A Disney worker helped reform her union. Now she’s running for Anaheim City Council
For half of her young life, Cristal Ruiz has worked for the Disneyland Resort, Orange County’s largest employer and a company that has left a dominant imprint on Anaheim politics.
In November, she’s hoping to go from “cast member,” as Disney calls its workers, to council member with the help of the city’s voters.
Ruiz, 34, grew up in Anaheim and started working at Disneyland selling churros as a junior in high school. She continued working at the park while attending Fullerton College where she wrote for the Hornet, a student newspaper on campus. Ruiz transferred to Cal State Fullerton, from which she graduated with a journalism degree.
More recently, she championed a reform slate for her Disney labor union, Workers United Local 50, before turning her sights on Anaheim City Hall.
“I never imagined myself running for office, but I know people like me need to stand up,” Ruiz said. “For me, personally, it’s about giving back to my community.”
After union members ratified a contract raising pay to $24 an hour, Disney is no longer the minimum-wage employer it used to be.
Ruiz lists more services for the unhoused, public safety and housing affordability as key issues for the city.
She also touts herself as a first-generation Anaheim resident and the only Spanish-speaking Latina on the ballot for District 5, where Latinos form a majority of registered voters.
It remains the only district outside of Anaheim Hills to not have elected a Latino since the city retired at-large elections in 2016.
Not only did Ruiz not see herself seeking public office until recently, she also never envisioned herself running for a leadership position in Workers United Local 50, the single biggest Disney labor union with 9,500 members.
But when union leadership faced questions over transparency and as disaffection among food and beverage workers lingered after a narrowly ratified contract with Disney last year, Ruiz took action.
She served as campaign manager for the “We Take a Stand for Change” slate that won a bitterly contested union election in May.
Past president Angel Esparza appealed the election results before withdrawing his challenge in late August.
The new slate finally took office on Sept. 5 with Ruiz winning a seat on the union’s executive board.
“We all pay union dues,” she said. “A lot of us felt that our money wasn’t being used in the best way. We didn’t know where our money was going.”
Having pushed for change within her own union, Ruiz is now looking to do the same on Anaheim City Council.
For the past two years, council members have passed a series of reforms after an FBI political corruption probe became public and led to three criminal convictions, including that of former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu and former Anaheim Chamber of Commerce chief executive Todd Ament.
The city ordered an independent investigation that was published last year and more recently hired an ethics officer who started the job last month.
For Ruiz, the work of reform is undone.
“It’s important for residents to know what’s going on,” she said. “If we’re able to be as transparent as possible, I think that’s helpful to gain the trust of our constituents.”
A contract between Disney and the university’s nonprofit gave the company exclusive ownership of the economic impact report, which helped make the case for the DisneylandForward expansion.
In recent years, Disney labor unions have tried to flex some political muscle in Anaheim with endorsements and independent expenditures in support of favored candidates.
But until Ruiz, a Disney union worker has never been the council candidate before.
“She was a passionate advocate for student parents and making sure that students are represented in our shared governance at the campus,” Jodi Balma, a Fullerton College political science professor, said of her former student. “I wasn’t at all surprised her trajectory in the union and that perspective probably has given her a different view of the role that Disneyland takes in Anaheim.”
Ruiz, who currently works as an administrative assistant in workforce management, reports that Workers United Local 50 is endorsing her campaign. She hopes that it won’t be the only union to back her bid.
Workers at Disneyland are primed for a big bump in salary after winning a living-wage legal battle, a paycheck boost scheduled to start this week.
It is support she’ll likely need as the district seat that Ruiz is vying for promises to be the most competitive race in Anaheim, one where Balma observes that a plurality may be all that’s needed to prevail.
Kristen Maahs, a cultural and heritage city commissioner, is running for council in the same district and enjoys the endorsement of Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken.
“My dedication and service to the community have been acknowledged by the Orange County Labor Federation, the largest association representing working families in Anaheim, the Anaheim Firefighters Assn., and other unions,” Maahs told TimesOC. “Once on the council, I aim to represent and advocate for policies and projects that benefit working families in Anaheim.”
Andrew Sarega, a former La Mirada mayor, is also campaigning to represent District 5 residents and has secured the endorsement of the Anaheim Police Assn. According to campaign finance documents, Sarega has loaned himself about $59,000 and raised another $30,000 for his campaign.
TimesOC reached out to Sarega, who did not immediately respond.
Disney hasn’t yet made its presence known in the race through independent expenditures or direct contributions.
Ahead of the November election, Disney has contributed $49,000 to the Anaheim Residents, Small Businesses and Public Safety Leaders PAC supporting the election of Councilwoman Norma Campos Kurtz in a neighboring district. The company also deposited the same amount in support of District 1 council candidate Ryan Balius. No such donations have yet been reported for a similarly named PAC in support of Maahs.
SOAR, Disney’s previously preferred PAC, reported no cash on hand in its last campaign finance filing.
Being a Disney union worker has given Ruiz an interesting perspective on curbing the company’s influence from the labor front lines, a lesson she hopes can be replicated in local politics.
“Disney has a lot of power within the city,” she said. “But I also see the impact that we have as a union to be able to provide a voice for workers. Money doesn’t hold all the power.”
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