BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: ACR 15
Author: Furutani (D)
Amended: 3/27/09 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 11-0, 6/9/09
AYES: Lowenthal, Huff, Ashburn, DeSaulnier, Harman,
Hollingsworth, Kehoe, Oropeza, Pavley, Simitian, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 79-0, 5/4/09 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : John Sanford Todd Memorial Highway
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution names a segment of Interstate
605 in Los Angeles County as the John Sanford Todd Memorial
Highway.
ANALYSIS :
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
CONTINUED
ACR 15
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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
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.
This resolution designates a segment of Interstate 605
ACR 15
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3
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 to erect appropriate signs upon receiving
donations from non-state sources to cover the costs.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/23/09)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
California Contract Cities Association
City of Lakewood
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Jeffries, Jones, Knight,
Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza,
Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A.
Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Huffman
JJA:do 6/23/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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