As a City, Leisure World Would Mix New and Old

This would be a city unlike any other.

It would be a city where the average age of its citizens is 75, where everyone lives behind gated walls.

There would be no schools, no lighted ball fields or children frolicking on playground equipment.

It could be the only incorporation of a large retirement community in the country, if the Leisure World cityhood drive that is underway is successful.

“I’ve never heard of this kind of incorporation,” said Cameron Whitman, senior legislative counsel for the National League of Cities. “It’s a fascinating concept.”

Nobody tracks such claims nationally, but League of Cities representatives in major retirement states such as Florida, Arizona and California say that nowhere in their jurisdictions have senior citizens banded together to form a city.

Without any precedent to guide them, advocates for seniors say they can only guess at what would happen if Leisure World residents gain the political clout of a city--but they are keenly interested to see the results.

“Seniors vote more and are more politically active than the average person,” said George Gaberlavage, senior policy advisor for the American Assn. of Retired Persons. “I think it will be interesting to see if they handle issues differently than other cities.”

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Backers of the cityhood drive say they want greater political clout for Leisure World.

The Golden Rain Foundation--the Leisure World governing board that runs community services--says more muscle is needed to oppose the proposed commercial airport at El Toro. Other incentives include exerting control over commercial land that sits just outside the gates and the possibility of extra revenue that becoming a city would bring.

“We would be one of the most powerful cities in South County in the fight against the airport,” said Bob Ring, a Golden Rain Foundation board member. “Our voices would suddenly be heard.”

With the financial backing of the foundation, the incorporation drive has moved quickly.

It took the group only five weeks to collect more than the 4,000 signatures needed for a cityhood petition. A $24,000 financial study of the community is expected in two weeks, with a final application expected to be ready next month.

Residents would have the final say at the ballot box. If the application survives scrutiny by the Local Agency Formation Commission, which oversees annexations and incorporation proposals, cityhood would be on a ballot in the November 1998 general election.

Only one city in the state has incorporated since 1994, when a law took effect that required new cities to compensate their county for lost revenue.

Leisure World, however, should be able to pay for itself, government consultants say.

Because most services--security personnel, street maintenance, parks and recreation programs--are already being picked up by the retirement community, the few services provided by the county can be easily covered by the proposed new city.

“This is a unique situation where there are minimal extra kinds of operations costs,” said Dan Miller, a principal in the government planning firm RSG Inc., based in Santa Ana. “I haven’t seen the specific numbers, but in general, I think their chances look good.”

Even if cityhood succeeds, much would stay the same in Leisure World.

Because it is a private community, little public tax revenue would filter down into Leisure World. Transportation grants could be used only on roads outside the walls, such as El Toro Road and Moulton Parkway.

“You can’t mix private and public funds,” Ring said, “and you can’t mix public and private services.”

The Golden Rain Foundation would continue supporting community services, and the three homeowners associations would still deal with housing issues.

A minimal staff, limited to a city manager, city clerk and staff person, would run the new city, along with a city council.

Police and fire services would be contracted out, although the community would likely just augment the security staff that currently patrols Leisure World.

“We’re not adding government; we’re just replacing what few services the county has been providing,” Ring said.

So far, opposition has been muted, compared with 1989, when another cityhood proposal was defeated in Leisure World.

Helen Ensweiler has often been the lone opposition voice at Golden Rain Foundation meetings, railing against the cityhood proposal.

“People are against cityhood, but we need money to get out the vote” against the proposal, she said. “They [the foundation] have the advantage because they can spend whatever they want.”

Cityhood would mean a chance for political glory, Ensweiler said.

“That is what [those on the Golden Rain Foundation] want,” she said. “They want to be on a city council.”

Ensweiler also says cityhood would be a waste of time and money.

“It’s just another layer of government that we don’t need,” she said.

Bob Miller, board president at one of the Leisure World homeowners associations, says he has never seen signs of political opportunism at the Golden Rain Foundation.

“I’ve never sensed anything like that,” said Miller, whose association is neutral on cityhood.

One difference that cityhood will make is the name of the retirement community. If cityhood makes it to the ballot, voters will likely also be given a choice of new names for Leisure World: front-runners include Laguna Laurel and Laguna Village.

“I think we’d probably go with a new name,” Miller said. “I know I’d go for a change.”