City of La Jolla? Coastal elite flirt with freedom…Again

In the annals of civic mutiny, few spectacles are more entertaining than the rebellion now smoldering in La Jolla, that enclave of privilege nestled upon the Pacific cliffs.

For decades, the citizens of this coastal Shangri-La have whispered heresies of secession—to sunder their fates from the lumbering bureaucracy of San Diego, to cast off the burdensome yoke of a municipality that, they claim, harvests their taxes while neglecting their gilded streets.

At long last, the muttering has swelled into a clamor, with over 7,000 signatures affixed to a petition demanding that the matter be hauled before the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO)—the somber arbiters of municipal divorce.

Whether this quixotic endeavor succeeds or merely sputters into the history books as another chapter of La Jolla’s well-heeled discontent remains to be seen. For the moment, its champions savor a rare triumph. Bill Witt, a man of no little confidence, declares that no movement has ever reached this precipice.

Witt, and his compatriots, under the banner of the Association for the City of La Jolla, speak with the fervor of missionaries who have glimpsed salvation.

Their vision is simple: a city of their own—seven miles of coastline stretching from the Torrey Pines Golf Course to Bird Rock, carved neatly out of San Diego’s sprawling dominion. La Jolla, unshackled, would at last be free to tend to its own streets, its own beaches, its own affairs without enduring the indifference of City Hall.

“By relieving San Diego of the burden that is La Jolla,” Mr. Witt explains magnanimously, “the city can better serve the poorer precincts—South County, the southern neighborhoods—where improvements are needed most.” In his calculus, La Jolla’s independence is a win for all: a liberation for its prosperous citizens and a boon for San Diego’s beleaguered coffers, newly free to focus on its neglected wards.

That is, of course, one interpretation. The skeptics—and there are many—have another. For all its altruistic rhetoric, they argue, this movement bears the unmistakable odor of self-interest. La Jolla is not merely a picturesque cluster of coastal homes; it is a fountain of gold.

Here stand some of the most valuable properties in California, their lofty assessments feeding San Diego’s treasury through property taxes, sales taxes, and the lucrative transient occupancy fees siphoned from tourists seeking seaside delights. To amputate La Jolla, critics contend, is to inflict a grievous wound on San Diego’s financial health.

Yoicks LAFCO!

The view from the cliffs of La Jolla/Erik Jepson, UC Communications

It now falls to the Local Agency Formation Commission to evaluate this proposition—to weigh the dreams of La Jollans against the arithmetic of governance. They will scrutinize budgets, map boundaries, and calculate whether this splendid rebellion is, in fact, feasible.

Should the commission bestow its blessing, the matter will advance to the ballot box, where voters in both La Jolla and the broader city of San Diego will render judgment.

The rebels aim for 2026 or perhaps 2028, time enough to marshal their forces and gird themselves for battle.

One imagines that La Jolla’s ancestors—those pioneer families who once staked their claims upon these rugged cliffs—might regard this spectacle with a mixture of pride and bewilderment. It has been more than seventy years since the first murmurs of secession fluttered through this affluent hamlet, and still the dream persists.

Is it a noble crusade for self-determination, or merely the petulance of a community accustomed to getting its way? H.L. Mencken himself might have found it all delightfully absurd. For there, atop the cliffs, the rebels cry freedom—and below, the Pacific roars on, utterly indifferent to the affairs of man.

Association for the City of La Jolla members gather sigs/ACLJ

With more than the required signatures on a petition to explore La Jolla’s incorporation as a city, the Association for the City of La Jolla is moving forward.

La Jolla is currently a community within the city of San Diego, beholden to San Diego’s laws and policies. No other community in the region has been successful at detachment from a larger city, but the ACLJ believes it is viable.

Before being able to apply to the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission, which helps communities incorporate, ACLJ had to gather 6,536 signatures, 25 percent of La Jolla’s registered voters, showing support for the application.

CLJ is now turning to fundraising. In addition to the petition and a previously completed primary fiscal analysis showing La Jolla’s viability as its own city, the LAFCO application, due Jan 30, will require about $150,000 to $200,000 in donations.

ACLJ is starting a widespread, “grassroots community fundraising” effort, Wampler said.

Anyone wishing to donate can visit the website at cityoflajolla.org or contact info@cityoflajolla.org.