A petition drive to garner enough signatures to put the question of La Jolla separating from San Diego and becoming its own City on an election ballot has fallen short.

So what’s next?

The San Diego County Registrar of Voters has determined the petition drive recently completed by the Association for the City of La Jolla collected 5,723 valid signatures – 1,027 valid signatures shy of the 6,750 number required. That threshold is 25% of the registered voters within the proposed boundary of the City of La Jolla.

But there is a reprieve, of sorts, for the association in its incorporation drive. The San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission has given the association an additional 15-day period ending on Tuesday, April 1, to come up with the remaining 1,027 signatures needed to qualify the measure for an election.

The San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission is the government agency responsible for coordinating, directing, and overseeing logical and timely changes to local governmental boundaries, including annexation and detachment of territory, incorporation of cities, formation of special districts, and consolidation, merger, and dissolution of districts.

The nonprofit Association for the City of La Jolla was formed more than three years ago with a five-member board – Trace Wilson, Sharon Wampler, Diane Kane, Ed Witt, and Mary Munk – to explore the possibility of transforming La Jolla into a city.

Association spokesman Wilson noted the latest news is a setback – but not an insurmountable one. “We have the opportunity to cure that (signature) deficit with a 15-day clock that began on St. Patrick’s Day, and a week in, as of last night (March 23), we have more than half of our goal (of 1,027 signatures),” he said. “We want to get an overage. We’re going after 1,300 signatures.”

Wilson noted the association has bolstered its signature-gathering efforts for the short, extended signature-collecting time frame, putting more volunteers out on the streets. “We’re working on it,” he noted.

The extended petition drive is not do or die. Wilson explained that the whole incorporation process can be re-initiated. “My understanding is you would have to start a new petition clock ticking for six months,” Wilson said adding, “We want to wrap this up and go the next level, to work with the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission to do a comprehensive fiscal analysis which would take multiple months to pull together.”

Wilson noted that following up on a successful petition drive to put La Jolla’s incorporation on a ballot will involve significantly more fundraising. He pointed out the association had to raise $66,000 just to cover the deposit on its San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission incorporation application. “We need to fund upwards of $500,000 (in the future) to pay for the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission’s consultant, lawyers’ time, etc.,” Wilson said.

Incorporation is a long, drawn-out process. “We (association) started meeting 3 ½ years ago and we incorporated into a nonprofit about 2 ½ years ago, and our petition drive started June 1, 2024, and ended Dec. 1, 2024,” said Wilson. He added that it will take an unspecified amount of time to verify the new signatures being gathered to make up the current ballot signature deficit.

There have been a handful of unsuccessful attempts over the years in community-led drives to incorporate La Jolla. There remains a major structural hurdle proponents have to clear in order to succeed: A favorable vote on incorporation would have to pass both within the boundaries of the new City of La Jolla, as well as with voters within the existing City of San Diego.

REASONS FOR LA JOLLA TO INCORPORATE

– Local decision-making: The City of La Jolla will have autonomous decision-making on community matters and issues.

– Enhanced public safety: Incorporating creates a safer and cleaner environment.

– Revitalizing aged infrastructure: Top priorities of the new city will include creating an enhanced physical environment, revitalizing infrastructure, and managing La Jolla’s coastline.

– A voice in Sacramento: The City of La Jolla will broaden the scope of representation in the state capitol and beyond for the San Diego region statewide.

– It’s a win-win: Incorporation is a collaborative vision for regional benefit and prosperity.

– Financial relief for San Diego: A self-governed La Jolla would relieve San Diego of all costs and liabilities for maintaining some of the oldest infrastructure in San Diego.

– Net-neutral payments: San Diego will receive payments from the City of La Jolla to achieve net neutrality once La Jolla detaches. San Diego will also receive income streams for municipal services to be contracted from the City of San Diego by the City of La Jolla.

– Boosting regional revenue: As an international destination, the City of La Jolla will strive to grow sales and hotel tax (transient occupancy tax or TOT) to increase revenue for the San Diego region.