Lake Los Angeles Name-Change Controversy Fails to Evaporate : Politics: Loyalists fighting to keep unincorporated community from calling itself Desert Buttes.

After an unofficial vote last November, it looked like this remote Antelope Valley town-which has no lake--would soon have a more fitting name: Desert Buttes.

But four months later, after Lake Los Angeles loyalists raised a ruckus about how the election was conducted, the signs and stationery here remain unchanged.

The proposed name change has triggered a fierce dispute among town leaders, who say another vote in November is needed to decide what this sun-baked unincorporated community, about 20 miles east of Palmdale, should be called.

Supporters of Desert Buttes, a reference to striking rock formations near the town, say it is a more descriptive, more dignified name for a sprawling community whose population is estimated at 12,000 to 18,000.

But critics say the proposed name has just triggered a new round of jokes. Quipsters have shortened it to Desert “Butts” and have referred to its residents as “Butt-heads,” they say.

Residents who want the town to remain Lake Los Angeles insist the present name is no worse than that of the Antelope Valley--which has no antelope.

“The name change has stirred up a lot of controversy among the people of Lake Los Angeles,” said Bobbi Allen, a nine-year resident who opposes the switch to Desert Buttes. “It’s a funny little community with a stupid name. But unfortunately, it’s our name.

“The people out here have really banded together to stop being the laughing stock of the Antelope Valley. We already know there is enough support to keep it Lake Los Angeles.”

The town was named for a 27-acre artificial lake created in 1967 to help sell relatively low-priced houses in a sparsely populated patch of desert, a 90-minute drive from Los Angeles. A developer let the lake dry up in 1981 when residents refused to take over the cost of keeping it filled.

Barbara Crane, president of the Lake Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, was one of the leaders behind a drive to change the town’s name. “The lake dried up,” she said. “The buttes won’t.”

Crane is also a member of the Lake Los Angeles Rural Town Council, which mailed advisory ballots to 4,518 registered voters last fall, asking about a name change.

The Town Council collected 757 ballots on Nov. 2, the same day as the general election. Among these, 55.9% supported a name change, and Desert Buttes was favored by 194 voters--more than any other choice.

Crane was overjoyed. “I’ve wanted to change the town’s name since I bought my first property there in the early 1970s,” she said.

But shortly after the election, Allen and other critics complained that some ballots had not been counted and that others had arrived at local homes after the election. They said the results were not valid.

Some residents “thought it was a big joke,” said Bonnie LeFebvre, co-owner of a local real estate business and a video shop. “They didn’t vote because they didn’t think anything would come of it.”

If the name change is adopted, LeFebvre said she would have to change two store signs, the business cards and rubber stamps at her video shop, along with all of the identification stickers attached to her tapes. “By the time it was over with, I’m sure it would cost $10,000,” she said.

LeFebvre, who has lived in town for almost 16 years, added: “My view is shared by most of the old-timers.”

Still, Jennifer Keys, a local businesswoman who served on the election committee and defends its work, believes the uproar was caused by just a handful of outspoken residents.

“There are some people who have been in the forefront of the town, which was very small 10 years ago,” she said. “It’s a growing-pain kind of thing. That’s cool. That’s life.”

Still, because of the outcry, the Town Council has agreed to set up another election in November. They said that will give residents who favor Desert Buttes or Lake Los Angeles plenty of time to line up supporters.

“They got as fair an election as was humanly possible,” said Ralph Hobson, acting president of the Town Council. “We haven’t figured out the motive for all these people who are causing a ruckus. We’re just trying to make the best of it.”