La Jollans who want to see the village separate from San Diego and become its own city are taking up the cause anew. The group called Independent La Jolla met on Feb. 17 to discuss how it will move ahead in 2010. By a majority room count of the approximately 25 people present, the group decided to lobby Sacramento to change the law that requires San Diego residents to vote to allow La Jolla to leave. Those present at the meeting expressed doubts that the rest of the city would give them a free pass to separate. “The rest of the city knows that La Jolla can do better by itself, but I don’t think people want to see La Jolla go out the door,” said Eugene Cook, a former city engineer. “I think people are bitter and they will want to see us suffer with the rest of them.” Instead, the group hopes to find sympathetic state representatives and to lobby Sacramento to treat La Jolla like an unincorporated entity. Unincorporated communities only need the vote of their own residents to join a city and not the vote of the residents of that city. The San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) would approve the division as it oversees secessions. Ten years ago, the San Fernando Valley and West Hollywood attempted to change the law but failed, according to Michael Ott, the executive officer for LAFCO. “The law requires a dual vote because the removal of a territory of the city leaves the existing city in financial ruin – it causes impacts to the city,” Ott said. “Under the law, the intent is to give people who would be affected by such a major change a voice in the ballot box.” Ott also doubts legislators would exempt only La Jolla from the law. “Legislators have more of an interest to look at the state in totality,” Ott said. State law requires that the departing entity leave its mother city in neutral financial standing. La Jolla would also have to pay a sort of alimony if it’s determined that La Jolla contributes more in revenue than the services it receives. La Jolla would have to undertake a feasibility study to prove it could generate enough revenue through fees such as sales and property taxes and automobile license fees to provide services in La Jolla. The law would prohibit La Jolla from raising property taxes. Independent La Jolla has not yet raised the $75,000 for the feasibility study. Plenty of questions remain as to how La Jolla would run itself and how the boundary would be drawn — presently the group proposes drawing the line around the 92037 ZIP code. For now, Independent La Jolla plans to mobilize grass root and state support before it undertakes more studies. At its next meeting, Independent La Jolla will form working groups to discuss lobbying state government, polling La Jollans to gauge support and determining whether large institutions like Scripps Hospital and UCSD are interested in being included in the new boundary lines. Independent La Jolla, a 501 c4, is seeking residents to serve on the working groups. For more information visit www.independentlajolla.org or call (858) 459-03645. Richard Smith was involved when the group first introduced the idea 15 years ago. Here are his thoughts on secession: “La Jolla has always been reactive to downtown. Nine thirty-nine Coast Boulevard and Seville condominium [on the corner of Genter Street and Girard Street] got built and we said we don’t want these buildings built here. We were reacting. We finally got a height limit… “We got involved in zoning disputes and it became obvious that we were dealing not so much with the City Council being against us but the city staff. Bloated bureaucracy got in the way. They’re the ones making the decisions about what’s being built in La Jolla to the detriment to the village. A current example is Bird Rock Station. Residents worked diligently to get a two-story limit imposed but staff helped find a way for the developer to continue the project. Decisions ought to be made by the community by people who are responsible to the community — whichever way they are made.”