Santa Ana Struggling With an Identity Crisis : Profile: The city is almost two-thirds Latino, but a conservative white population still holds political reins.

Should Santa Ana be the metropolitan downtown for an increasingly cosmopolitan Orange County? Or is it California’s largest Latino city and a showcase for the multicultural experience?

The two profiles overlap, but the debate that has developed here reveals a city with an identity crisis. Increasingly, there are two sides arguing the city’s future, and concerns exist about a widening gap within the community.

“I think there is a vision for the city that may not be what a vast majority of the citizens want,” said John Raya, a plumber and former member of the city’s Redevelopment Commission. “It’s a blue-collar community. There should be no shame in that.”

Today, Santa Ana is almost two-thirds Latino. But the growth of the Latino population has been rapid and is not yet reflected in the city’s leadership. At every level--the City Council, the school board, appointed commissions, the state Legislature and the U.S. Congress--Santa Ana’s representation is still predominantly white and Republican.

As a result, the city’s hierarchy has been increasingly scrutinized over questions about race and representation. Will white politicians make the best decisions for a predominantly ethnic community? And what responsibility do they have to encourage Latino participation?

The questions are provocative in a city that many consider to be in the midst of a major cultural transition. Some community leaders charge that the city’s recent emphasis on fashionable downtown development has been an attempt to ignore or hide its Latino majority. Others say the city is obligated to pursue its commercial potential, and that the resulting benefits will help everyone.

The debate is made even more difficult because Latinos make up barely a quarter of the electorate, and a largely conservative white population still controls the elections.

So elected officials sometimes face a political dilemma: When there is a conflict, do they represent the electorate or the population? Mayor Daniel H. Young says the fact that lawmakers must sometimes make that choice has turned Santa Ana into “one of the most politically complicated cities in the country.”

It has also contributed to a number of recent controversies:

* City Council members, fire officials and business leaders say overcrowded homes and apartments in Santa Ana are “the most dangerous problem facing the city today.” But when the council passed an ordinance that would force the eviction of thousands of Latino residents, community activists charged the city with racism and filed a lawsuit.

Last fall, an appellate court panel that threw out the ordinance said its decision “saves us from having a curbside seat at the parade of horrors which would otherwise ensue.”

* Last summer, the city was forced to scuttle one of the most ambitious redevelopment projects in its history because its leaders admitted they made a major mistake in not properly communicating the proposal to the Latino community.

More than 2,000 angry people packed the City Council chambers on the night the council was scheduled to adopt a $38-billion redevelopment plan to pay for urgently needed new schools and park space. As a result, city officials said the improvements that could have been concluded in 10 years are now more likely to take 30 years.

* The council has rejected a proposal from Latino community leaders to change the election process so that candidates would be selected within city wards, rather than at large. Proponents say the plan would increase the Latino role on the council--there are currently two Latinos among the panel’s seven members--because Latino candidates would not have to rely on white voters to win election.

But several council members say the ward plan would create rifts on the council because members would not have support from the whole city.

* Despite the city’s overcrowded conditions, its current housing plan calls for about two-thirds of the new homes to be built for moderate- or upper-income residents. City officials said the proposal reflects a regional need. But the city has not done an assessment of its own need for low-income housing.

Richard Spix, a Latino lawyer active in housing issues, believes the city’s plan is a racially motivated attempt to reduce the Latino population. “I think they resent the problems they have and they’re trying to change their image,” he said. “To me, it’s like trying to hold back the sands of time.”

* The most serious issues in Santa Ana--especially in the Latino community--are gangs and crime. But the council has yet to implement the major components of an anti-gang program it adopted a year ago.

Setting Priorities

Critics have questioned the city’s priorities as it continued to spend money on beautification projects to attract business at the same time it was forced to lay off a dozen police personnel because of budget shortfalls.

City leaders say the two issues are unrelated, but Latino activists argue that the actions send a message about the city’s priorities.

“I have always accused the council majority, led by the mayor, of suppressing the minority community,” said John Acosta, a former city councilman who lost an acrimonious race for mayor last year to Young. “While they give you a bunch of lip service that they represent all of the community, that’s a bunch of crap.”

Zeke Hernandez, a former state director of the League of United Latin American Citizens and an unsuccessful City Council candidate, added: “If they had it their way, they would raze the barrios and find ways to build things like the MainPlace Mall. It’s a sabotaging of Santa Ana as a multicultural city and a Latino city. It’s a sabotage of what can be.”

City officials say, however, that Santa Ana is facing some hard realities that have forced it to seek creative and profitable solutions. They note that poverty has forced a greater burden on Santa Ana’s public services than most cities in Orange County face. And there is a need to attract businesses that will provide jobs and contribute tax revenue.

“Part of the way we benefit everybody in the community is through a stronger tax base,” said Miguel Pulido Jr., a Latino council member who is expected to run for mayor next year.

Pulido also dismissed complaints that the city is anti-Latino, saying the issues of redevelopment and overcrowding are socioeconomic debates, not racial ones.

“You’re looking for Hispanic issues and you’re not going to find them, because issues that affect Hispanics affect everybody else,” said Pulido, who was born in Mexico City and came to the United States at age 5.

“These issues lend themselves to polarization, but if you . . . look at more than just the race issue, I think you’ll find other things,” he said. “There are upper-income Hispanics and they will fall on a different side (from lower-income Latinos) about whether overcrowding is good or bad.”

Young argues that the city’s policies have received support--not opposition--from the Latino community. As one measure, he emphasized that Santa Ana has not suffered the racial strife or disruptions that have plagued other American cities.

But the mayor also acknowledged that ethnic considerations in Santa Ana have made the job of governing exceedingly difficult.

“The potential exists every day, in everything you say, to say something the wrong way and people say, ‘Ah ha, I now see the prejudice that I thought might always be there,’ ” he said.

Young said the complaints cut both ways, because he also hears concerns from white residents that the city is doing too much for the Latino community.

“Some people have confronted me (saying), ‘There are lots of uses for this redevelopment thing--we can do parks, we can do street improvements, we can create shopping opportunities, we can create new jobs. Why are you building classrooms when the only classrooms that are needed are for the low-income Hispanic community . . . more narrowly defined as the children of illegal aliens?” he said.

Controversy Sparked

Few issues have split the city along racial lines more than overcrowding. The problem goes to the heart of conditions in the Latino community, as well as the city’s desire to maintain its quality of life and reduce the burden on its public services.

City officials say the overcrowded homes and apartments have contributed to pollution, noise, traffic, unsanitary conditions and fire hazards. But Latino community leaders say many of the new immigrants struggling to find work are forced to share homes or live on the street.

The debate has been particularly explosive because opponents have charged that the city’s intent in trying to reduce overcrowding is a racist attempt to reduce the Latino population.

“When you apprise the city of discriminatory impacts before they vote and they do it anyway, a long line of cases says that demonstrates racially motivated intent,” said Spix, the attorney who sued the city over its crackdown on overcrowding.

But Young argues that race should not be an issue in the overcrowding debate because it is intended to protect the safety and quality of life for Latinos as well as other ethnic groups in Santa Ana.

“Overcrowding is a perfect example of a policy that I feel strongly about that protects Hispanics as much as it does Anglos or any other part of our community,” he said. “And yet there are people who make the argument that it targets Hispanics and therefore it is a racial issue.”

When the council adopted an overcrowding ordinance in 1991, it was told that in some Latino neighborhoods the average occupancy of a one-bedroom apartment was five or six people. In a two-bedroom apartment, the average occupancy was eight or nine people.

As a result, the city acknowledged that its overcrowding ordinance would probably force the eviction of thousands of Latino residents in Santa Ana. In some neighborhoods, half the families could be found in violation.

With so much at stake, the city’s pursuit of the issue has been dogged. When the ordinance was thrown out by the state appellate court last fall, the city appealed to the state Supreme Court. The high court declined, however, to consider the case.

City officials sought help in the state Legislature, but were turned away again. Before a bill was even presented, Gov. Pete Wilson’s office declared its opposition to the idea and it was rejected by the Assembly Democratic caucus. In both cases, officials said the law would discriminate against Latino residents.

“This is one that cuts both ways; you can see both sides of it,” said George Urch, chief of staff for state Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove), who represents Santa Ana. “It has put a strain on the city, but we’re not sure the concept is enforceable or that it could get through the Legislature.”

In the views of Young and Pulido, the overcrowding ordinance would improve conditions in the city’s Latino community. But the mayor and city officials also listed several other projects under way that are specifically intended to improve conditions in the Latino community. As a laboratory for possible solutions to America’s urban problems, Santa Ana has attracted ambitious pilot projects from both state and federal government.

Earlier this year, Gov. Wilson designated a portion of Santa Ana as one of five Enterprise Zones in California. As a result, companies choosing to move into the zone will be eligible for a variety of tax breaks.

Patty Nunn, director of Santa Ana’s Economic Development Department, said the Enterprise Zone was established last June and, so far, has attracted nine companies and created 110 new jobs.

Nunn and Young emphasized that much of the activity in the Enterprise Zone will be directed at jobs for the Latino community. Both said the city will encourage the development of manufacturing and apparel companies.

“It’s traditionally a place where new people in our country can enter our economy,” Nunn said.

Some neighborhoods in Santa Ana have also qualified for extra federal spending to help police establish a “Weed and Seed” area. The pilot program is intended to defuse gang problems as well as establish education and recreational programs to divert youths from gangs.

The city also adopted a $300,000 program in its last budget to provide scholarships for any Santa Ana student who graduates from high school and wants to attend the city’s Rancho Santiago Community College.

“The program is for everyone, but I know it will affect the Hispanic community because they are 70% of this city,” said Ted Moreno, a freshman City Council member. “I’m trying to change this into a middle-class Latino community. I think I’m trying to pull the council in that way. Those projects would not go through if I wasn’t there.”

Young said he has made it a priority to diversify the city’s staff.

“My policy has been, in a patient and thorough way, to integrate the political structure and the government structure to reflect the demographics of the community,” he said.

According to the city’s most recent report on the subject, 54 of 100 city employees hired in the 1991-92 fiscal year were Latino and 33 were Anglo. The changes increased Latino representation on the city’s work force to 31%. The staff is 59% white.

But the report also showed that the change has been gradual and that the majority of Latino employees work in the city’s lower-paying jobs.

In the same year, just 11% of the city’s administrative staff and 13% of its professional employees were Latino. On the other hand, 63% of the maintenance staff and just over half of the craftsmen were Latino.

Latinos are even more poorly represented in the state and federal offices that serve Santa Ana. Of the 42 employees working in the state Assembly, state Senate and congressional offices that represent Santa Ana, just eight are Latino.

Umberg’s staff is the closest match to the demographics of his district, with four Latino workers on his 10-member staff. In contrast, Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) has just two Latino workers out of 24 employees.

Latino community leaders say the diversity on political staffs is important, not just so that ethnic visitors feel comfortable, but to ensure adequate input on policy decisions. Otherwise, they say, laws may be passed that are inappropriate or ineffective because they did not account for unique conditions in Latino neighborhoods or cultural differences.

The issue is central to complaints about the representation in Santa Ana because many Latino leaders say they feel ignored or shut out of decisions about the city’s future.

“We have always asked for a Hispanic advisory council because they should ask people instead of deciding on their own,” said Rueben Martinez, a Latino community activist. “There’s nobody out there trying to bring us together. Nobody of any color. Instead, they’re listening to those who donated to their campaigns and who are voting for them.”

Lawmakers in each of the state and federal offices in Santa Ana said they have designated staff members as liaisons with the Latino community. But since most Latino residents don’t vote, they also don’t call their elected officials for help. At the same time, the liaisons do little to contact those who don’t participate.

The office of State Sen. Rob Hurtt (R-Garden Grove) recently sent more than 28,000 questionnaires to Hurtt’s constituents seeking input on issues important to the community. But all the mailers were in English.

“It’s not a scientific thing, it’s more for our own curiosity,” explained George Cou, Hurtt’s liaison to the Latino community.

In response to a question about his involvement in the Latino community, Rep. Dornan issued a one-page list that included four items: an award, a meeting with a Latino organization, assistance provided to a Latino businessman and support for a grant program to help immigrants.

In an interview, Dornan said his values as a Catholic and his aggressive law-and-order platform have made him a quality representative for the Latino community. “I’m doing what they would want me to do, so there is no need that we have to talk about everything,” he said.

But communication is exactly what most of the city’s Latino leaders are concerned about.

For many, last May 15 was a perfect example of problems in the relationship between the Latino community and its government leaders. That’s when 2,000 residents, mostly Spanish-speaking Latinos, packed a council meeting and forced the city to abandon its biggest redevelopment project.

“I think that was probably one of the most significant events in politics in this city,” said Raya. “I hope some of those in power will not forget the lessons of May 15. I doubt that they will.”

Critics say the fact that the council was surprised by the opposition to its plans demonstrates the city’s poor relations with its largest population. Even before the meeting, the council had seen signs that the idea would be controversial in the Latino community, largely because of concerns that it would displace low-income residents.

Just a year before, an overflow crowd packed the council chambers over another redevelopment project that also ended up in court when Latinoa advocates charged that the plan was a racially motivated attempt to expel Latino residents.

An appellate court subsequently rejected that plan, known as the Bristol Street Corridor plan. Recently, the city went back to the drawing board and is expected to resubmit another version shortly.

Today, the city’s leaders look at the scuttled citywide redevelopment plan with disappointment. They are convinced that it would have been a major improvement for the Latino community, especially because it would have provided relief for overcrowded schools.

But because it was not properly communicated, skeptical residents became alarmed that the plan could force them from their homes.

“I think what happened with the citywide plan is that there was just a series of mishaps that miscommunicated what we were trying to accomplish,” Young said.

Despite the lesson, however, the city has not taken any specific steps to improve communication or correct the problems identified in its experience with the redevelopment project, critics say.

Today, some Latino leaders are encouraged by the chance that Pulido could become Santa Ana’s first Latino mayor. The symbolism would change perceptions of the government throughout the city’s Latino community, they say.