BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ACR 15
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Furutani
VERSION: 3/27/09
Analysis by: Art Bauer FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 9, 2009
SUBJECT:
John Sanford Todd Memorial Highway
DESCRIPTION:
This resolution names a segment of Interstate 605 in Los Angeles
County as the John Sanford Todd Memorial Highway.
ANALYSIS:
The committee has adopted a policy regarding the naming of state
highways or structures. Under the policy, the committee will
consider only those resolutions that meet all of the following
criteria:
a. The person being honored must have provided
extraordinary public service or some exemplary contribution
to the public good and have a connection to the community
where the highway is located.
b. The naming must be done without cost to the state.
Costs for signs and plaques must be paid by local or
private sources.
c. The author or co-author of the resolution must represent
the district in which the facility is located and the
resolution must identify the specific highway segment or
structure being named.
d. The proposed designation must reflect a community
consensus and be without local opposition.
e. The proposed designation may not supersede an existing
ACR 15 (FURUTANI) Page 2
designation unless the sponsor can document that a good
faith effort has uncovered no opposition to rescinding the
prior designation.
This resolution designates a segment of Interstate 605 between
Carson Street and Del Amo Boulevard, in the County of Los
Angeles, as the John Sanford Todd Memorial Highway. The
resolution further requests the Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) to erect appropriate signs upon receiving donations
from non-state sources to cover the costs.
COMMENTS:
1) Purpose of resolution . By naming this segment of I-605
in honor of John Sanford Todd, this resolution seeks to
memorialize the extraordinary achievements of the late city
attorney for the City of Lakewood.
2) Summary of John Sanford Todd's achievements . This
resolution acknowledges the achievements of Mr. Todd,
especially for his development of the "Lakewood Plan" that
ultimately became a statewide model for providing municipal
services.
Being threatened by annexation to the City of Long Beach in
1953, Mr. Todd and other leaders of the unincorporated
community of Lakewood successfully fought the annexation.
On the heels of their victory, Mr. Todd and other Lakewood
leaders circulated an incorporation petition. The heart of
the argument for cityhood was his Lakewood Plan, which held
that unincorporated communities did not have to choose
between annexation by a big city or building a costly civic
infrastructure from scratch. Instead, he believed that city
councils could contract with the County of Los Angeles for
the delivery of municipal services. Convinced that the plan
would work, Lakewood voters incorporated their community as
a city in 1954. It was the first city in the county to have
all its service provided by contract. Today, the
contracting plan that John Sanford Todd created is the
principle means through which over one-quarter of
California cities receive municipal services.
When the first Lakewood City Council met on April 16, 1954,
it appointed John Sanford Todd as Lakewood's City Attorney.
He held that office until 2004, a period of 50 years, and
was one of the longest serving city attorneys in California
history. As the city's legal counsel over that period of
ACR 15 (FURUTANI) Page 3
50 years, Mr. Todd drafted hundreds of ordinances,
policies, regulations, and resolutions. The quality of
everyday life in Lakewood can be directly attributed to the
body of law of which John Sanford Todd was the principal
author.
Almost as soon as Lakewood was formed, some cities sought
to undermine the basis of the contract plan with the
county. The new contract cities were threatened by a
series of political and legal maneuvers that would have
made the Lakewood plan impossible. With John Sanford
Todd's guidance, contract cities fought back. In 1957, they
formed the California Contract Cities Association. With Mr.
Todd as its counsel, the contract cities took their cause
to the Los Angeles County Grand Jury, the California
Legislature, and the courts. The Lakewood plan was finally
vindicated in a landmark ruling by the State Court of
Appeals in 1977.
John Sanford Todd died August 30, 2008, at the age of 89.
3) Conforms with committee policy . This resolution conforms
with the committee's policies pertaining to naming
resolutions, including the cost of signs being paid for
local or private sources.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 79-0
Appr: 16-0
Trans: 14-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 3, 2009)
SUPPORT: City of Lakewood
California Contract Cities Association
American Association of State, County, and
Municipal Employees
OPPOSED: None received.