Vernon Ca

Three years ago, Leonis Malburg stood in the council chamber of the city of Vernon as his fellow council members passed a resolution honoring the mayor for 50 years in office. Beaming, Malburg bragged about surpassing the long political run of the city's founder, his grandfather. "I got my 50 years now, and I survived, health-wise and otherwise," he said. "And I beat my dear grandfather, John Leonis, who had 45 years in the city . . . by five years."

Dangerous levels of toxic lead were emitted by a Southern California battery recycling facility for months, until regulators ordered the facility to cut production by almost half, officials said. An Exide Technologies facility in Vernon, one of just two such battery recycling facilities west of the Rockies, was emitting lead at levels nearly twice the allowable federal limits from December to April, according to South Coast Air Quality Management District staff.

Environmental activist Angelo Logan once viewed former state Sen. Martha Escutia as a champion on health issues, someone who sought to reduce the amount of air pollution produced by the trains that roll past the low-income communities southeast of downtown Los Angeles. But these days, Logan and Escutia are on opposite sides of a clean-air fight, taking part in a furious last-minute lobbying blitz over a $450-million power plant proposed by the tiny industrial city of Vernon.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District delayed a vote Friday on a set of rules for building new power plants. The proposed rules, which would allow plants to pay fees to make up for each pound of pollution they generate, would have given a boost to a planned 914-megawatt plant in Vernon. The agency rescheduled the vote after AQMD board member and Chino Mayor Dennis Yates said he needed more time to review the scores of letters about the proposal.

The county Board of Supervisors will ask the California Energy Commission to deem it "an interested party" in the controversial power plant proposed for Vernon and under consideration by the state. The interested-party status, opposed Tuesday solely by Supervisor Mike Antonovich, would allow county officials to participate in hearings, as well as produce and interview witnesses as the state conducts an environmental review of the 914-megawatt plant.

In most cities, elections happen at least every four years. In Vernon, officeholders haven't faced opposition in a generation. Twenty-five years after its elected officials last had a contested ballot, eight strangers took up residence in the tiny city four miles south of downtown Los Angeles. Last month, after just a few days in town, three of the newcomers filed petitions to run for City Council in the April 11 election. Within days, city utility trucks had turned off their power.

A judge Friday ordered the city of Vernon to hold its first election in a quarter-century, ruling that the tiny industrial town acted illegally when it stripped three men's voter registration and canceled the April election. The ruling marks a milestone of sorts for the city south of downtown Los Angeles, which has 93 residents and has long been criticized for its closed political system. Most City Council members have served for three decades or more and rarely face opposition.

At a time when many cities struggle with voter participation, the tiny town of Vernon has seen its number of voters rise by about 50% in the last couple of months. And that is adding to suspicions as voters in the industrial community south of downtown Los Angeles go to the polls Tuesday for the first time in a quarter of a century. Vernon's official population is 91. But the number of registered voters has shot up from less than 60 to 86.

This morning, as Vernon holds its first City Council election in 25 years, a judge is expected to decide whether the election should be postponed or be run by county officials amid allegations of potential fraud. Challengers facing City Council members who have been in office for as long as 50 years are trying to keep that city's officials from counting the ballots.

In elections with few surprises but a dose of quirkiness, the candidate who spent the most money in the Long Beach mayor's race garnered the most votes Tuesday and a spot in the runoff, while the city of Vernon lived up to its reputation as an odd-ball city with a last-minute decision not to count the votes on election day.