Leisure World on Way to Being 32nd O.C. City

Voters in Leisure World appeared late Tuesday to have approved a ballot measure making theirs the nation’s first gated city of seniors. Its name: Laguna Woods.

With all precincts counted, 51.7% favored cityhood while 48.3% were against, a difference of only 342 votes. Some absentee ballots remain to be counted today, so the results could change.

But cityhood advocates were jubilant anyway. “We won, we won, I can’t believe it!” said Betty Hohwiesner, leader of the pro-incorporation group.

She was never sure of the outcome during the long campaign, she said, and “I thought I wasted a whole year.”

Dejected foes of incorporation were bitter.

“I wish them lots of luck,” said Richard Faulhaber, a losing City Council candidate who argued there would not be enough revenue to support a city. “I see nothing but deficit in the future.”

Cityhood advocates said incorporation would give the retirement community of 18,000--whose average age is 77--greater clout to fight the proposed conversion of nearby El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into a commercial airport.

They also maintained that being a city would improve services, especially police protection against crime in surrounding communities, and thwart possible annexation by another city.

But foes of cityhood feared that taxes and fees could go up and that creating their own five-member City Council would add a layer of government and politicize the community.

They also disagreed with revenue projections that 35-year-old Leisure World could support itself as Orange County’s 32nd city. The county’s last incorporations were nearby Lake Forest and Laguna Hills in 1991.

Under cityhood, Leisure World would be only the fourth gated city among California’s 471 municipalities. The others are Rolling Hills and Hidden Hills in Los Angeles County and Canyon Lake in Riverside County.

Many housing industry experts believe it also would be the nation’s first gated city made up primarily of retired people. The minimum age to live in Leisure World is 55, although spouses can be younger.

In 1989, Leisure World voters helped to defeat a proposal for incorporation of Laguna Hills, which later became a city on its own.

Leisure World’s self-government is provided mainly by the Golden Rain Foundation through an elected board of 11 members who serve three-year terms.

The board will remain under cityhood, though a five-member city council would take over responsibility from the county for such services as police and fire protection, planning and street maintenance.

Voters on Tuesday also chose five candidates from a field of 16 for the council, though those results too could change when the final absentee ballots are tallied.

The apparent winners are Jim Thorpe, Bert Hack, Ann M. Snider, Brenda H. Ross and Victor Kay.

Based on the balloting so far, future elections will be at-large rather than by districts.

Despite the slim margin in the cityhood issue, voters overwhelmingly--by 5,364 to 2,891--picked Laguna Woods as the name for the city over rival moniker Laguna Verde.

The tallies “are semi-final, they’re not die-hard results,” said Evelyn Bell of the Orange County registrar of voters office.

Many Leisure World residents were worked up over the proposal to split from Orange County and go it alone.

Leaders of the cityhood campaign have said there appeared to be a generation gap, with the community’s older residents more inclined to oppose incorporation and younger people more receptive to the idea.

The emotion among voters was evident at polling places, which were steadily busy throughout the day.

Jim and Lori Etter bickered a little after they cast their votes. She said she voted against incorporation, while her husband voted for it.

“It’s just another layer of government we would need to pay for,” she said.

Her husband disagreed, arguing that becoming a city “is our last chance. It’s going to be a grave mistake if it doesn’t pass. We’ll become [part of] Aliso Viejo.”

Fear of the unknown, though, swayed many voters.

Mrs. Jack Wilson said she voted against incorporation because “old people don’t like change. We don’t adjust well.”

As heavy voting began tapering off at dark, poll workers said the turnout was impressive.

“It’s much better than the last election we had,” precinct worker Julie Neundorfer said. “I think it’s wonderful these elderly people are getting out here to vote.”

In one precinct, for example, with 633 registered voters, 195 filed absentee ballots and 238 showed up by 6 p.m., election officials said.

But the issue of cityhood has deeply divided the community.

A woman who declined to give her name said, “I have friends who are very strong about it on each side, and I don’t want to lose any friends.”

Somehow, most relationships endured.

Peg Gum had just voted for cityhood and was leaving the polling place with her friend, Aileen Morgan.

“Someday we have to be a city, so why not now?” Gum asked. Morgan disagreed. “I think we’re OK the way we are.”

“We don’t agree on everything, do we, love?” she said to Gum. “But we’re still the best of friends.”

Those who want city status often cited their opposition to a commercial airport at El Toro and to possible future annexation to a neighboring city. But even some cityhood supporters had a hard time deciding.

“I’ve been voting for 50 years and I don’t think I’ve ever had as difficult a decision as this one,” said Audrey Brown, who, despite favoring incorporation, worries whether there will be enough revenue to run the city.

Still, “maybe becoming a city means we’ll have a little more control” over the airport and annexation, she said.

Throughout the community, residents on both sides were emphatic.

“I like things the way they are,” Helen Thomas said with a smile. “I just want them to leave me alone and let me die in peace.”

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Seeking Cityhood

Leisure World would become Orange County’s 32nd city, Laguna Woods. A look at other cityhood incorporation dates:

Anaheim: 1878

Santa Ana: 1886

Orange: 1888

Fullerton: 1904

Newport Beach: 1906

Huntington Beach: 1909

Seal Beach: 1915

Brea: 1917

La Habra: 1925

Placentia: 1926

Laguna Beach: 1927

Tustin: 1927

San Clemente: 1928

Buena Park: 1953

Costa Mesa: 1953

La Palma: 1955

Cypress: 1956

Garden Grove: 1956

Stanton: 1956

Fountain Valley: 1957

Westminster: 1957

Los Alamitos: 1960

San Juan Capistrano: 1961

Villa Park: 1962

Yorba Linda: 1967

Irvine: 1971

Mission Viejo: 1988

Dana Point: 1989

Laguna Niguel: 1989

Laguna Hills: 1991

Lake Forest: 1991

Source: Cal State Fullerton Center for Demographic Research

Final Election Returns

Measures

A--Cityhood

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100% Precincts Reporting Votes % Yes 5,248 51.7 No 4,906 48.3

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Following dependent on passage of Measure A.

B--Method of electing City Council

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At large 4,674 57.5 District 3,455 42.5

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C--City name

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Laguna Woods 5,364 65.0 Laguna Verde 2,891 35.0

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City Council

5 Elected

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Votes % Jim Thorpe 4,914 13.9 Bert Hack 4,544 12.9 Ann M. Snider 3,937 11.1 Brenda B. Ross 3,004 8.5 Victor Kay 2,656 7.5 Mary Balcom 2,435 6.9 Dave Schlenker 2,175 6.2 Jackie Carey 2,164 6.1 Richard J. Faulhaber 1,929 5.5 Charles E. Nahas 1,647 4.7 Helen Mills-Lindsay 1,247 3.5 Gordon E. Rudolph 1,235 3.5 Harold Woods 1,139 3.2 Dorothy M. May 958 2.7 Harry A. Lindsay 759 2.1 Bea Hassel Rogatz 599 1.7

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Elected candidates and winning side of measures are in bold type.