The introduction of Assembly Bill 2986 in Sacramento has reopened the perennial question of cityhood for East Los Angeles and triggered a fight over how to even consider the question in 2024. Nearly 120,000 people live in East L.A.
, the most populous unincorporated community in Los Angeles County. What’s feasible? What’s fair? We asked East L.A.
’s state Assembly representative, Wendy Carrillo, who introduced the bill in Sacramento, and East L.A.’s county supervisor, Hilda Solis, for their answers.
By Wendy Carrillo The residents of East Los Angeles, a historic community, have spent decades fighting for justice. Most Angelenos know about the 1968 walkouts demanding better schools, and the massive 1970 Chicano Moratorium march against the Vietnam War. Few know about the multi-decade battle the residents of East L.
A. have waged for self-determination. Earlier this year in Sacramento, I introduced Assembly Bill 2986 .
It would require the Local Agency Formation Commission for Los Angeles County — known as LAFCO — to create a task force to study how East L.A. tax revenues are used and review whether the community should incorporate as a city or become a “special district,” which could include an elected oversight board.
This community’s nearly 120,000 residents, most of whom are Latino, need and deserve a stronger civic voice. Despite being the largest unincorporated area in L.A.
County, East L.A. lacks a formal governance structure.
It is surrounded by Monterey .
