and new municipal fees and permit
requirements; that city zoning
regulations would prevent residents from keeping farm animals and running kennels; that residents would be inconvenienced by the designation of new street addresses
for their homes; that more stringent building code enforcement and requirements for sewer hookups
would result in excessive expense to homeowners with limited incomes; and that property might be confiscated
for redevelopment. Residents of La Colonia expressed particular concern that annexation would pave the way for the destruction of their neighborhood through gentrification
, the fate of old county barrios such as La Conga, razed and replaced
with a parking lot for Anaheim's Glover Stadium. Concerned with the prospect of a shrinking patrol
area, the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs mailed a flier opposing annexation to area residents. The anti-annexation petition eventually gathered 1,944 signatures, and the plan was defeated in October 2005.
The "Save Our Islands" petition was prepared by an Arlington, Virginia political consulting
firm, and thousands of copies were distributed to Anaheim Island residents. However, although the petition included a contact telephone number and address, it lacked a statement regarding the source of financing
for the anti-annexation campaign, and did not identify the organization or individuals that sponsored it. In withholding this information, opponents of annexation availed themselves of a loophole
in the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act. At the time of the campaign, the statute's campaign finance disclosure requirements specified their applicability to petitions for and against reorganization of municipal boundaries that have reached the ballot
stage, but not to protests of proposals by a LAFCO functioning in its capacity as a "conducting authority" responsible for implementing boundary changes and considering citizen feedback.
In January 2006, the Orange County Planning Board resolved to introduce legislation to close the loophole. Following his election to the California State Assembly
, former Orange County Supervisor Jim Silva
introduced an amendment to the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act mandating disclosure of sponsors, contributions and expenditures for campaigns for and against annexation proposals approved by LAFCOs at any stage of the process. The amendment was approved by unanimous vote of the California legislature, signed into law in July 2008, and further amended in March 2009.
In January 2009, the Orange County LAFCO began to encourage owners of unincorporated property whose lots abut Anaheim city limits to apply for annexation on an individual basis, offering a waiver of the usual $7,900 fee charged for changing a property's jurisdiction from the county to Anaheim. Between January 2009 and May 2010, over 100 Anaheim Island property owners filed annexation applications, 20 pertaining to parcels in the 88-parcel Thistle development. The Orange County LAFCO subsequently proposed to annex the entire Thistle neighborhood to the city of Anaheim; however, a new petition opposing annexation attracted enough signatures to require a special election, which was held August 31, 2010. The annexation measure received a total of 35 "yes" votes and 84 "no" votes, and was therefore defeated.
33.814026 °N 117.963767 °W
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
neighborhoods
Neighbourhood
A neighbourhood or neighborhood is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town or suburb. Neighbourhoods are often social communities with considerable face-to-face interaction among members. "Researchers have not agreed on an exact definition...
located in the northwestern part of Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, United States. Established between the 1910s and 1960s, the neighborhoods are bounded by the cities of Anaheim
Anaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...
to the east, north and west, Stanton
Stanton, California
Stanton is a city located in western Orange County, California. The population was 38,186 at the 2010 census, up from 37,403 at the 2000 census. Like most of Orange County, it is more politically conservative compared to the rest of the state. The City was incorporated in 1956 and operates under...
to the southwest, and Garden Grove
Garden Grove, California
Garden Grove is a city located in northern Orange County, California. The population was 170,883 at the 2010 census. State Route 22, also known as the Garden Grove Freeway, passes through the city running east-west. The city is known outside the Southern California area for being the home of Robert H...
to the south. The Orange County Board of Supervisors
Orange County Board of Supervisors
The Orange County Board of Supervisors is the five-member governing body of Orange County, California.-Membership:The Board consists of five Supervisors elected by districts to four-year terms by the citizens of Orange County...
has variously referred to these unincorporated areas as "Anaheim Island," "Anaheim West," and "Southwest Anaheim." The Anaheim City Planning Commission refers to the entire area in the singular as the "Garza Island." Local residents know the area as the "Gaza Strip."
History
After World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Orange County experienced dramatic growth, the formation of many new municipalities
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
, and the expansion of existing municipalities through annexation
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
of neighboring county territory. With economic development
Economic development
Economic development generally refers to the sustained, concerted actions of policymakers and communities that promote the standard of living and economic health of a specific area...
driving expansion, cities sought to annex prosperous neighborhoods and commercial district
Commercial district
A commercial district or commercial zone is any part of a city or town in which the primary land use is commercial activities , as opposed to a residential neighbourhood, an industrial zone, or other types of neighbourhoods...
s; neighborhoods that were less prosperous, neighborhoods with older housing stock and large families drawn by its affordability, and neighborhoods largely populated by Mexicans found themselves bypassed by city governments reluctant to provide services to aging residential districts
Residential area
A residential area is a land use in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas.Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single family housing, multi-family residential, or mobile homes. Zoning for residential use may permit...
, or to increase their minority
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
population. Cities set their sights on the most economically productive or promising county territory; in turn, many residents of unincorporated areas resisted potential tax increases
California Proposition 13 (1978)
Proposition 13 was an amendment of the Constitution of California enacted during 1978, by means of the initiative process. It was approved by California voters on June 6, 1978. It was declared constitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Nordlinger v. Hahn,...
, sought to preserve community identity, and sought to preserve perceived (and often disputed) advantages of their neighborhoods' unincorporated status. Thus was born the phenomenon of the county island
County island
A county island is an unincorporated area within a county, usually, but not always, surrounded on all sides by another incorporated area, such as a city. On maps, these geopolitical anomalies will form jagged or complex borders and 'holes' in the city limits...
, either partially or wholly surrounded by municipal territory.
Since the 1960s, the unincorporated neighborhoods of west Orange County that fall within Anaheim's sphere of influence
Sphere of influence
In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence is a spatial region or conceptual division over which a state or organization has significant cultural, economic, military or political influence....
have been colloquially called the "Gaza Strip" or, more recently, the "Garza Strip." Both nicknames allude to Garza Avenue
Garza
Garza may refer to:* Garza -Mexico:* San Nicolás de los Garza, a town in the Monterrey Metropolitan area* San Pedro Garza García, a town in the Monterrey Metropolitan area* Garza Galán, a town in Coahuila-Texas:...
, the area's oldest and southernmost street; the area's strip-like shape; and its popularity as a dragstrip
Dragstrip
A dragstrip is a facility for conducting automobile and motorcycle acceleration events such as drag racing. Although a quarter mile is the best known measure for a drag track, many tracks are eighth mile tracks...
frequented by scofflaws cognizant of the county sheriff's jurisdiction
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
and delays in response to complaints to law enforcement resulting from the distance sheriffs must travel to reach the area. Additionally, the word "Gaza" alludes to the area's unincorporated status, similar to that of the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
.
The mid-1990s witnessed an influx of Middle Eastern immigrants into west Anaheim, with many businesses serving the Arab American
Arab American
An Arab American is a United States citizen or resident of Arab ethnic, cultural and linguistic heritage or identity, who identifies themselves as Arab. Arab Americans trace ancestry to any of the various waves of immigrants of the countries comprising the Arab World...
population established on a stretch of Brookhurst Street adjacent to the unincorporated areas. This migration has earned the commercial district the nickname Little Gaza
Little Gaza
Little Arabia is an ethnic enclave in Orange County, California, United States, the center for Orange County's Arab-Americans, who number more than 24,000...
, which conflates the unincorporated area's "Gaza Strip" nickname with the "Little (place name)" naming convention
Naming convention
A naming convention is a convention for naming things. The intent is to allow useful information to be deduced from the names based on regularities. For instance, in Manhattan, streets are numbered, with East-West streets being called "Streets" and North-South streets called "Avenues".-Use...
for ethnic enclave
Ethnic enclave
An ethnic enclave is an ethnic community which retains some cultural distinction from a larger, surrounding area, it may be a neighborhood, an area or an administrative division based on ethnic groups. Sometimes an entire city may have such a feel. Usually the enclave revolves around businesses...
s. Although "Gaza Strip" is also occasionally used to describe the Brookhurst Street corridor, the term predates the arrival of significant numbers of Middle Eastern immigrants to the area.
A local urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
has it that a fire once broke out in one of the unincorporated areas near an Anaheim city fire station
Anaheim Fire Department
The Anaheim Fire Department is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for Anaheim, California.-Fire Suppression Section:...
, and that firemen on duty witnessed the fire but allowed the structure to burn since it was not within their jurisdiction. Although the story's veracity is questionable, its existence is generally indicative of the disputes that have often arisen between residents of unincorporated, marginalized neighborhoods in urbanized areas and the cities that abut and surround them.
Neighborhoods
Anaheim Island includes several discrete neighborhoods. Most of the homes in the area, except for those in La Colonia Independencia (see below), were built in the mid-1950s, spurred by the construction and opening of DisneylandDisneyland Park (Anaheim)
Disneyland Park is a theme park located in Anaheim, California, owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division of the Walt Disney Company. Known as Disneyland when it opened on July 18, 1955, and still almost universally referred to by that name, it is the only theme park to be...
. A 2008 survey of residents found that approximately 25% of Anaheim Island homes are in need of rehabilitation. Low-income first-time homebuyers purchasing in the area are entitled to receive down payment assistance loans through the County of Orange Mortgage Assistance Program.
Demographic information cited below is drawn from the Orange County 2005-2010 Consolidated Plan, which cites 1990 United States Census
United States Census
The United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats , electoral votes, and government program funding. The United States Census Bureau The United States Census...
statistics, gathered prior to the arrival of significant numbers of Middle Eastern immigrants.
La Colonia Independencia
La Colonia Independencia consists of approximately 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) of residential land, 1.8 acres (7,284.3 m²) of school maintenance yard, and less than 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) of community center and parkland. The neighborhood is bounded by Katella Avenue on the south and Pacific Place (south of the Union Pacific RailroadUnion Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
tracks) on the north, between which run Garza, Berry and Harcourt Avenues. The neighborhood contains 101 single-family homes. La Colonia has approximately 1,700 residents, one-third of whom are children. 66% of its residents are Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
, 17% are white
Caucasian race
The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
, 11% are of Asian/Pacific Island
Asian Pacific American
Asian-Pacific American or Asian-Pacific Islander is a term sometimes used in the United States to include both Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans....
descent, and 4% are black
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
. Many families have lived in the neighborhood for generations, and residents express a strong sense of ethnic and community pride.
Originally a "citrus camp" established by Mexican farm laborers
Farmworker
A farmworker is a person hired to work in the agricultural industry. This includes work on farms of all sizes, from small, family-run businesses to large industrial agriculture operations...
at the edge of a now-defunct orange grove
Orange Grove
-Music:* Orange Grove , a Dutch/Antillean reggae band-Australia:* Orange Grove, Western Australia* The Orange Grove affair, a political scandal-United States:...
, La Colonia Independencia ranks with El Modena
El Modena, California
El Modena is an area around El Modena High School in the city of Orange, California. It is located near and east of the intersection of Hewes Street and Chapman Avenue...
as one of the oldest surviving barrio
Barrio
Barrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...
s in Orange County. The community was born after the United States' entry into World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, when relaxation of immigration restrictions spurred by the citrus industry's demand for cheap labor drew thousands of Mexican men and their families to the United States, where they made their homes in segregated communities near the railroad tracks that ran through the groves. Misión del Sagrado Corazón, La Colonia's Catholic church, was built in 1926; Magnolia School No. 2 was established shortly thereafter on Garza Street, and was attended exclusively by Mexican students. In spite of the 1946 decision in Mendez v. Westminster
Mendez v. Westminster
Mendez, et al v. Westminster School District, et al, 64 F.Supp. 544 , aff'd, 161 F.2d 774 , was a 1946 federal court case that challenged racial segregation in Orange County, California schools...
outlawing racial and language-based segregation in California schools, and in spite of then-Governor Earl Warren
Earl Warren
Earl Warren was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States.He is known for the sweeping decisions of the Warren Court, which ended school segregation and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending public-school-sponsored prayer, and requiring...
's subsequent repeal of provisions of the California Education Code that allowed segregation in the state's public schools, Magnolia School No. 2 continued to operate until 1954, when community activist Gloria Lopez challenged the district to transfer white children into the barrio school rather than build a new one. In the face of protests from white parents, Magnolia School No. 2 was closed and replaced with a school bus warehouse. As late as the 1970s, the community had no paved streets, sidewalks or sewers.
La Colonia Independencia is home to the La Colonia street gang
Gang
A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...
, its tag
Graffiti terminology
A number of words and phrases have come to describe different styles and aspects of graffiti. Like other jargon and colloquialisms, some phrases vary in different cities and countries...
"VLCR" signifying the motto "Varrio La Colonia Rifa." In 2001, the need to remedy public neglect of the area and address an increase in gang-related crime led county supervisors to secure federal funding for increased community services in La Colonia and the adjacent Southwest Anaheim neighborhood.
West Anaheim
West Anaheim occupies approximately 187 acre (0.75676282 km²) and contains 1,026 homes. Many of its streets bear Louisiana place-names (e.g., Bienville, Gravier, Antigua, Perdido, etc.). The district is bounded by Ball Road to the north; by the Union Pacific Railroad tracks south of Pacific Avenue to the south; and by Brookhurst Street and Gilbert Street to the east and west. The district also includes a tract of homes at the southwest corner of Cerritos Avenue and Gilbert Street, as well as an adjacent row of homes along the south side of Pacific Avenue, immediately north of the tracks. 50% of West Anaheim's residents are Hispanic, 27% white, 16% Asian/Pacific Islanders (23%), and 4% black.The Devious Hoodlums ("DH") street gang claims West Anaheim as its territory; the group began as the “Destroying Highways" tagging crew
Graffiti terminology
A number of words and phrases have come to describe different styles and aspects of graffiti. Like other jargon and colloquialisms, some phrases vary in different cities and countries...
, then evolved into a violent criminal organization engaged in narcotics sales, auto theft, felony vandalism, driveby shootings, robberies, and assaults. The United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
has associated the gang with heroin distribution activity. In 1996, two gang-related shootings, one fatal, occurred in West Anaheim. In 1995, complaints by neighbors led to the discovery of a large-scale methamphetamine lab in the district; two years later, smoke rising from another house several blocks away led firefighters to a smaller methamphetamine production operation. DH members count the La Colonia gang among their rivals; several DH members received lengthy prison sentences for their participation in the 2005 shooting of a La Colonia gang member.
Another well known and violent street gang in West Anaheim is the Anaheim F.O.L.K.S(family of latin kings surenos). This gang claims the area on Knott avenue and Ariel PL their neighborhood along with Neighbors avenue further east.This gang has many rivals including both the devious hoodlums and the la colonia gang. In March 2009, a couple members of this gang snuck onto the magnolia high school campus and stabbed a member of the la colonia gang.Although most of the local street gangs in this area are of mexican or hispanic heritage, there is also an African American gang known as the Del Monte Blocc Gangster Crips Gang.This violent gang in west anaheim claims most of Lincoln Avenue as there territory. This gang counts most of the other hispanic gangs as their rivals. as a result, members of this gang have been known to harass or assault mexican youth who look like rival gang members or are found hanging out in their territory
The West Island Neighbors Group was established after the city of Anaheim's announcement of its plans to annex the area (see below). The organization publishes a newsletter, the West Island Breeze, which is distributed to community residents.
Southwest Anaheim
Southwest Anaheim (identified as "Anaheim Island" on the Orange County Development Agency's map of the area) is an entirely residential neighborhood near the northeast corner of Katella Avenue and Gilbert Street, south of the tracks from West Anaheim and adjacent to La Colonia Independencia. The 171-home development (originally called "House and Garden Homes") was built by Tobin Developers in 1955 on approximately 29 acres (117,358.9 m²) of residential land. 60% of Southwest Anaheim's residents are Hispanic, 23% are Asian/Pacific Islanders, and 17% are white.Sherwood Forest & Thistle Development
Sherwood Forest is a development of 406 homes built in 1955, occupying approximately 95 acres (384,451.7 m²) of residential land bounded by Brookhurst Street and Gilbert Street to the east and west, and by Orange Avenue and Ball Road to the north and south. 39% of Sherwood Forest's residents are white, 31% Hispanic, 24% Asian/Pacific Islanders, and 4% black. Adjacent to Sherwood Forest and located between Orange Avenue and Broadway is the distinct, also unincorporated, 88-parcel Thistle development.For purposes of community planning and needs assessment, the Orange County Board of Supervisors
Orange County Board of Supervisors
The Orange County Board of Supervisors is the five-member governing body of Orange County, California.-Membership:The Board consists of five Supervisors elected by districts to four-year terms by the citizens of Orange County...
groups two additional, non-contiguous county islands bounded only by Stanton and Garden Grove with those adjacent to Anaheim, due to their close proximity. These two islands are not, however, included in the city of Anaheim's annexation proposals (see below).
Rustic Lane
The Rustic Lane neighborhood is located north of Katella Avenue between Gilbert Street and Magnolia Avenue. The 9 acres (36,421.7 m²) district houses 1,736 people in 347 housing units. 66% of Rustic Lane's residents are Hispanic, 17% white, 11% Asian/Pacific Islanders, and 4% black.Mac Island
Mac Island contains 116 single family homes occupying approximately eighteen acres of land near the northwest corner of Katella and Magnolia Avenues. 62% of the neighborhood's 441 residents are white, 17% are Hispanic, and 17% Asian/Pacific Islanders.Education
The Anaheim Island neighborhoods are served by the Magnolia School District, the Anaheim City School District, the Anaheim Union High School DistrictAnaheim Union High School District
The Anaheim Union High School District is a public school district serving portions of the Orange County cities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, La Palma, and Stanton. It oversees eight junior high schools , eight high schools , and one non-magnet, secondary selective school, Oxford Academy . Its...
, the Anaheim Public Library, and the Stanton branch of the Orange County Public Library
Orange County Public Library
The OC Public Libraries is a network of communitylibraries in Orange County, California. With 34 branches covering the countyfrom the Pacific Coast to the inland canyons of Southern California,...
.
Public safety
Police protection services in the Anaheim Island neighborhoods are provided by the North Operations Patrol Bureau of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Traffic enforcement is the responsibility of the California Highway PatrolCalifornia Highway Patrol
The California Highway Patrol is a law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and also acts as the state police....
. Fire protection and emergency services are provided by the Anaheim Fire Department
Anaheim Fire Department
The Anaheim Fire Department is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for Anaheim, California.-Fire Suppression Section:...
through a contractual agreement with the Orange County Fire Authority
Orange County Fire Authority
The Orange County Fire Authority is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for unincorporated areas of Orange County, California and cities that contract OCFA's services....
.
Annexation controversy
In 1994, Orange County declared the greatest municipal bankruptcyBankruptcy in the United States
Bankruptcy in the United States is governed under the United States Constitution which authorizes Congress to enact "uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States." Congress has exercised this authority several times since 1801, most recently by adopting the Bankruptcy...
in United States history, the result of a $1.7 billion loss sustained after Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert Citron
Robert Citron
Robert Lafee Citron is a Democratic Party politician who was the longtime Treasurer-Tax Collector of Orange County, California, when it declared Chapter 9 bankruptcy on December 6, 1994. Citron was the only Democrat to hold office in otherwise Conservative/Republican Orange County at the time...
invested county funds in various risky financial instruments
Derivative (finance)
A derivative instrument is a contract between two parties that specifies conditions—in particular, dates and the resulting values of the underlying variables—under which payments, or payoffs, are to be made between the parties.Under U.S...
. Since that time, county officials have sought to reduce and eventually eliminate county responsibility for provision of municipal services
Municipal services
Municipal services or city services refer to basic services that residents of a city expect the city government to provide in exchange for the taxes which citizens pay. Basic city services may include sanitation , water, streets, schools, food inspection fire department, police, ambulance, and...
such as policing
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
, street sweeping
Street sweeper
A street sweeper or street cleaner can refer to a person's occupation or a machine that cleans streets, usually in an urban area.-History of street sweeping in the United States:...
, trash removal
Waste management
Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal,managing and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and the process is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics...
and building code
Building code
A building code, or building control, is a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects such as buildings and nonbuilding structures. The main purpose of building codes are to protect public health, safety and general welfare as they relate to the...
enforcement, in order to focus greatly diminished county resources on provision of regional services such as public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
, social services
Child Protective Services
Child Protective Services is the name of a governmental agency in many states of the United States that responds to reports of child abuse or neglect. Some states use other names, often attempting to reflect more family-centered practices, such as "Department of Children & Family Services"...
, flood control
Flood control
In communications, flood control is a feature of many communication protocols designed to prevent overwhelming of a destination receiver. Such controls can be implemented either in software or in hardware, and will often request that the message be resent after the receiver has finished...
, environmental protection
Environmental protection
Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organizational or governmental level, for the benefit of the natural environment and humans. Due to the pressures of population and our technology the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently...
and regional planning
Regional planning
Regional planning deals with the efficient placement of land use activities, infrastructure, and settlement growth across a larger area of land than an individual city or town. The related field of urban planning deals with the specific issues of city planning...
. One means of achieving this goal has been to encourage municipalities within the county to annex unincorporated areas within or adjacent to their boundaries.
Reduction of the number of unincorporated islands in California municipalities has been an express priority of the California state legislature
California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...
since the passage of the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000. The Act establishes procedures for annexation
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
s and consolidations of cities or special districts
Redistricting
Redistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census. In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to...
, and delegates responsibility for the process to Local Agency Formation Commissions (LAFCOs)
Local Agency Formation Commission
A Local Agency Formation Commission is one of several decision making government entities in California with the responsibility to decide boundary issues pertaining to city and county lands, including spheres of influence, and issues about the annexation of county lands into a city or special...
. Among the purposes of LAFCOs are the encouragement of the orderly formation, development and consolidation of local agencies and the discouragement of urban sprawl. The Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act allows cities to annex areas up to 150 acre (0.607029 km²) without a vote by property owners; however, annexation can be blocked by a petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
signed by over fifty percent
Majority
A majority is a subset of a group consisting of more than half of its members. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset may consist of less than half the group's population...
of voters.
In April 2005 the Anaheim City Planning Commission reversed its historic opposition to proposals to annex the "Gaza Strip" and approved a plan newly developed by the Orange County LAFCO. City and county officials and Anaheim Island homeowners who supported the plan contended that annexation would result in increased efficiency in the provision of community services and decreased police response time; that more assiduous building code enforcement would improve residents' quality of life and slow neighborhood blight
Slum
A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
by reducing the number of illegal garage-to-apartment conversions and substandard repairs, and by motivating property owners - many of them absentee landlords - to adequately maintain deteriorating homes; and that grant-assisted upgrades from septic systems to sewer hookups would increase home values and lessen the potential for groundwater contamination
Water pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....
.
After learning of the plan, a group of Anaheim Island residents formed the West Island Neighbors Group and circulated a petition opposing annexation. Opponents of the plan argued that annexation would result in increased taxes
Taxation in the United States
The United States is a federal republic with autonomous state and local governments. Taxes are imposed in the United States at each of these levels. These include taxes on income, property, sales, imports, payroll, estates and gifts, as well as various fees.Taxes are imposed on net income of...
and public utility
Public utility
A public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service . Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies...
rates, and new municipal fees and permit
Construction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...
requirements; that city zoning
Zoning
Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
regulations would prevent residents from keeping farm animals and running kennels; that residents would be inconvenienced by the designation of new street addresses
Address (geography)
An address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used for describing the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along with other identifiers such as house or...
for their homes; that more stringent building code enforcement and requirements for sewer hookups
Sanitation
Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
would result in excessive expense to homeowners with limited incomes; and that property might be confiscated
Eminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...
for redevelopment. Residents of La Colonia expressed particular concern that annexation would pave the way for the destruction of their neighborhood through gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
, the fate of old county barrios such as La Conga, razed and replaced
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
with a parking lot for Anaheim's Glover Stadium. Concerned with the prospect of a shrinking patrol
Patrol
A patrol is commonly a group of personnel, such as police officers or soldiers, that are assigned to monitor a specific geographic area.- Military :...
area, the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs mailed a flier opposing annexation to area residents. The anti-annexation petition eventually gathered 1,944 signatures, and the plan was defeated in October 2005.
The "Save Our Islands" petition was prepared by an Arlington, Virginia political consulting
Political consulting
Political consulting, beyond the self-evident definition of consulting in political matters, refers to a specific management consulting industry which has grown up around advising and assisting political campaigns. This article deals primarily with the development and nature of political consulting...
firm, and thousands of copies were distributed to Anaheim Island residents. However, although the petition included a contact telephone number and address, it lacked a statement regarding the source of financing
Campaign finance
Campaign finance refers to all funds that are raised and spent in order to promote candidates, parties or policies in some sort of electoral contest. In modern democracies such funds are not necessarily devoted to election campaigns. Issue campaigns in referendums, party activities and party...
for the anti-annexation campaign, and did not identify the organization or individuals that sponsored it. In withholding this information, opponents of annexation availed themselves of a loophole
Loophole
A loophole is a weakness that allows a system to be circumvented.Loophole may also refer to:*Arrowslit, a slit in a castle wall*Loophole , a short science fiction story by Arthur C...
in the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act. At the time of the campaign, the statute's campaign finance disclosure requirements specified their applicability to petitions for and against reorganization of municipal boundaries that have reached the ballot
Ballot
A ballot is a device used to record choices made by voters. Each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest elections, a ballot may be a simple scrap of paper on which each voter writes in the name of a candidate, but governmental elections use pre-printed to protect the...
stage, but not to protests of proposals by a LAFCO functioning in its capacity as a "conducting authority" responsible for implementing boundary changes and considering citizen feedback.
In January 2006, the Orange County Planning Board resolved to introduce legislation to close the loophole. Following his election to the California State Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
, former Orange County Supervisor Jim Silva
Jim Silva
James Wayne Silva is a Republican United States politician who represents the 67th Assembly District in the California State Assembly....
introduced an amendment to the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act mandating disclosure of sponsors, contributions and expenditures for campaigns for and against annexation proposals approved by LAFCOs at any stage of the process. The amendment was approved by unanimous vote of the California legislature, signed into law in July 2008, and further amended in March 2009.
In January 2009, the Orange County LAFCO began to encourage owners of unincorporated property whose lots abut Anaheim city limits to apply for annexation on an individual basis, offering a waiver of the usual $7,900 fee charged for changing a property's jurisdiction from the county to Anaheim. Between January 2009 and May 2010, over 100 Anaheim Island property owners filed annexation applications, 20 pertaining to parcels in the 88-parcel Thistle development. The Orange County LAFCO subsequently proposed to annex the entire Thistle neighborhood to the city of Anaheim; however, a new petition opposing annexation attracted enough signatures to require a special election, which was held August 31, 2010. The annexation measure received a total of 35 "yes" votes and 84 "no" votes, and was therefore defeated.
External links
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