ORANGE COUNTY TRIBUNE has more than a half-million “clicks.” It went live in September 2016 (Orange County Tribune photos).

If we had a dollar for every click ….

We’d just like to point out that as of last week, The Orange County Tribune’s website – www.orangcountytribune.com – has attracted over a half-million clicks. To be precise, that number is 504,340 as we write this article.

As for visitors, the number is 340,329. Not bad for a new website that went live on Sept. 6, 2016.

We’d like to express our thanks to our large and growing readership, and invite new readers who are hungry for non-partisan news, opinion, arts and sports for the communities of Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Stanton and Westminster.

With print news outlets declining and combining, we like to think that the sky is the limit for our modest but scrappy operation.  Of course, business and organizations might regard those numbers as a means to advertise yourself.

And now we return you to our regularly scheduled intelligence ….

RALPHS supermarket is hailing local institutions in its store in Garden Grove.

Being local is super, even in the market ….

Spotted at the Ralphs supermarket on Euclid Street at Chapman Avenue (on the north wall) was a display of hometown pride.  Aspects of the community – especially the central part – such as the downtown, Village Green Park and Garden Grove High School are listed in huge letters, along with a map which shows just where The Big Strawberry is located in Southern California.

We think this is a great idea, and wish to encourage other stores, banks, etc. to promote local pride in this and other fashions.  Community spirit makes a town more vibrant and interesting and there’s nothing wrong with selling that while also marketing apples and laundry soap.

The law of unpredictable consequences

Westminster’s move to a by-district city council away from its’ current at-large method as chronicled in The Trib, may bring a lot of changes to the community, or at least the way it’s governed.

The California Voting Rights Act takes aim at “racially polarized” voting, in which – for example – all the Italians vote for the same candidate from their group, and all the Swedes do the same for their champion.

CITY of Westminster Civic Center (OC Tribune photo).

Westminster is the poster child for racially polarized voting. According to recent statistics, Asians (primarily Vietnamese) are about 48 percent of the population in the city, with “whites” and Hispanics each at about 25 percent.

And yet 80 percent of the city council are people of Vietnamese heritage, with one Hispanic and no “white” councilmembers.

Will a switch to districts change that? Maybe, but it all depends on how the districts are drawn and whether the council’s size is expanded.

In Garden Grove, the move to districts resulted in a seven-seat council. Asian population in that city is put at 40 percent, with Hispanics at 37 percent and 21 percent white.

And yet, the Big Strawberry’s council has a “white” majority with four members, two Asian-Americans, and one council member who is Asian-Hispanic.

Of course, population doesn’t always equal voters and – in a perfect world – folks would vote for the best candidate and not necessarily the person who has a similar last name.

But it will be interesting to see how this all plays out, and what the leadership of Westminster looks like after the 2020 general election.

Usually Reliable Sources is posted on alternate Wednesdays.