Lawndale to Vote on 4 Key Issues

Lawndale voters on Nov. 7 will decide on four ballot measures that focus on major city financial and planning issues.

One measure deals with the use of federal or other outside funds to build public facilities. The other three deal with the city’s General Plan and whether it should be subject to voter approval.

The spending measure would allow the City Council to take advantage of federal or other funding to build public facilities costing more than $1 million. Under a 1988 initiative, the council cannot do so without submitting the plan to voters.

In April, 1988, voters approved by a 3 to 1 margin an initiative requiring voter approval for all projects costing more than $1 million in city funds. In that same election, voters rejected City Council plans for a $5-million civic center renovation that critics called a “Taj Mahal.”

City officials said it will take at least a year to conduct the necessary public hearings on Lawndale’s General Plan. Local activist Nancy Marthens urged that a deadline for updating the plan be included in the ballot measure to ensure that the city proceeds speedily on the long-awaited revisions.