Wealthy coastal enclave makes fresh push to split from neighboring southern border city
The wealthy coastal enclave of La Jolla is making a final push to split from the neighboring southern border city of San Diego after decades of campaigning.
The wealthy coastal enclave of La Jolla is making a final push to split from the neighboring southern border city of San Diego after decades of campaigning.
High-flying residents who want to break away from the city are refreshing attempts to gain enough support from other locals after they recently fell short on the number of signatures required to spark the incorporation process.
Diane Kane, Vice President of the Association for the City of La Jolla, told NBC San Diego the area has always been considered a separate entity by locals.
We have our own Post Office, our own zip code and these go back to the 1930s, she told the outlet.
But the association fell more than 1,000 signatures short of the 6,750 needed to incorporate their own city, according to the registrar of voters.
Local people have been pushing for the separation for 70 years.
Kane said financial incentives are also driving the desire to divorce from San Diego city.
Weve done a financial analysis that indicates we can take the same amount of money we are currently giving the City of San Diego and deliver the same level of services, she told NBC San Diego.
We think we could do a better job of delivering services here for the community if we had a smaller entity that can be a little nimbler and a little more efficient than working through the City of San Diego, she added.
The wealthy coastal enclave of La Jolla (pictured) is making a final push to split from the neighboring southern border City of San Diego after decades of campaigning
Diane Kane, Vice President of the Association for the City of La Jolla, told NBC San Diego the area has always been considered a separate entity by locals
The association has until April 1 to gain enough signatures on the petition, which would allow them to put the issue before voters at the next local election.
La Jolla is described as a beachfront hideaway for Southern Californias cloistered elite by the Voice of San Diego, with a median home price of $2.2 million.
The picturesque city hosts the annual Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament, and its home to UC San Diego, where several Nobel Prize winners work.
Meanwhile, to the south, San Diego borders the Mexican city of Tijuana. Migrants often attempt to cross the border into the California city.
La Jolla residents havent mentioned the migrant crisis during their latest attempt to break away from San Diego, but the issue is no doubt playing heavily on many local minds.
In January, more than 20 migrants were filmed arriving at the beach before disappearing into San Diego.
The exclusive footage was shot by NewsNations National Correspondent Jorge Ventura.
More than 42,000 asylum seekers were released in San Diego from October through December, 2023 - an average of 637 a day, as reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune.
That number does not include migrants who cross illegally, like those seen landing on the La Jolla beach.
The county has already spent $3million caring for the asylum seekers, and has allocated another $3million.
San Diego borders the Mexican city of Tijuana. Migrants often attempt to cross the border
Pictured: Border Patrol agents gather and sort migrants who overnight gathered between the primary and secondary border walls that separate Mexico and the United States last year
Migrants are often dropped off without knowing where they are. Many end up sleeping on the streets until they can find shelter.
Aid groups blame a mix of circumstances for the shelter crunch: reduced government funding; CBP’s practice of sending migrants from Texas and Arizona to be processed in San Diego; and a surge in illegal crossings.
Before they are released in San Diego, some migrants being dropped off have been waiting between a double-layer border wall or camping under Border Patrol watch in remote mountains east of the city.
Last year, over 300 migrants were temporarily moved into the San Diego airport as shelters ran out of room.
Similar to other US border cities, about 95 percent of migrants in San Diego quickly move to other parts of the country.
But the constant churn of exhausted, disoriented migrants from more than 100 countries has created other strains that the San Diego County government calls an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.