A Brief History of Manipulation
For your enjoyment, on a lazy Sunday afternoon.....Between the years of 1926 and 1932 there was a tremendous effort by the City of Los Angeles to annex the incorporated City of Tujunga. Los Angeles wanted control of the water flowing from Tujunga's surrounding mountains. Water that, even to this day, still provides 14% of the L.A. water supply. There were also rumors of huge oil fields lying beneath the local grounds, and the City of L.A. wanted a piece of that action as well, (the oil was never found).
The battle to stop annexation was fierce and dividing, causing neighbors to cease speaking and dominating all other local issues. The vast majority preferred their independence and saw no benefit in answering to a distant government. Most L.A. City officials had only seen maps of the area and few had bothered to make the journey up to this isolated community,
(a phenomenon that apparently still exists to this day) .
The control of water was essential to the City of Los Angeles, from Owens Valley to the Ports of San Pedro, and the City of Tujunga presented an annoying, albeit relatively minor in comparison, roadblock.
On four occasions, the issue of annexation was put to a vote in Tujunga (1927, 1930, 1931, and 1932). Annexation was not accepted in the first three rounds of voting.
And then something very strange happened.
After Los Angeles lost the 3rd attempt at annexation in 1931, The City of Tujunga experienced an unexplained growth in population.
Over the course of one year, every available home, cabin, or shack was rented.
Each of these new residents made a point of quickly registering as voters... and then they waited.
The issue of annexation came up for vote again in 1932, this time winning by 59 votes.
The very next day, the new residents began moving out, en masse. Within a few months, they were gone, and Tujunga, now an annexed community, turned over the keys to it's City Hall to the City of Los Angeles.
And so it goes.....
Astro-Turf campaigns (I wonder what they called them back in 1930?) and bussed in supporters are nothing new to this City.
Neither is Tujunga's long standing mistrust of the City of Los Angeles.
Source- "Sunland and Tujunga- From Village To City" Marlene A. Hitt -Arcadia Press
Labels: city of los angeles, metropolitan water district, sunland-tujunga
Posted by Unknown @ 4/06/2008 03:54:00 PM
26 Comments:
The picture in this post is of a social group called
"The Millionaires Club of Happiness and Contentment" sitting in front of the Tujunga Post Office. They were neither millionaires nor very happy
and content. You can find more great historical photos of the San Fernando Valley at
http://digital-library.csun.edu/
That's a great pic, Joe. Thanks for the link to the other great historical pictures. I love seeing the way everyhing looked "back in the day".
xoxo
Thanks Valley Doll!
The reason these guys are hanging out in front of the Post Office is that they are awaiting the delivery of mail from the town of Roscoe.
Roscoe is now known as Sun Valley.
The town changed it's name to Sun Valley after the "Great Roscoe Train Robbery" occurred and community leaders felt that the negative connotations required a name change.
Great post Joe!!
Thanks, just trying to keep it real.
Real is is what real does.
The Spot
A "SPOTISM" for Sunday.
Good Post!
Sounds like what happened with some of the Neighborhood Councils in town such as Playa Vista.
And why its silly for some Neighborhood Councils to accept DONE's charge that says "You're a stakeholder if you say you are."
AA has the same membership policy.
And theyv'e been parkin their cars on their lawns to protest, ever since.
Says the Daily News, "4 Shot in the Valley," all on Saturday: 2 in North Hollywood, one of them working at an auto body shop late afternoon: suspects, 2 Latinos aged 17-18, stole a vehicle. (Sounds like the MO on Pico Blvd., mid-Wilshire, at an auto body last week.)
Another NoHo man shot within the hour for not belonging to any gang.
One shot in Van Nuys.
And one, joe b, in Sunland-Tujunga near Foothill Blvd, at 7pm last night. Know anything about that?
So much for the sepia photos of old.
"just trying to keep it real."
9:13, Too funny, thanks!
9:56- Not sure what my post has to do with your news.
That is a great post Joe B. I love the photos! I was just sitting on my back porch,in Tujunga,listening to the crickets. Sometimes, I can hear the coyotes howling in the mountains. I wonder what it was like up here 100 years ago. Those pioneers knew they lived in a special place. And just like that pic at the bottom of your post, we're still defending our piece of the rock. Wonder what those old timers would think of the neighborhood now!?
What? I don't think thats funny - don't say that Joe B. gets shot. What would we do without our fearless leader? That's not funny to me. He's running for Honorary Sheriff, by the way. You better watch out - don't be making up stories about Joe B.
I think they would be stunned at the changes,
but proud that the community is still as scrappy and ready for a fight.
joe at 10:09, some hundred year old photo merits current interest but not someone getting killed in your small, supposedly cozy little town? wow. OK
Are you suggesting that I should somehow have tied in a historical piece related to land use issues to a crime that occurred in the last 24 hours? Sorry, I'm not that talented.
ah, "land use issues..." It's always just about Home Depot. Maybe to the rest of the city, that's not as big a deal as the gang and public safety problem. Which affect us all, ST too.
All of these issues are interrelated.
One creates the other. To understand
it all, I find that history provides
a great starting point.
Excellent article, Joe.
Bussing in fakes is still soooo common in our end of town. Last blatant version was the Home Depot hearings, obviously. Alex Padilla practiced this without shame to suppress the Lake View Terrace constituency of CD 7 in Hansen Dam issues. During the fight to keep a full-sized major league baseball stadium out of rural Lake View Terrace, Padilla literally bussed in ethnic "constituents" to community meetings who were there simply to play the angry race card.
Lake View Terrace is one of the most well-integrated communities in Los Angeles with a population of approximately 20% African American, 40% Hispanic, 40% Caucasian. However, Alarcon and Padilla both spend most of their time circumventing the neighborhood council, claiming tacit approval from other 'groups', and always threatening the race card as the most recent FTDNC meeting showed.
I would hope that everyone in CD 7 is sick of this **** by now. I most certainly am.
Love it, Joe. Not sure what to make of the whole "Dialogue" thing, but I have become as disgusted with the city as with Home Depot at this point. After this nonsense is all over and HD does the right thing which is to step aside and sell/transfer the lease, I think you just might be the right man to spearhead a Sunland-Tujunga LA Sucession campaign. Anyone? Congrat's on the Honorary Sheriff nomination, you are deserving.
Funny! Cool picture Sheriff Joe. But isn't that a group photo of the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council?
Funny! Cool pic Sheriff Joe. But isn't that a group photo of the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council?
You may have something there.
Thanks Petrafried and Damien!
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