A 1963 thought: let's annex to Anaheim

A political donnybrook is on the horizon as the factions who've held seesaw control of the City Council the past several years face another knockabout battle for two seats and a possible recall on two incumbents, if one of the camps turns in sufficient signatures next week.

But the significance of the upcoming Nov. 4 election pales in comparison to this community's most important ballot ever, involving a largely forgotten issue settled by 1,669 voters in 1963.

The long-ago vote led to a 1967 election in which 1,963 voters cast ballots to incorporate Yorba Linda against 638 who were opposed – but it was a rocky road that took four more years to traverse.

The 1963 issue, affecting about 5,000 residents of an 11-square-mile area generally following the boundaries of the then-existing Yorba Linda County Water District and a portion of Puente Hills, was a measure to annex to Anaheim, a plan endorsed by many community leaders.

The matter appeared fairly urgent because Brea and Placentia were nibbling at the community's borders with small piecemeal annexation attempts.

Although incorporation efforts were made in the 1950s and early 1960s, they failed, generally due to issues involving the small area's tax base and financial ability to “go it alone as a city.”

According to “a group of representative residents,” as related in a 1962 Yorba Linda Star article, “the best course to follow was to petition the city of Anaheim for annexation of the entire area....for the preservation of Yorba Linda as a community with legal boundaries.”

One strong selling point in the proposal would have allowed Yorba Linda “to maintain its name and identity as it is now known,” comparable to Corona del Mar in Newport Beach.

The 36 petitions calling for an annexation vote contained 920 names, with 822 validated as registered voters of the affected area, more than the 588 required. Just 14 percent of the owners of the area's assessed land value opposed the election at a county hearing.

With apparent support from so many community members, including Star owner Bill Drake, the election appeared in the bag, and Anaheim named a Yorba Linda resident to its Planning Commission one month before balloting.

But annexation lost, 1,062 to 607, with a “yes” majority achieved in only one of the 12 precincts. Most voters believed, as stated in a letter to the Star, annexation “would completely eliminate local dignity, independence and the prospect of ever becoming a city with local rules.”

Within a month of the vote, advocates from both sides of the issue formed a new incorporation committee and – despite years of adverse state court and county government rulings – eventually gained approval to hold the 1967 election that won cityhood.

An interesting aspect of these first community elections: nobody put an unflattering picture of an opposition leader in a circle with a line through it. Too bad the worthy precedent didn't last.