Leaders of a movement to make La Jolla its own city—instead of a neighborhood in San Diego—will publish the financial implications and benefits for doing so this summer and have suggested boundaries that would include Torrey Pines State Park and Scripps Memorial Hospital, but exclude the University of California–San Diego.
The Association for the City of La Jolla, a nonprofit, has hired a consultant to analyze cityhood and depending on its analysis may file a formal application with the state agency that oversees the formation of new cities.
“La Jolla is a regional destination and should be maintained and serviced to the highest level so all people can enjoy this unique, natural, and cultural asset of San Diego County,” a report, released in May by the association, said. “By governing ourselves, we can do better for all.”
According to a poll conducted in May 2022 by the La Jolla Town Council—a longstanding community organization—87 percent of 385 La Jolla respondents were in favor of incorporating.
To become its own city, the association needs a majority of approval votes from registered voters within the proposed boundary map, as well as a majority of voters in the City of San Diego.
Prior to coming before the voters, its potential cityhood has to be approved by what’s known as the Local Agency Formation Commission—a state agency that, in part, oversees the creation of new cities.
The association claims the City of San Diego would benefit from its secession since it would no longer have the burden of upkeep the aging La Jolla infrastructure.
The association also claimed, in its May report, that the City of San Diego’s budget challenges has crippled its ability to address the needs of some communities, everything from infrastructure to emergency services.
The association is made up of local community leaders and experts in law, architecture, non-profit management, and city planning, according to its website.
According to the report, Malibu, Encinitas, and Solana Beach have had more control over local issues and their respective growth since incorporated in the 1980s and 1990s.
The effort for La Jolla to become its own city has been around since the 1940s—according to the San Diego Union-Tribune—which resurfaces around once a decade.
Leaders from the association did not respond to The Epoch Times for comment.
