By Mike Hazlip—
Coinciding with the city’s 25th birthday, a new book released this month details the 12-year battle to make Citrus Heights an incorporated city within Sacramento County.
The book, “Becoming the City of Citrus Heights: the history of a unique incorporation,” was written by Sacramento author Miranda Culp, in collaboration with Bill Van Duker, who was a key player in the city’s incorporation efforts.
The city announced the book in a press release last week. A reception is scheduled for Sept. 22 at City Hall, beginning at 5:15 p.m.
“[T]he book chronicles the 12-year legal battle between Sacramento County and the residents of Citrus Heights. The struggle to attain cityhood ascended all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and changed the nature of incorporation in the state from that point on,” the release said.
An electronic version of the 158-page book is available for free download from the city’s website, and print copies will be available at the Rusch Home on Sept. 25 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., as part of the city’s annual Sunday Funday event.
The Sentinel previously reported the book was funded by a $10,000 history and arts grant awarded by the City Council in July 2018.
In the book, Culp describes the business climate prior to incorporation as well as community sentiment about being left out of policy decisions at the county level that affected their quality of life.
“Having no cohesion of services and no voice in government made Citrus Heights a municipal mishmash that discouraged businesses and families from taking root,” Culp writes.
She treats the city of Citrus Heights and the County of Sacramento as characters in the story, saying the latter “[H]ad grown both bloated and complacent and was not equipped to provide urban-scale services to its quickly growing populace.”
