Plan to disband Vernon gains steam

The district attorney, who four years ago outlined an effort to get the city disincorporated, is pushing the bid again amid new corruption charges. He says Vernon is a like a fiefdom.

By Hector Becerra and Sam Allen,
Los Angeles Times
5:56 PM PDT, October 26, 2010

Los Angeles County prosecutors have been building a highly unusual case, arguing that scandal-prone Vernon isn't a true city and should be disbanded.

It started four years ago, when the district attorney's office was once again in Vernon, investigating allegations of public corruption in the industrial city south of downtown L.A. Over the last 80 years, such investigations had become a regular occurrence in Vernon. And even when prosecutors filed charges, little seemed to change.

Some in the district attorney's office began thinking about Vernon differently, questioning whether something more radical than another round of criminal charges was required to fix the community.

"There's this arrogance of, 'You can't touch me. OK, so I get fined. Big deal. So I don't live in the city, big deal,'" said Lael Rubin, a bureau director for the district attorney's office.

(More here.)