A Young City of Elder Statesmen?

Some of the names proposed by residents for the new city--Geezerville and Rx, in particular--were obviously made in jest, but they’re also a clear clue that something is decidedly different here.

This is Leisure World, where a vote to incorporate in Tuesday’s special election would make it simultaneously the youngest and the oldest city in California. That’s because the average age of the 18,000 people in the gated retirement community is 77.

“It would be exciting,” said 88-year-old City Council candidate Helen Mills-Lindsay, who is running among a field of 16 along with her husband, Harry, 76.

“I go to a gym class where there are a whole lot of people over 90,” she said. “We are wonderfully healthy.”

But elder manifest destiny, while perhaps still a political novelty, isn’t really the issue.

Ask Bea Hassel Rogatz, who at 91 is the oldest council candidate, even though she opposes cityhood.

“There is no reason we should be looking for trouble by having another layer of government,” she said. “It would be a mistake.”

The incorporation campaign has sparked interest among those who see Leisure World as a harbinger of things to come in society as city populations grow older with the flood of aging baby boomers.

“Leisure World gives us a look into the future as America ages and we live longer,” said Mark Baldassare, professor of urban and regional planning at UC Irvine.

The results should be interesting, he said, because older citizens vote in heavier numbers and are more politically active than younger people.

And although it’s not an incorporation issue, it’s also not lost upon observers that if cityhood passes, Leisure World would become the fourth gated city among the state’s 471 municipalities.

The others are Rolling Hills and Hidden Hills in Los Angeles County and Canyon Lake in Riverside County.

“There are plenty of people who are concerned about ‘fortressing,’ ” said Kristen Day, an assistant professor of urban and regional planning at UCI.

Some social scientists see gated communities as a retreat from society at large and feel that making gated areas into cities is the next step in the wrong direction.

Industry experts believe that Leisure World stands to become the nation’s first municipal retirement community.

On most mornings, 2,100-acre Leisure World is teeming as residents crowd golf courses, club houses, recreational facilities, the library and more. There are also about 200 community clubs.

The scene one day last week: At one of the five pools, about 50 women undulate in unison in the sloshing water to a Tijuana Brass tape. In the weight room (where one white-haired man wears a T-shirt reading “I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Reach a Beer”) the clanking of lead weights can be heard and faces are determined.

Nancy Carter, supervisor of the fitness center, said about 16,000 residents exercise there each month.

“We’ve about doubled in five years,” she said. “These people want to stay young and be able to do stuff.”

The only stark difference here is there are no young people to speak of, not until the weekends, when the bulk of the fidgety grandchildren descend.

“I can say I don’t miss my kids coming home with the car radio going at 100 decibels of hard rock,” said Bob Ring, leader of the pro-cityhood campaign.

There’s a wide variety of housing, even though all units, whether condominium apartments or large, single-family homes, are called “manors.”

Self-government is mainly provided by the Golden Rain Foundation through an elected board of 11 members who serve three-year terms, according to Ring.

The board operates common facilities, such as the recreational amenities, and would still exist even if there’s a city council.

Leisure World now relies on the county to provide police and fire, street maintenance and planning services--all of which would become the council’s responsibility if voters so decide Tuesday.

Besides voting on whether to incorporate, residents will choose the five council members and decide whether they’ll serve at large or from districts.

Voters will also determine whether the city’s new name would be Laguna Woods or Laguna Verde.

At one point, residents suggested 188 names, including Geezerville, Viagra Village, Rx and Playtime, but those were predictably winnowed out.

A 1992 cityhood campaign failed, but if tomorrow’s vote goes through, Leisure World would become Orange County’s 32nd city.

Backers of city status say they’re now represented by only one of five members of the county Board of Supervisors--Tom Wilson, who has 550,000 constituents.

“As a city, we’d have five people to decide local issues,” Ring said.

Key among those issues is resisting conversion of the nearby El Toro Marine Corps Air Station to a commercial airport. The surplus military base’s runways are directed right at Leisure World, where residents worry about the noise from frequent jet flights.

Cityhood, argues Ring and others, would give residents governmental standing to fight the airport plan, which a majority of county supervisors support.

Ring also sees a need for more police service because the open fields that once surrounded Leisure World have been replaced by suburban sprawl.

Council candidate Mills-Lindsay, a retired psychotherapist, thinks a city structure can better meet the retirement community’s special health needs.

“I’m concerned about long-term care and the fact we really have no help for this,” she said. And she feels incorporation would protect Leisure World from being gobbled up by neighboring Aliso Viejo, should it become a city.

“They’re not going to care about old people,” said Mills-Lindsay.

City supporters point to county revenue projections to boost their promise that Leisure World could support itself.

To make sure there’s sufficient funds, county authorities placed some sales-tax-producing commercial property just outside Leisure World within the proposed city’s boundaries.

Cityhood foes question the financial projections and fear a city would just add a layer of government and potential new taxes or fees.

“I can’t see any advantages; there’ll be city taxes,” said Helen Ensweiler, head of the anti-incorporation group in Leisure World.

She scoffs at the idea that city status would help the fight against the airport, pointing out that other South County cities have been unable to halt the plan.

“There are seven cities against the airport and they have not prevailed,” said Ensweiler.

Council candidate Rogatz said incorporation as a city would mean “we’d be hiring the county and paying for the services the county now provides. There’s no real advantage.”

Outside the gates, the incorporation drive evokes mixed views.

Laurann Cook, a Fountain Valley City Council member and past president of the Orange County Division of the League of California Cities, thinks Leisure World is big enough to be a successful city.

“You have an opportunity to have a nice sense of community closeness and community spirit,” Cook said. “From a regional standpoint, we’ve always encouraged the right to self-governance. Local control is extremely important.”

Not all are impressed with Leisure World, either as a retirement community or a potential city.

Maxine Quirk, had of Orange County’s Gray Panthers chapter, said: “I don’t believe in separating the generations. That’s very sad, really.”

A community of mixed ages “keeps an older person younger, and it’s a good education for a younger person,” Quirk said.

Supervisor Wilson did not return phone calls to comment on Leisure World cityhood.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

City of Leisure?

Leisure World residents will vote Tuesday to decide if their community will become Orange County’s 32nd city. Here’s a look at the ballot issues and the potential municipality:

Ballot Issues

* Should Leisure World be incorporated as a city? (If a majority approves, results of the following will take effect.)

* Who among 16 candidates should fill five city council seats?

* Should future council members be elected by district or at large?

* Should the city be named Laguna Woods or Laguna Verde?

Leisure World at a Glance

Opened: 1964

Population: Approx. 18,000

Minimum age: 55 (one occupant of each household)

Average age: 77

Area: 2,095 acres (3.2 square miles)

Dwelling units: 13,000

Sources: Leisure World, Times reports