http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/us/02vernon.htmlPlan Would Erase All-Business Town
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
VERNON, Calif. — Vernon is a bleak, 5.2-square-mile sprawl of warehouses, factories, toxic chemical plants and meat processors that looks like the backdrop for “Eraserhead,” the David Lynch movie set in an industrial wasteland. It has a population of 95 — and 1,800 businesses, drawn by low taxes, lax regulations and cheap municipal power. It also has a history of corruption and public malfeasance going back nearly 50 years.
But now, this industrial city two miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles is fighting for its very survival. Vernon has become the center of a vast and costly power struggle, as state officials have embarked on an extraordinary campaign to legally abolish the city and make it part of Los Angeles County. John A. Pérez, the Democratic speaker of the State Assembly, is the chief sponsor of legislation to disincorporate Vernon. He described it as a shell city created to enrich municipal officials and businesses at the expense of the struggling, lower-middle-class communities that surround it... This tiny city has responded with a sophisticated, high-priced battle with the trappings of a national campaign. It has hired a fleet of some of the highest-paid lobbyists, lawyers, political consultants and communications experts in the country. Lawyers are being paid $550 an hour and lobbying firms $12,000 a month...
The battle is throwing a spotlight on an oddity of a city that is distinct to Los Angeles, one of a handful of municipalities created specifically to cater primarily to businesses. There are about 30 homes in all of Vernon, each about 900 square feet, tucked in between factories and chemical storage tanks. The houses are owned by the city and occupied, at a cost of $110 per bedroom, by City Council members and city workers, producing a small and, critics say, indentured electorate that has allowed the city to remain insulated from political challenge. “It’s a nondemocratic empire that they have there, and it’s inappropriate that it is disguised as a city,” said Gloria Molina, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. “The city has been a facade for personal gain. The residents are employees of the city or major companies and consequently are controlled.”
In 2006, eight people moved into a vacant building in Vernon, and three of them filed to run for office. The city responded by cutting off their power and moving to evict them as illegal squatters; a court later declared the city’s action illegal. Four of the five members of the current City Council were appointed by the council rather than elected, and there were no contested elections in Vernon from 1984 to 2006. The last mayor, Leonis Malburg, served 50 years as mayor and city councilman (his grandfather, a founder of the city, was in those jobs for 45 years). Mr. Malburg was forced out after he and his wife were convicted of fraud...
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Six Vernon officials received more than $500,000 in compensation, city records show. Eric T. Fresch, former city attorney and city administrator, topped the list with earnings above $1 million. The highest-paid retiree in California's pension system is a former Vernon city administrator, Bruce Malkenhorst Sr., who receives more than $500,000 per year. He awaits trial on charges that he embezzled about $60,000 in public funds for massages, golf and other personal use.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/03/02/3441966/embattled-southern-california.html
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