Judge approves La Jolla's bid for independence, fueling hope

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A judge ruled in favor of the La Jolla independence movement on Friday, confirming the validity of signatures gathered to initiate a breakaway from the City of San Diego.

The ruling marks a significant victory for La Jolla residents who have long considered breaking away from San Diego, with this latest effort gathering signatures from more than 25% of registered voters in the area, as required by California law.

The movement to make La Jolla independent from San Diego has been a topic of discussion since the 1950s, but this is the furthest it has progressed.

The City of San Diego challenged the validity of the signatures in court, arguing that some were improperly approved due to minor errors.

The Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) ultimately approved the signatures, confirming its authority over the Registrar of Voters in this matter.

Following the court's decision, LAFCO will now study the financial feasibility of La Jolla's independence, ensuring that it is at least revenue neutral.

"Voter suppression should never be allowed in a democracy," said Ed Witt with the Association for the City of La Jolla.

With the court's ruling, the La Jolla independence movement takes a crucial step forward, as LAFCO begins its assessment of the financial implications of the proposed separation.

If the assessment finds the independence movement is revenue neutral, that there is a benefit to the City of La Jolla and the City of San Diego or their is no harm to either, this could go to a ballot. The cities would then vote on the issue, which could happen by 2028 at the soonest.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KSWB. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KSWB staff before being published.