‘Stop State Raids’ was the rallying cry of Prop. 22 supporters in November. And it was a proposition that was overwhelmingly supported at the polls, and now ignored by some in Sacramento. In Vernon, it looks like the concept of raiding smaller municipalities has taken the form of attempting a deathblow.
Dan Walters’ recent column in the Sacramento Bee makes the case that the disincorporation of the small, industrial city would leave it (and its stream oftax revneues) at the mercy of Los Angeles, where some look at the city as an opportunity for annexation.
If the city were to be annexed by neighboring Los Angeles, the city could use its quarter of a billion dollars of tax revenues to fill holes in its own budget.
From the Sacramento Bee:
The term “rotten borough” emerged in 18th-century England to describe a town that had received royal permission to send members to Parliament but lacked sufficient population to justify representation.
That definition might fit Vernon, California’s smallest city, at least in terms of population, which lies on the southeastern border of the largest, Los Angeles.
But the alternative definition of “rotten,” something decaying, could also apply to Vernon, founded 106 years ago as an enclave devoted to business, not people. It has been controlled for generations by a close-knit oligarchy that makes certain that Vernon’s 112 residents toe the political line.
Read the full article here.
