Newport just became a bit more diverse

Don Strauss was the mayor of Newport Beach when I moved to Santa Ana

Heights 20 years ago, and we seldom got through our monthly lunch

sessions without discussing the state of annexation, which had

already been kicked around for many years. There was always some

technical problem that would soon be resolved holding up the process.

That finally became the norm, one of those comfortable

conversational places where all that ever changed was the nature of

the newest roadblock.

So, along with my new neighbors, I guess I never really believed

annexation would happen. But, infrequently and sometimes almost

magically, highly improbable projects actually come to fruition. It

struck me last year that if the Angels can win a World Series,

anything can happen. Even the annexation of Santa Ana Heights by

Newport Beach.

I’m not at all sure why it finally happened when it did. But now

that it has, I find myself caught between two emotions. First,

there’s an odd sense of nostalgia that -- to paraphrase Richard Nixon

-- I won’t have annexation to kick around any more. And a corollary

sense that I should probably feel something -- elation, relief,

wariness, hostility, indifference -- that this has actually taken

place.

The annexation kicked in officially on July 1. It is something of

a curiosity to me that Annexation Day came and went without any

recognition, official or otherwise, that an event had taken place.

There were no block parties or fireworks in the heights. The only

acknowledgment I’m aware of happened at the City Council meeting last

week, when Mayor Steve Bromberg publicly recognized three of my

neighbors who have audited every council meeting in person since the

annexation issue was revived. This tolerance for boredom deserves a

Purple Heart more than a commendation.

There are still pockets of resistance here that continue to regard

the city’s motivations darkly, but they were clearly not strong

enough to prevent the annexation. The main reason their arguments

mostly fell on deaf ears is that annexation -- at least to most of

the locals with whom I discussed it -- is regarded as a real estate

bonanza. Fancy figures have been thrown around for years in

speculating on the increase in value of Santa Ana Heights property

once it became Newport Beach.

There’s no question about the increase, which has been

stratospheric in my neighborhood. Much of that took place when our

mailing address changed to Newport Beach two years ago. But there is

also no way of knowing whether this property windfall is primarily

because of the Newport Beach connection or because of runaway housing

prices in this part of the world. The question is moot, now, since

the annexation is done, and prices continue to rise.

What I perceive remaining in this new bastion of Newport Beach is

an attitude I mostly share -- although I wasn’t as hot for this

annexation as a lot of my neighbors -- that now that all the legal

stuff is finished, we can go back to business as usual being Santa

Ana Heights. Cheerleading is not the order of the day here. Neither

are changes in our lifestyle. We were getting along just fine in our

own eccentric way before we were joined to the country club.

It remains to be seen whether city officials will buy as totally

into this sort of cultural laissez-faire as they have committed

themselves. Already there are small -- and admittedly benign -- signs

of unsolicited helpfulness.

Horse droppings, we are told, will now have to be picked up. This

will probably displease horse owners, while the rest of us more or

less accepted horse manure as a price of being allowed our own

eccentricities. Streets will be swept twice as often, and so --

likely -- will parking tickets be more frequent.

Our neighborhood trees were being checked to see if they extended

too far over the street. Police presence will be more frequent. But

these are mere beginnings. It is far too soon to know how compatible

the marriage is going to be for either party. I’ll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, our new city councilman, Gary Adams, says he looks

forward to working with us. He may be less enthusiastic when the

subject turns to the City Council’s decision to turn its energies to

new caps at John Wayne while the proposed airport in El Toro was

still in play. Airport noise is embedded in our lives in Santa Ana

Heights, and Adams should know that we’ll be pretty touchy on this

subject, especially as it gets worse under the new caps.

To aid his knowledge and understanding of us, I took a highly

unscientific survey on two questions: What are the primary advantages

and the primary concerns offered up by annexation?

The advantages were split evenly between increased property values

and access to services, particularly police.

One respondent said, “We never really felt protected before.”

Among the concerns were tighter restrictions in remodeling permits

and heavy-handed law enforcement. But by far the greatest concern was

the loss of identity so dear to veteran residents of Santa Ana

Heights.

“Our biggest fear,” said another respondent, “is that somewhere

down the road, new council members might not feel bound by promises

made to us and want to change things here. We also don’t want to be

dumped into the Nichols Syndrome. We can provide lots of diversity.

That’s a plus we can always offer Newport Beach.”

That resonates with me. I lived in Newport Beach for 20 years

before I moved to Santa Ana Heights, so I can make a pretty direct

comparison. I’ll be hoping that we can export some of the ambience of

our close-knit neighborhoods, the way we look out for one another,

and our irreverence about social constrictions to Newport Beach.

We might even be able to help our new hometown lose its title as

Least Diverse City in California while we explore the perks that will

hopefully go along with cityhood.

* JOSEPH N. BELL is a resident of Santa Ana Heights. His column

appears Thursdays.