Last week, contrary to the expressed desires of the residents, the Local Agency Formation Commission, known as LAFCO, voted to put Sunset Beach under the sphere of influence of Huntington Beach. This, presumably, makes it more likely that the unincorporated community would be annexed by Huntington Beach. On Monday of this week, the Seal Beach City Council directed city staff to come back at their next meeting with a report on annexation of Sunset Beach. At the same time, the residents want to remain just as they are, but this appears unlikely. It could end up as a tug-of-war between Seal Beach and Huntington Beach, with the Sunset Beach residents favoring neither, and LAFCO would be the judge.

According to Greg Griffin, president of the Sunset Beach Community Association, "100 percent of the people here don't want to be annexed by anybody. When I asked if your back was to the wall and you had to pick between Seal Beach and Huntington Beach, 9 out of 10 people who made a choice, picked Seal Beach. Even though that data was presented to LAFCO, they still put us in the sphere of Huntington Beach."

The LAFCO vote in favor of Huntington Beach was 4 to 3 supporting the staff recommendation. According to LAFCO project manager Bob Aldrich, the impact of the Sphere of Influence vote is not immediately significant. He said "It has no impact on how they're currently served, but...given what the commission knows right now, should Sunset Beach ever annex, the commission has identified Huntington Beach as the logical long term service provider for that area." He added "Huntington Beach virtually surrounds Sunset Beach, they already provide a certain level of services to that area, they provide water to Sunset Beach, the kids attend the same public school system".

Weather Huntington Beach or Seal Beach is the "logical provider of services" is, of course, a matter of opinion. Both cities have utility taxes, but the comparison of which tax structure will cost the residents more has not been prepared. Huntington Beach charges its residents a 5% tax on 5 separate utilities, while Seal Beach charges 11%, but it is only on 3 services. Your Editors asked Aldrich which structure would cost the residents more and he said since there was not a pending annexation application, they had not performed that comparison. This is even though, he implied that the "logical provider" designation was, at least in part, based on which city would be the most efficient. According to Griffin, the Sunset Beach residents prefer joining Seal Beach over Huntington Beach even if it cost more..."Up to a point."

Is democracy at work here, or, in other words, where are the levers of power in this battle? According to Aldrich, the rights of the people of Sunset Beach depend on the circumstances. The rules are different if the annexation application comes from Seal Beach or Huntington Beach. Because Sunset Beach is less than 150 acres in size and because it is substantially surrounded by Huntington Beach, the people cannot block an annexation move from that quarter. The only approvals beyond the city would be LAFCO. LAFCO could block such a move, but if the vote last week is any indication of their leaning, they would not.

If, on the other hand, the annexation application comes from Seal Beach, and the residents of Sunset Beach don't want it, they could file a protest. If more than 50% of the residents are opposed, that would end any annexation move by Seal Beach.

The residents, of course, don't want to be annexed by either. But, Is annexation inevitable? Aldrich said "They're going to be better off in a city, as opposed to remaining unincorporated." Could LAFCO force annexation? Aldrich said "They're independent right now and LAFCO doesn't have the authority to initiate an annexation. That can only be initiated by one of the two cities or the residents themselves."

Supervisor John Moorlach represents Sunset Beach and is one of two supervisors who are voting members of LAFCO. Your Editors asked him if annexation was inevitable. He said "It's an option, but it's an option that's sort of getting run over by progress and change. Almost every unincorporated area is under the sphere of influence of a neighboring city and if not, it's in the process of being in the sphere of influence of a neighboring city." He added "Things are moving in this direction." We asked if Huntington Beach was lobbying to have Sunset Beach in their sphere of influence. He said "Yes, their mayor wrote a letter and they had a committee of 3 of their 7 city council members and I've gotten a call from a fourth which said he supports the SOI )Sphere of Influence) as well."

When asked what his position was on annexation, Moorlach said "My position has been if the local leadership wants to do that, then let's give them a shot. My position is the same as Rossmoor. Let the locals try to make a decision for themselves. I have tried to be supportive of the leadership in my unincorporated areas." He voted against the Huntington Beach Sphere of Influence measure.