Cityhood

East Los Angeles is proudly known as the community that sparked a Mexican American civil rights movement, gave birth to Los Lobos and jump-started low-rider car culture. But for all its notoriety and close-knit feel, East L.A. has never been a city. Rather, it's an unincorporated area governed by the county Board of Supervisors. But on Friday, the community took a major step toward gaining independence.

This year's Rossmoor Family Fun Day Picnic featured a Ferris wheel, hot dogs and bands. Parents and children tossed baseballs in Rush Park as vendors sold their wares. And a seemingly innocuous sign at a booth caused a bit of a stir: "City of Rossmoor," it said. The annual picnic is the closest thing to a municipal event in this upscale community between Seal Beach and Los Alamitos, an unincorporated section of Orange County just over the border from Los Angeles County.

Residents of the quiet, leafy corner of Orange County called Rossmoor declared loud and clear Tuesday that they like things just the way they are. Voters in Rossmoor, the county's would-be 35th city near Seal Beach and Los Alamitos, crushed a measure to incorporate by a margin of more than 2 to 1. "The slogan that we use: 'If it isn't broke, don't fix it,' " said Phil Wyels, part of the Rossmoor Preservation Committee against cityhood and a resident for more than four decades.

Drawing upon a rich history of activism and a nagging sense of neglect, residents and leaders of East Los Angeles have launched a campaign for incorporation, a move that would create a new city in a historic center of Mexican American culture. The drive for East L.A. cityhood has grown from nascent to palpable in recent months, and advocates believe their goal, which many have nurtured for a generation, at last could be within reach.

More than three decades after the last attempt, East Los Angeles community organizers today are launching an official push for cityhood. Hoping to boost their political clout, leaders from the largely Latino, unincorporated area have asked the county for financial data on the community, home to an estimated 143,000 residents. "We feel, quite frankly, we have to have a seat at the negotiating table," said Oscar Gonzales, president of the East Los Angeles Residents Assn.

Growing up in Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach in the 1950s and '60s, Jonathan Ziv watched as urban development swallowed the area's citrus orchards and bean fields. As a young dentist in the Conejo Valley in the 1980s, he saw how west San Fernando Valley residents' frustrations boiled over from the inattention of Los Angeles County officials. The result was establishment of the cities of Agoura Hills, Calabasas and Westlake Village.

East Los Angeles could support itself as an independent city, according to a new report, boosting the latest effort to convert the unincorporated Mexican American cultural mecca into its own municipality. Since 1961, supporters have tried three times to bring cityhood to the storied Latino community, and now the fourth movement seems to be gathering steam. This time, advocates say, the numbers prove a city of "East Los" could thrive.

Rossmoor vote: An article in the Orange County edition of Sunday's California section about the Rossmoor cityhood vote quoted two individuals on both sides of the issue but left out the names of the organizations they represent. Jim Alexander is from the Rossmoor Preservation Committee, which is working against cityhood. Eric Christensen is co-chairman of the pro-cityhood Committee for Rossmoor Incorporation Now! Also, the article said Aliso Viejo and Laguna Woods were incorporated in 2001 and are the newest cities in Orange County.

Bids for extra taxes for well-regarded but cash-strapped schools succeeded in Palos Verdes on Tuesday but failed in Manhattan Beach, while in Santa Monica and Malibu, results on a similar measure were too close to call. In another election, which pitted neighbor against neighbor, voters strongly rejected a drive to incorporate the east San Gabriel Valley community of Hacienda Heights.

Ventura County's youngest municipality plans several days of partying to mark the beginning of its third decade as a city. Residents of Moorpark, which incorporated July 1, 1983, can kick off their Independence Day weekend earlier than usual at a 20th anniversary reception Wednesday at the regular City Council meeting. The city's traditional July 3 celebration, on Thursday this year, will feature additional fireworks, a rock band and television personality Ed McMahon as the celebrity emcee.