On Tuesday evening Anaheim Councilwoman Gail Eastman celebrated the violence outside of City Hall that disrupted the business of the City Council. In an message to her fellow residents of the central Anaheim neighborhood known as the Colony Eastman wrote; “In spite of how it happened, it was a big time win for all who opposed seeing that placed on the November ballot, Tonight we celebrate a win with no shots fired!”
For an elected council member to claim victory of a political agenda because community outrage and protests prevented action by the council is a deplorable example of cognitive dissonance. In the small world of Eastman’s mind, the outrage and resulting violence of Tuesday night could not be connected to the actions of the council majority she leads. The only way to resolve her disbelief was to rationalize the events as a victory for her cause.
The Colony message board is not accessible to those who aren’t members. Below is Eastman’s message to her hive:
To everyone who sent an email and/or came out to City Hall to support the Council tonight. It’s finally quiet in the hood and I’ve had time to collect my thoughts.
There was a time during the meeting when we were being told things were escalating outside and our PD was only able to just hold out until back up from County and other cities arrived, that I looked at all my friends in the chamber audience and regretted my earlier plea to show up and show support. I am most grateful that you all were there for the quiet show of support and happy that everyone was safe.
It appears to have been quiet now for almost an hour so I trust we will all get a good nights sleep. The bonus now is that a threat of seeing either the TOT [room tax] issue or districting on the November ballot is past.
In spite of how it happened, it was a big time win for all who opposed seeing that placed on the November ballot. We could still be asked to vote on both issues in the future if 15% of the registered voters in the city sign a petition requesting it. We may also be facing a recall if some of tonights speakers follow through on their threats, but that will be a fight for another day.
Tonight we celebrate a win with no shots fired!
Thanks my friends for standing with us!
Gail
The Colony enclave in Anaheim, sometimes referred to as the Mother Colony, is an island of historic homes established at the birth of the city. The enclave is surrounded by the central Anaheim neighborhoods of predominantly low income, Latino residents. While there are no gates, the lines of division are visible as you pass through the boundaries of the Colony. In social circles many Colony residents seem to be of one mind when it comes to issues of community and politics. A hive-mind of collective thinking, is reflected in Eastman’s communication to her fellow colonists.
The Voice of OC reported on the response to Eastman’s written comments:
Jose Moreno, president of Los Amigos, says that Eastman’s comments are evidence that a small group has sway over City Hall.
“It’s a really cynical way of saying we have sustained control of the power structure of Anaheim. The status quo has won,” Moreno said. “So it shows that [Eastman] was not at the dais last night listening with an open mind and an open ear and with compassion for our community. … Nobody won last night.”
On Wednesday Eastman tried to walk back her commentary. Eastman sent a prepared statement to Voice of OC following publication of her comments:
Shortly after midnight on Wednesday morning, following a contentious and emotional city council meeting, I sent an email to the Colony residents’ email group thanking my neighbors for attending the city council meeting. My immediate concern was with the safety and well-being of those in attendance and I am grateful that they returned home safely. For that, I commend the Anaheim Police Department for their efforts to keep residents safe.
In the email, I used a common phrase that was perceived as inappropriate and insensitive in light of the serious issues going on in our city right now. Very simply, it was late, I was exhausted and it was the wrong choice of words. For that, I sincerely apologize to those who were offended.
Those who know me understand my heart and that I love Anaheim. It is very disheartening to see what’s going on right now in our city. I intend to continue doing everything in my power to work with my neighbors throughout Anaheim, as well as with our city staff, to seek solutions and more importantly, begin the healing process.
What is confusing about Eastman’s walk-back is that she claimed in her original message that she had time to collect her thoughts before she wrote her message. In he apology she writes that she was exhausted and made “the wrong choice of words.”
Cognitive dissonance, revisionist history, or hive-mind; what ever the reason, Eastman has created an unsettling buzz in the heart of the city of Anaheim.
Wait a minute. You saw an email from Gail Eastman to a group of neighbors, (I am one of them) but nowhere do you get justification for thinking that the entire neighborhood agreed with her. Frankly I was as shocked as anyone to see that message, and in no way do I agree with the Councilmember on this one. On the other hand, the crowd has made her out to be the center of all evil, which is not true. Gail Eastman is a good woman who loves her community. She is entitled to her opinion, and she is taking her lumps for it, probably beyond what is appropriate for her words, due to the extreme tension building. While the Colony stands in support of Gail-the-person, as none of us wants to see a neighbor get butt-kicked, much less publicly, there is no reason to believe that everyone who saw her email agreed with it. Some Colony folk will agree with her, some won’t, because we understand that people come from a wide variety of Viewpoints, and we do not paint everyone in the same neighborhood with the same broad brush. Not everyone on Anna Street or Guinida Lane is a gang member, not everyone in Anaheim Hills is filthy rich, and not everyone in the Colony buys the SOAR/Chamber group-think.
But hey, thanks for making my neighborhood an even bigger target for
people who were just breaking windows and starting fires a block from my home 3 nights ago. Good work, guys.
Cynthia,
I will agree that assigning universal agreement with Eastman’s comments to all residents of the Mother Colony is a bit of a stretch. All of you are not of the “Hive-Mind.” That said, the analogy is still appropriate given the level of support Eastman received in the last election from her neighbors.
It is good to know that not all in the Colony support her positions. I hope those of you who do not continue to advise her to shift her course and look at the situation in Anaheim, specifically the sense of disenfranchisement felt by many residents of the broader Anaheim community.
The violence and vandalism that occurred on Monday is unacceptable. Councilwoman Eastman’s comments are unacceptable.
But it is not me, or TheLiberalOC, who are to blame for the target you feel is on the back of the residents of the Colony. That responsibility falls upon your neighbor Councilwoman Gail Eastman.
joe, you quoted ” But it is not me, or TheLiberalOC, who are to blame for the target you feel is on the back of the residents of the Colony. That responsibility falls upon your neighbor Councilwoman Gail Eastman”. joe take a deep breath, relax a bit, unclentch your fists. we know you’re on the payroll of michael lawson and chris prevat. As I sit here typing this your cronies are again protesting the APD building and walking the streets and yes again putting the burden on Anaheim residents as well as city employees upping the costs everytime you decide to waste our time and $
stepnfetchit,
Mike Lawson is the Founder of TheLiberalOC. He is however no longer involved since he moved to Phoenix in December of 2007. As far as me getting paid is concerned, I don’t get paid to write for TheLiberalOC. As far as I know, nobody does.
It is primarily residents of Anaheim that are out protesting the police. The march today was a peaceful demonstration. While people from other communities showed up in support of the right of the people to peacefully demonstrate, the burden on the taxpayers is caused by the ongoing frustration of the community over harassment by the police.
I wrote about this today here: https://theliberaloc.com/2012/07/29/video-this-helps-explain-why-there-is-so-much-tension-in-the-anaheim-flatlands/.
Serious problems exist between the residents in the flatlands of Anaheim and the police. Not everyone is a gang member, and we are not supposed to have cops executing people because they are alleged gang members. This is not Syria. At least I don’t think it is.
joe, exactly my point protesting police action againt them doing their job handling the thugs / gang members. This is bullshit at it’s finest the protesters backing thugs and gangsters prowling our neighborhoods. We as a city back our Police dept, the unrest comes from guess who?
Cynthia, I don’t think the people who were breaking windows and setting fires read the Liberal OC, or find inspiration here for their vandalism.
Could it be that you see everyone to the left of a moderate Republican (?) like yourself as one vast menacing undifferentiated mob?
you people are pathetic. The clowns that paraded our streets, broke windows, set fires, you’re no better than the two that got shot.
stepnfetchit, you are correct on your assumption that those breaking windows, setting fires and looting stores are cut from the same cloth as the two gangbangers who were shot. At the same time, your broad brush analysis of the entire crowd doesn’t wash. 90% of those protesters were there to lawfully and peacefully air whatever grieviences they have with government. Whether we agree with thier logic or not is immaterial. As citizens of the United States, even though some probably were not, they have a Constitutional right to meet and protest. I might not like what they are doing, but if their rights are denied, then who is to say that tomorrow, government might deny my rights. Moral of the story is to allow the protesters to state their grieviences and at the same time hammer the law breakers to the full extent of the law.
Ltpar. we probaly wouldn’t of had to go through all the damages to our neighborhood not to mention what this cost all of us had the brains of the protesters given more thought. ie. why would anyone even care to protest for two well known gansters, one shooting at the police and the other up to his normal gang activities. The leader of this not so peaceful demonstration never gave the APD a chance to investigate the incidents. Everyone protesting jumped on the bandwagon and took matters into their own hands, thusly committing violent acts upon our city and innocent residents being teorrorized by these thugs.
jose moreno doen’t have a clue nor the sense to know ” it ain’t workin bro ” btw the unsettling buzz you hear is the air passing through your empty noggin.
This is a ridiculous article.
Yes, Eastman said some bullshit comments but in no way do the Colony “members” all agree with her. I quote members because it’s not a club, it’s a group of people who happen to love old homes to restore them and we happen to fall in the neighborhood.
I’m Latino, I come from a poor family and I worked my ass off to get this house. Why are myself and my other Latino neighbors who are also “members” be targeted?
The Colony is composed of residents of different political persuasions. You can’t lump everyone under the broad umbrella of The Colony.
However the Yahoo Group known as Mother Colony is mostly compromised of folks who sit on the board over at SOAR aka DISNEY and the Anaheim Neighborhood Association. These organizations, also known as PAC’s, spent thousands to elect their puppets to the Anaheim CIty Council. Then they pull the strings and Kris Murray, Gail Eastman, and Harry Sidhu give away $158 million in future tax revenue to their friend Bill O’Connell. Trouble ensues amongst the residents so they spin the story and claim it’s all about jobs. But the truth is it has been over 3 years since the agreement was originally put in place and still NO JOBS.
Then the residents and ACLU demand district elections and they make their mind before even hearing from the public. Gail Eastman, as evident in her e-mail, had already decided against the initiative to stop future tax giveaways and district elections.
Anaheim will never change as long as Disney has it’s stranglehold on our Anaheim City Council.
lmao, you got your arse tossed from the group so you come on here and display your ignorance. nice try j
stepnfetchit I left the Colony Yahoo Message Board of my own accord. I had to since I refused to drink the kool-aid.
save Anaheim, everyone I talked to agrees that you were a problem from the start and yet even after several tried to help you, you continued to whine complain and it got to where we had to start hitting the delete button for every mean and hateful messages you posted.
Good job, thanks for the info on The Colonies.
Watch the Orange Juice for a companion piece… (and thanks to Chris for a great photo)
Vern, if you need accurate info on “the colony” please call me, I have lived here over a dozen years,and I would sure love to see someone get it right. We are not all of one mind, no neighborhood is. That is what makes our neighborhood such a blast, we are probably the most diverse section of the whole city, and I love my home and (most of) my neighbors, and I hate seeing all of us tarred with the same brush.
Didn’t say you were all the same, didn’t think so, and I don’t think Joe meant that either.
checking the history of liberaloc what we have here is total bs, this dog and pony act has run it’s course no good has come from their actions only destruction to neighborhoods, enciting riots.