The city of Vernon today took another stab at getting Assembly Speaker John Pérez off its case.
Vernon's city council in recent weeks has called for imposing term limits, created a housing commission and agreed to dock council salaries from $68,000 to $25,000. Now added to the list is an immediate 18 percent pay cut for city councilmembers.
Pérez has criticized the small city near the edge of downtown Los Angeles of corrupt governance. He's sponsored Assembly Bill 46, which would dissolve the city and transfer control of the area to the county of Los Angeles. With a resident population near only about 100 people, Vernon is dominated by its business community. Business groups have lobbied the city to enact reforms as a way to prove to legislators that the city has turned the page. The businesses want to preserve low tax rates and low fees.
"These reforms...will create a more democratic Vernon while maintaining the business-friendly atmosphere that has made it the manufacturing hub of Southern California," Marisa Olguin, president of the Vernon Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement.
Bipartisan support lifted AB 46 through the Assembly in April. The bill is expected to make its way through the Senate sometime this summer.
"We hope that the Senate sees that protecting jobs and critical industries to the state's economy means that we should fix the City of Vernon's problems through governance reforms, not eradicating a city that actually works," Olguin added.
Pérez has maintained that reforms aren't enough to fix the city. His press secretary John Vigna said the immediate pay cut is a nice gesture, but the speaker still doesn't view the package of reforms as a way to permanently end corruption.
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