By DON WANLASS, Managing Editor
Story Published: Apr 29, 2010 at 1:22 PM PDT
Story Updated: Apr 29, 2010 at 11:38 PM PDT
EAST LOS ANGELES — The drive for cityhood for unincorporated East Los Angeles approached a key deadline this week with help from state lawmakers.
A bill by Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Industry, would provide the incorporation backers with $45,000 in state funds to help finance a study to see if the area could support a city.
The county Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), told the cityhood committee it needed to come up with about $135,000 for the study by the end of April. The group backing incorporation had raised about $90,000 for the study so far, holding various community fundraisers including a car wash last Saturday on Mednik Avenue near the East Los Angeles Civic Center.
With the deadline approaching, Calderon’s bill moved through the state Senate last week. It still needs to be approved by the Assembly and signed by the governor.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger so far has taken no position on the bill but some Republicans in the State Capitol have spoken out against it, especially during the state’s current fiscal climate.
State Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, said the state should not be funding a local issue, but Calderon, who represents some of the area that would become a city, said the state funded a similar study in 1999 when residents of the San Fernando Valley sought to secede from the city of Los Angeles.
That attempt was defeated by voters.
“Cityhood has been a long time coming for East Los Angeles and this study is critical to moving forward,” said state Sen. Gloria Romero, who also represents most of the unincorporated area. “East Los Angeles is recognized across the United States as the [heart] of the Latino community. It’s time for it to have the power to determine its own future.”
This is the fourth time in the last 50 years that residents have tried to establish the city of East Los Angeles. The last effort, in 1974, never even reached the ballot.
Romero, perhaps the strongest proponent of cityhood among elected officials, said the city of East Los Angeles would have about 130,000 residents, making it the 10th largest city in Los Angeles County.
More than 33 percent of the registered voters in the proposed new city have signed petitions in favor of incorporation, she said.
