La Jolla push to secede from San Diego can proceed following judge’s ruling
La Jolla File photo by Chris Stone Times of San Diego A drive by a La Jolla nonprofit to turn the society into its own municipality can resume following a judge s order issued Friday Superior Court Judge Judy Bae tentatively ruled against the city of San Diego and in favor of the Association for the City of La Jolla and the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission The city s June lawsuit against LAFCO which is empowered with approving or denying proposed changes in local cabinet boundaries challenged the neighborhood s ongoing effort to secede The city contended that LAFCO improperly certified a previous ACLJ petition drive seeking to place La Jolla s incorporation on a future ballot The regional agency s plans to proceed with the incorporation review process the city disclosed in the suit would impose substantial irreparable harm due to costs associated with city staff time required to review ACLJ s proposal ACLJ filed a motion in August in response to the city lawsuit arguing that the city s lawsuit is a meritless attempt to obstruct democratic participation and silence a public-interest effort through costly litigation The city s shifting legal insists first alleging insufficient ballot initiative signatures and now citing economic inconvenience reveal its true intent to suppress lawful civic engagement This is a textbook incident of voter suppression In its motion ACLJ maintained that San Diego voters should be deeply alarmed that City Hall is using inhabitants funds to attack a process that totally seeks an open and transparent assessment of whether La Jolla could operate as an independent city The court s ruling was hailed as a domination by ACLJ and its board We want to make sure the intent of those who signed the petition is honored and hope to move forward in this process revealed Sharon Wampler a member of the ACLJ board which includes Diane Kane Ted Levis Ed Witt Mary Munk and Jeff Scott LAFCO also issued a declaration saying the agency is pleased with the trial court s ruling affirming that Executive Officer Keene Simonds acted fully within his statutory authority when overruling the Registrar of Voters improper rejection of signatures due to minor misspellings nonstandard abbreviations or legibility issues The La Jolla incorporation process now is set to proceed to the next stage which involves a comprehensive review by LAFCO If the agency approves the application the cityhood proposal would then go to a society vote This is truly a community-driven campaign explained ACLJ s president Diane Kane who previously noted there is much work left to do She pointed out the association will have to hire a consultant to conduct a final feasibility analysis on whether La Jolla could be viable as its own city a process she expects to take six to nine months If all continues to go well Kane added ACLJ s current timeline is to get the question of cityhood for La Jolla placed on a ballot in The city has previously disclosed it would likely appeal the LAFCO ruling to the California Supreme Court ACLJ was clear in contending who the organization feels should be the final arbiter of incorporation for La Jolla In the end the decision of becoming a city belongs to the voters declared the group
