POWER IN NUMBERS

A few short years ago, Teresa Saldivar, born and raised in Orange County, knew of no local events to commemorate Hispanic Heritage Month. Now it is a question of choosing which celebration to attend.

Orange County, long stereotyped as white, affluent and conservative, has changed significantly since 45-year-old Saldivar’s youth, when a small Latino population with predominantly Mexican roots was concentrated in her hometown of Santa Ana. The county now has one of the fastest-growing Latino populations in the country, with a rate surpassing Los Angeles County’s, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released this month. And Saldivar is now president of the Santa Ana Downtown Business Assn.

Nationwide, only two counties saw more new Latino residents between 1990 and 1997. The nearly 200,000 Latinos who moved to Orange County in those years have changed the way the community sees itself, say longtime Latino residents. Now more than 760,000 strong, making up 28% of the county, Latinos in Orange County have greater political power.

When Isaac Cardenas, chairman of the Cal State Fullerton Chicano studies department, moved to Orange County in 1974, he said he felt isolated. “But now people who are Latino are beginning to have more of a feel of community in Orange County.”

That sense of community is reflected in the events scheduled for Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Tuesday to Oct 15. A Mexican Independence Day celebration was held at Cal State Fullerton on Friday night, and a two-day Fiestas Patrias was held in Santa Ana this past weekend. Fullerton threw a party Sunday in honor of Morelia, its Mexican sister city. Westminster had mariachi music, dancers and traditional food at a Sunday afternoon festival.

“What has happened is an increase in every area,” said Peter Villegas, president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Orange County. “First in population growth. But more importantly, there has been an increase in buying power and business ownership and Latinos in leadership positions.”

Corporations, said Villegas, are now eager to sponsor events in the Latino community.

“We are now able to say to businesses: ‘It will benefit your company to sponsor this event in a community that has been extremely loyal and will continue to be extremely loyal to your product.’ ”

Saldivar said the boom in Latino-related services and events leaves her head spinning.

“I am constantly getting calls from small businesses that want to reach the Latino community,” Saldivar said. In the decade that Santa Ana has held a festival for Mexican Independence Day, corporate interest has exploded. And, she said, the event now attracts interest from multiple companies in the same line of work.

“Last year we had State Farm; now we have State Farm and Allstate,” she said. “We had Citizen watches last year. Now we have Citizen and the Festina Watch company.”

Even with the increased corporate interest, efforts to coordinate Hispanic Heritage Month in Orange County are still in their infancy.

Last year, as head of the Orange County Hispanic Heritage Committee, Lydia Cano helped organize more than a dozen events throughout the county. Hispanic Heritage Month in Orange County even had a Web site.

But a recent job change left her with little time to do the same this year. In her garage sit boxes of displays and information left over from last year’s effort.

“I felt really sad this morning when I looked in there,” she said last week. “Hispanic Heritage Month had been on the books for 30 years before anyone in Orange County really did anything about it. Three years ago we started, but this year I just haven’t had the time or resources.”

Latino leaders in Orange County say it is all a temporary glitch rather than a serious setback.

“There used to be two days a year in the Latino community, Cinco de Mayo and Sept. 16 [Mexican Independence Day], but now Latino culture is a part of every day,” said John Palacio, a Latino activist who works as a business consultant on Latino issues. “More salsa gets sold in Orange County than catsup.”

Twenty years ago, Villegas pointed out, Latinos were not in a position to “make things happen” in Orange County. Now they are.

And he said Latinos will play an increasingly important role in all aspects of Orange County life.

“You can’t ignore it anymore. You can’t ignore it in business. You can’t ignore it in politics. You can’t ignore it anymore in schools, education, anything,” Villegas said. “Laguna Niguel and Costa Mesa and Mission Viejo aren’t just places with Latin names. Now they are places where Latinos own homes.”

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Steady Climb

Orange County’s Latino population has increased 35% since 1990. That makes the county’s Latin community the fifth largest in the nation.

County Latino Population

1997 761,228

Largest U.S. Latino Populations*

(with 1990-97 increase)

Los Angeles County 4,000,642 (+19%)

Dade County (Miami), Fla. 1,139,004 (+19%)

Cook County (Chicago), Ill. 867,520 (+25%)

Harris County (Houston), Texas 852,177 (+32%)

Orange County 761,228 (+35%)

* 1997 estimates

Source: U.S. Census