Secession took a new turn with the news that the San Fernando Valley is also considering splitting off from Los Angeles County. Background of the reasons and feelings behind these moves in both the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys is outlined.
Two ad hoc committees have been established to help the Board of Education make a final ruling on two major problems: Smoking (recent legislation has made smoking on campus legal at the discretion of the local school board) and Graduation requirements.
Plans have been made to form an Association of San Gabriel Valley Cities. The banding together is a preliminary step to give strength to a move to secede from Los Angeles County.
The Association will prepare a profile of the San Gabriel Valley within the coming month. A second project will be to organize themselves to deal with the "incoherence of Los Angeles County government."
One of the most comprehensive pictorial presentations of San Gabriel Valley history will be shown at Fashion Park June 24 through July 12. Done by history students from Cal State LA, it has been over two years in the planning.
Arcadia, along with several other communities in the San Gabriel Valley, face termination of animal control services now rendered by the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society. This agency will discontinue services as of June 30, 1978.
San Gabriel Valley residents and medical authorities chastised the Los Angeles County Supervisors over the lack of hospital facilities and health care centers in the San Gabriel Valley even though the Valley has a large portion of the County's population.
Arcadia's City Council approved 1979-80 tax rates that are slightly lower than those for the past year. Other action concerned the animal control ordinance, the construction of two classrooms at Barnhart School, and an appeal for funds for Dial-A-Ride.
The San Gabriel Valley Juvenile Diversion Program has been established to divert local youths from the criminal justice system to local counseling agencies. Arcadia is participating in this program along with Temple City, Alhambra, Monterey Park, Rosemead and San Gabriel.
Summary of Los Angeles County reform efforts that perhaps will make unnecessary the efforts of the San Fernando Valley, the San Gabriel Valley and other areas to secede from Los Angeles County.