Hangover Issue Lingers in the Euphoria: What to Call This Fresh Municipality? : Lake Forest: Some in the new city remain unhappy that during the March incorporation election, voters did not choose the historic El Toro name.

Although Lake Forest will not officially become Orange County’s 31st city until today, the controversy over its having picked a name that ignores the area’s history has already sparked a group of dissenters in the fledgling community.

Some in the new city remain unhappy that during the incorporation election in March, voters chose not to call the city El Toro, the name that has been associated with the area for more than a century and with the nearby Marine base for several decades.

According to some, the name recalls the bellowing bulls that were kept on a ranch owned by Don Jose Serrano, who received a 10,668-acre Mexican land grant in the area in 1842.

Proponents favored the name Lake Forest because it firmly associated the city with two of its more upscale tracts, which are built around man-made lakes.

Nevertheless, many local businesses intend to keep El Toro in their names, as do El Toro High School, the El Toro Library and the post office, which has had El Toro in its name for 102 years.

Not everybody is satisfied. A plea to change the city’s name to El Toro may be brought to the new City Council, said Dana Desrosiers, president of a local citizens action committee. “People are still talking about a referendum,” he said.

Some, such as Tom Saffer, object to the name Lake Forest because it is already claimed by another community, in Placer County. Saffer is chief executive of Tobar Inc., an international distributor of computer components.

He decided in May when his firm moved to the community that it should follow the popular will and use Lake Forest for its business address. But that decision, he said, has caused him “unmitigated grief.”

Problems began in October, he said, when Federal Express forwarded a $58,234 check from a customer in New Jersey to the Northern California Lake Forest. He said the customer used the correct ZIP code on the envelope, but Federal Express changed it to match the ZIP code for the Lake Forest in its reference books.

So Saffer is having his customers and suppliers use the name El Toro when they send anything to the company.

Post office employees advise residents that it will not matter if they use Lake Forest or El Toro in addresses, as long as they use the new city’s 92630 ZIP code.

Saffer, for one, said he is not going to take the gamble.

City Councilwoman-elect Ann Van Haun said she opposes having the council change the new city’s name without another citywide vote.

But cityhood means a lot more than just a new name. Those who voted for incorporation, Van Haun said, wanted greater control over finances and a superior level of government services.

Van Haun said that although Lake Forest will probably continue to use county agencies for police and fire protection, city officials expect eventually to arrange for better coverage. “If you contract, you get what you pay for,” she said.

Although the scope of most future development in Lake Forest has been predetermined by county decisions, Van Haun said, the city will be able to review site plans to address such issues as building design, parking and landscaping.

“That is where we start determining our uniqueness as a city,” she said.

Councilwoman Helen Wilson said the City Council will initially function as the city’s Planning Commission, but it will appoint others to that job as soon as possible.

She said planners will have a full agenda immediately, reviewing plans for development of three new commercial centers.

Wilson said the City Council-elect has already appointed a Parks and Recreation Commission to make decisions about three new parks scheduled to open in the next six months and another 9-acre park parcel that the city will receive in a new development agreement.

A key priority of the new administration, she said, is assembling a staff. The City Council has hired a city manager and clerk and is recruiting directors of human services, community development and public works, she said.

Lake Forest’s city manager is Gaylord F. Knapp, who in March was fired as city manager of Cerritos, a position he had held for 18 years. Cerritos City Council members decided that Knapp, who is credited with helping to transform Cerritos from dairy farms into one of Southern California’s most tax-rich communities, had outlived his era.

Nevertheless, Lake Forest officials were impressed with what Knapp described as his “entrepreneurial” qualities and hired him a month ago.

Knapp starts his job without a city hall. The city will lease about 5,000 square feet in a commercial building at 23776 Mercury Road, which will be ready in mid-January.

The City Council plans to hold its first meeting at 10:30 a.m. this morning at Heritage Hills Park.

In response to the recession, Knapp said he has hired the Newport Beach office of Moreland & Associates, an accounting firm specializing in municipal government, to revise the city’s first projections of $10 million in annual revenue.

“We are crossing our fingers that (the recession) will not have much of an effect at all,” said Knapp, who is hoping that commercial development that has occurred in Lake Forest since the initial revenue projections will offset any decline from the recession.

Knapp said he will also be trying to “train” Lake Forest residents to shop in their hometown so they can benefit from sales taxes they pay.

“Before, it didn’t matter if you purchased in Lake Forest,” he said. “Now it does.”

The Newest Cities Orange County gains its 30th and 31st cities today. Laguna Hills and Lake Forest. Residents in both areas voted for cityhood in March. Laguna Hills Population: 22,666 Male: 50% Female: 50% Under 18: 28% 18 and over: 7.2% Housing units: 8,187 Racial makeup: White: 80% Black: 1% Latino: 9% Asian: 10% Other: Less than: 1% Note: Laguna Hills figures based on 75% of the city’s population. A 100% breakdown is currently unavailable. Lake Forest Population: 62,685 Male: 49% Female: 51% Under 18: 26% 18 and over: 74% Housing units: 22,809 Racial makeup: White: 79% Black: 2% Latino: 10% Asian: 9% Other: Less than: 1% Note: Lake Forest figures based on information from the El Toro census reporting area. Source: U.S. Census Bureau and Orange County Administration Office