East L.A wants to be its own city

Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Calif., who supports cityhood, said she is encouraged this time because residents are well-organized and informed.

"It has a great chance of passing," said the congresswoman, whose district includes East L.A. "But they will need to allay fears that incorporation will mean an increase in property taxes."

Voters probably won't get their say on cityhood for two years while the issue wends its way through the bureaucratic and political process.

The residents association must first submit a petition by December asking a county commission to conduct a study on whether a city of East L.A. would have an adequate tax base. So far, organizers have collected about half the 10,000 signatures needed, said Oscar Gonzales Jr., association president.

Gonzales said he expects the study will be favorable — a similar report ordered up by the residents association found the city would generate $51 million in revenue, well above an expected budget of $45 million.

'Like a lost child'
If the bid for cityhood passes muster with the study commission and the county supervisors, the question will be put to the voters of East L.A. The supervisors are not taking a position until they see the study.

Some East L.A. residents fear cityhood will cost them more. They worry, for example, that mom-and-pop stores that now manage to operate without business licenses might be forced to obtain them.

"I think it's good as it is," said Jacob Salazar, owner of a sporting good store. "I don't see any reason to change it."

But supporters say a city council would be more responsive than the county supervisors.

Auto dealer Louis Herrera said local officials would be more motivated to attract businesses like the Starbucks that opened last year. That would boost the downtown shopping district, which is dotted with 99-cent stores, dusty windowfronts filled with gowns for first communions and "quinceaneras," or Latin sweet-16 parties, and signs advertising Western Union money transfers to Mexico.

"The county is huge. Each supervisor has 2.1 million people," said Herrera, also who heads the East Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. "We're sort of like a lost child."

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