How One City Will Cope

By Robert Goldstein

In Southern California's San Gabriel Valley, TIME Correspondent Robert Goldstein surveyed the effect Proposition 13 will have on one community. His report:

Twenty miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, is the city of Monrovia (pop. 30,100). Unlike many of its wealthier neighbors, which developed in the post-World War II boom, Monrovia was incorporated in 1887. It grew into a working-class town, with some pricey sections in the foothills, some slums near the freeway and a lot of modest homes in between. Four years ago, a new redevelopment agency brought an ailing business district back to health with some strategic investments; the completion of the freeway in 1976 spurred further growth. Housing prices began to climb. Average worth of Monrovian homes: $50,000. Increases in assessments last year: up to 100%. Vote in favor of Proposition 13: a whopping 72%.

What now? The redevelopment agency will be killed. The community's operating budget of $5.5 million will have to be cut by $1.75 million by July 1. Groans City Manager Robert R. ("Bud") Ovrom: "Jarvis said that his measure would mean a 10% cut in local budgets. Here it's more like 30%. But we'll just have to make it work."

To do so, Ovrom, 32, and the five-member city council began considering cutbacks in spending and new sources of revenue three months ago. While some funds should be forthcoming from the state surplus, Ovrom based his new budget on the assumption that Monrovia would have to go it alone. Accordingly, many of the townspeople believe -- understandably -- that city hall is crying wolf. Concedes Ovrom: "Sure, a couple programs we cut may be restored, but we just can't count on much."

Where will Monrovia cut? First, notices will go out this week to 19 of the city's 185 employees. Ovrom will lose his top assistant. The library staff, currently six people, will be chopped by four. The 49-member police department will be left untouched, as will the 29 full-time firemen. But city council members will lose their $210-a-month stipends.

Of all the services to be eliminated or reduced, the closing of the Municipal Plunge, used almost entirely by the black community (10% of the city), may cause the most trouble. It is the only source of relief from the summer heat for most of the blacks in town. Says Cornelius Collier, 22, a student at California Poly in nearby Pomona: "White folks have their pools or can afford the drive to the beach. If this pool doesn't open up, we're gonna fight it."

Many of the freebies or subsidies that the city had given in past years will be stopped. At the community center, the biggest attraction in town, nominal fees for such things as jewelry making and yoga classes, pinball and poolrooms will be increased so that the users will pay the freight. "Dancercise" courses that used to cost $10, for example, will now cost $25. The meeting room in the Spanish-style community center will no longer be offered gratis. Senior citizens who hold weekly gatherings there are angry that they will have to rent the room for up to $200 a meeting. Complains a frequent user, Climene Gerfen: "Our money went into this building. They say it's government money, but that's our money, isn't it?" Says Ovrom in return: "Everybody wants it both ways. They point to other people's programs and say, 'That's wasteful, that's not essential.'"

Since Proposition 13 forbids new or increased taxes without a two-thirds vote of the area's "qualified electors," the city council took the precaution of passing such items as higher business and animal license charges, and building, plumbing and electrical permit fees before election day. One woman paid $125 for a permit to build a sewer line from her house to the main pipe; if she had come the day before, her charge would have been $25.

Ovrom has added a charge for street sweeping and created a new assessment district for streetlight and public landscaping maintenance, based on precisely how many lamps and trees are on each landowner's street.

Monrovia's local school district faces a loss of 44 of its 250 certified teachers. Some academic programs and most of the "frills," including athletics and music programs, will probably have to be reduced or shelved. So perhaps will summer school, with its remedial classes.

Back to basics is the rule. Last century, Rancher E.J. ("Lucky") Baldwin ordered his men to "clear the land, but leave the oaks" in the area that is now Monrovia. Today, Monrovians would say, "Cut our taxes, but leave the city."

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