Councilwoman Asks For Consideration of Annexing Vernon

Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn today raised the prospect of Los Angeles annexing Vernon if current investigations result in the scandal-prone city being disincorporated.
  
In a motion introduced today and seconded by Councilwoman Jan Perry, Hahn said, ``The time has come for the status of Vernon as a legitimate governmental agency to be reconsidered and its governmental authority to be annexed to the city of Los Angeles.''
  
Hahn said every city and county in California has a responsibility to provide a range of housing opportunities for its residents, but Vernon
supposedly withheld about $10 million that could have been used for affordable housing between 1999 and 2008.
  
``These and other findings have raised the most fundamental question of all: what does it mean to be a city? By virtually any measure, Vernon does not appear to be operating as a city,'' she said.
  
Hahn urged her colleagues on the Los Angeles City Council to call for a feasibility analysis on the actions necessary to annex Vernon to Los Angeles. She also sought an economic impact analysis.
  
The Los Angeles Times reported today that Los Angeles County prosecutors are arguing that Vernon is not a true city and should be disincorporated. No city has been involuntarily dissolved in California, according to The Times.
  
Vernon has only 90 residents but has about 2,000 businesses. The  Times said critics believe Vernon has been ``controlled for decades by ``one family and a cadre of associates.''
  
The questions about Vernon follows reports that city officials took first-class flights to New York and Ireland, and stayed in luxury hotels that charge $1,000 a night.
  
Steven Freed, president of the Vernon Property Association, told The Times many business owners feel the city should not be disincorporated, but instead support requiring to allow property owners to vote in its elections.