Anaheim residents ask leaders for changes to stem further violence

In the first Anaheim City Council meeting since protesters clashed with authorities over two fatal police shootings, residents on Thursday implored council members to address the underlying issues that led to the violence.

Among the suggestions: better police accountability; more youth programs in underserved neighborhoods; and adoption of council districts to give Anaheim’s majority Latino population a voice.

Nothing was settled Thursday. But the public comments — three minutes per speaker, mostly adhered to — were notable for the numerous calls for calm discourse to move past the violence and address long-simmering complaints in the racially segregated city.

“We need to do something to bring everyone peacefully together,” said John Dunton, who said he represented a group of Anaheim business owners. “We can’t turn the clock back. But we can move forward.”

Dunton was among several speakers who blamed “outsiders” for exploiting tensions that sparked the July 24 violence outside City Hall.

Richard Olquin told council members that he’s concerned that an Aug. 8 public hearing on the proposal to switch from at-large voting to council districts may be too soon and could lead to more unrest.

“We’re at grave risk of another large incident,” Olquin said. “We’re setting ourselves up for another riot.”

The midday public forum was held before council members went behind closed doors, where they were to discuss — among other things — a lawsuit that seeks to force the city to adopt council districts. Anaheim is the largest city in California with at-large voting.

One resident urged council members to hire a Latino police chief and suggested that the city’s biggest economic generator, Disneyland, had stood in the path of change.

William Fitzgerald said that when Police Chief John Welter was hired from San Diego in 2004, it was over the objections of some community members who wanted a Latino who speaks Spanish from inside the department to lead it.

“Unfortunately, Disney wanted a white Police Department and a white police chief,” said William Fitzgerald, one of the older speakers in the crowd. “And Disneyland gets what it wants.” Despite his reservations, Fitzgerald underscored that he felt Welter was an “exceptional individual with integrity.”

Others called for a change at the top.

Barbara Kordiak, a longtime protester of alleged police misconduct, said, “We need to clean up the Anaheim Police Department from the top on down.”

“We need a Police Department we can trust and work with,” she said. “And that’s not what we have now.”

mike.anton@latimes.com