Dozens of volunteers in La Jolla are working to gather signatures from registered voters in their zip code before Dec. 1 to explore the possibility of the neighborhood becoming its own city.
“On one side, it is local, smaller governance. It’s government of La Jolla, by La Jolla in a smaller capacity and, on the flip side, it's local control of our economics and where we spend our money and how we do it,” Mark Munoz, a volunteer with the Association for the City of La Jolla, told NBC 7.
Munoz, along with others, including Diane Kane, the vice president of the association, shared that they have been collecting signatures for nearly six months. The group needs to gather the inked-support of at least 25% of registered voters in the 92037 zip code. If they do, they plan to petition the County of San Diego to perform a financial analysis to discover if the split would work for both La Jolla and San Diego.
“The deal has to work for both sides and if it doesn’t work, it goes nowhere,” Kane said. She has lived in the La Jolla area for 30 years and dedicated much of her career to preserving its historic elements. “La Jolla has deteriorated over that time. I’m not seeing a lot of love be put into the public realm.”
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It’s why she wants to know if La Jolla could support itself. Jon Fuller, another volunteer with the effort, said his priority is community safety. Melinda Merryweather, who is in the same boat as Munoz, Kane and Fuller, shared she has been a part of three other efforts to do this very thing.
“I was part of it in the 90s and I was part of it right after that,” Merryweather said. “This is the closest it's ever come.”
She said she feels like people are more aware of the challenges the area is facing now, and that is why it is gaining more momentum.
Volunteers canvassed homes for signatures, visited the local farmer’s market and dropped signature sheets at 25 businesses throughout La Jolla, including Beaumont’s and Vinny’s Barber Shop to name a few spots. “It’s very low risk,” Kane emphasized, as she reaffirmed that the current petition does not have any impact on if the area becomes a city, rather it authorizes more research to be done.
“Nobody has to vote for or against anything. We are just trying to do the best for everyone in the region,” Kane said.
NBC 7 reached out to the City of San Diego as well as the San Diego city councilmember who represents the district, President Pro Tem Joe LaCava, for a response. A spokesperson for the city said they are working on a statement and a spokesperson for LaCava shared he is aware of the effort, and similar ones in the past, but does not wish to comment.
