By the late 1960s civic-minded people in Loma Linda considered whether incorporation or annexation to a nearby city would be in the citizens’ best interest. Two events generated a lively debate. First, an incorporation feasibility study was initiated by the Loma Linda Chamber of Commerce (July 1967). Second, the San Bernardino County Planning Commission developed a detailed “Loma Linda-West Redlands General Plan.” The Board of Supervisors approved it on February 26, 1968.¹

 

A survey conducted by the Loma Linda Community Planning Committee in November 1967 determined that 47.6% favored remaining unincorporated, 10% favored annexation to an adjacent city, and 42.4% favored incorporation. If remaining unincorporated proved to be impossible, however, 20% favored annexation and 80% favored incorporation.

 

A report by the Planning Committee’s subcommittee on Revenue and Taxation also favored incorporation. The subcommittee on City Government recommended popular election of a City Council. Then the Council would select one of its members to be Mayor. The Council would also employ a professional City Manager.²

 

On August 29, 1968, advocates of incorporation seized the initiative at a town meeting held in the chambers of the Justice Court on Anderson Street. A committee chosen from the floor was directed to promote incorporation. Members who were connected with Loma Linda University acted as private citizens.

 

On January 29, 1969, the Loma Linda University Board of Trustees responded to overtures by the committee to share the cost of a $4,000 feasibility study. The University could determine its role in future community planning and could assess beforehand the advantages and disadvantages of self-government.³  In August 1969 Griffenhagen-Kroeger, a Los Angeles firm of Consultants in Public Administration and Finance, delivered its report. The study concluded that the advantages of incorporation were, indeed, impressive.

 

Following the Griffenhagen-Kroeger Report, a poll taken of 170 citizens at a town meeting discovered that two were opposed, five were undecided, and 163 favored incorporation. On October 29 and December 28, 1969, the Joint Committee proposed to the Local Agency Formation Commission of the County of San Bernardino, the incorporation and reorganization of the Loma Linda Sanitary District and the County Services Area No. 2.⁵  The application described Loma Linda as a distinct community with a unique atmosphere, a community that believed that Loma Linda was ready for incorporation.⁶

 

On July 21 the Board of Supervisors ordered that an election be held in Loma Linda on September 22, 1970. The community had to decide whether or not it should become a “General Law City.” The Loma Linda Committee for Community Government notified fifteen candidates for seats on the new City Council that it had arranged to hold two town hall meetings in Burden Hall (August 17 and September 14). Chair Ray Murphy announced that each candidate would be given an opportunity to speak and urged each one to promote incorporation in order to preserve Loma Linda’s identity.

 

The Loma Linda Bulletin supported incorporation in its September 16 edition with a center spread entitled “Meet the Candidates,” and hosted its own “Candidate Night,” in the University’s Campus Cafeteria on the eve of the election.

 

On September 22, 1970, 1,590 Loma Linda residents voted for incorporation while 192 voted against. Of the fifteen candidates, five were elected to the City Council: Kent W. Dickinson, Elmer J. Digneo, Norman H. Meyer, Frank A. Moran, and Douglas F. Welebir.⁷ 

 

After being notified by the Registrar of Voters (September 28) the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors certified the completion of the incorporation and ordered that a copy of the resolution be filed with the California Secretary of State. Norman H. Meyer, one of the newly elected city council members flew to Sacramento on the 28th and hand delivered the official papers early the next morning to the office of H. P. Sullivan, Secretary of State. Meyer returned to Loma Linda that same day with the certification that Loma Linda was now a General Law City.⁸

 

The City Council met for the first time on September 30, 1970, and elected Douglas Welebir, JD, to be the first mayor of Loma Linda. Welebir had received 30% more votes than the runner-up, and the Council minutes recorded a unanimous vote.

 

Within one week Mayor Welebir reported in the University Observer the Council’s concern that the inexperienced city government learn as rapidly as possible how to serve their citizens as effectively as possible.  Asked whether the City Council would do the bidding of the University, Welebir replied that certainly the University had a strong influence because Loma Linda was a university town. Decisions by the city government, however, would have to be based on the needs of the populace, not on the needs of the University as such. He pointed out that in a General Law City—that is, one under a city council-manager type of government—the Mayor’s office is ceremonial rather than administrative. The seat of power would lie in the City Council, and it would vest administrative authority in a full-time City Manager.

 

The fledgling City of Loma Linda faced many challenges: adequate police and fire protection, restoration of some residential areas, street repairs, and the establishment of boundary lines. In order to evaluate the current situation and project future needs, the City Council established a fifteen-member Advisory Committee on Goals and Priorities (March 9, 1971). Godfrey T. Anderson, PhD, former President of Loma Linda University, chaired that committee.

 

After a series of five meetings, between March 16 and April 20, the group had several recommendations. These included improvement of municipal parks, construction of civic buildings including a City Hall, the immediate control by the city of all plans for development, and effective reporting to the community of city functions and actions. The members gave the highest priority to the development of a general or master plan for the city. 

 

Based on these recommendations, on May 18, the City Council voted to hire Lampman and Associates, of Pomona, California (May 18, 1971). This prestigious firm of government consultants helped the city to establish organization, goals, guidelines, and procedures. On March 14, 1972, the City Council appointed an ad hoc committee of twenty-three members, to advise the Lampman Group—with Judge Van Unger as chair. In the summer of 1973, as the report neared completion, it benefited both from public hearings as well as lengthy City Council discussions.

 

On September 26, 1973, the City Council approved the 115-page Loma Linda General Plan. The Lampman Report reflected a community of distinction and a university town. Its two chief industries were—and would likely continue to be—higher education and the delivery of healthcare. The Plan uncovered potential problems and recommended goals and policies that would help citizens and their municipal government retain and enhance the character of Loma Linda.

 

 

Loma Linda University and Loma Linda University Medical Center each purchased a fire truck for the City of Loma Linda. In addition, the Medical Center contributed to the purchase of this ladder truck, which is being displayed by then Division Chief/Fire Marshal Roland Crawford.

 

 

During a special election held on June 2, 1981, Loma Linda became a charter city, with authority to develop its own municipal “constitution.” Under the new charter the city could broaden its tax base, issue business development revenue bonds at low interest, and make it easier for private concerns to finance facilities of value to the city. The California Secretary of State certified Loma Linda as a Charter City on July 9, 1981.

 

On January 1, 1985, Loma Linda University Medical Center started the Loma Linda Mercantile, an organization established to purchase supplies and resell them to the Medical Center. By making the final sale in Loma Linda, this arrangement generated a major sales tax revenue for the City of Loma Linda.

 

Loma Linda has, indeed, become a city of distinction. It is a community shaped by its church-related educational and healthcare institutions. Its citizens embrace what might be described as old-fashioned virtues. Not surprisingly, it has a higher proportion of professional citizens and a lower than average incidence of crime against persons than the nation at large.

 

Loma Linda has thrived as a healthcare and educational community for more than 100 years. In November 2005 National Geographic magazine identified it as one of only three places in the world, and the only place in America “where people live longer and healthier than just about anyone else on earth.” The magazine then identified Loma Linda residents as “among America’s longevity all-stars.”

 

We have a unique community with five regional hospitals and a health sciences university that has become world famous for its major contributions to world medicine and dentistry. Loma Linda is a good place to live, work, worship, and play. Loma Linda’s South Hills Preserve provides hiking and bicycling trails that give residents and visitors a good place to exercise in a picturesque setting. Its fiber optic Internet cable system has pioneered standards for the world. And Loma Linda is one of the safest communities in Southern California. Furthermore, the area’s climate has been identified historically as therapeutic.

 

Even during a major historic downturn in the nation’s economy, the City of Loma Linda has responded by providing low-income housing, economic incentives for businesses, and improvement to its infrastructure. The new rubberized pavement on Barton Road from Mt. View to Waterman Avenue, divided by attractive, draught-resistant landscaping, provides a safe thoroughfare and good first impression to thousands of commuters every day.

 

World-class facilities, such as the James M. Slater, MD, Proton Treatment and Research Center, attract patients from around the world. Proton patients have included personnel from the United Nations, NASA flight engineers, and the winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Physics, who came to Loma Linda from CERN, the world’s largest physics research proton accelerator located near Geneva, Switzerland. Loma Linda certainly is a special place on Earth.

 

In considering the role of the Chamber of Commerce within the City of Loma Linda, in addition to regular consultations regarding economic development, we also have decided to start a Business Advisory Committee, with representation from the City Council, to monitor business concerns and make improvements wherever possible. Councilman Rhodes Rigsby, MD, has agreed to serve as liaison between this new Committee and the City Council.

 

We have also decided to survey local businesses on behalf of the City, to determine how the City can better serve the business community. I hereby solicit comments from local businesses regarding the business climate in Loma Linda. Please send your concerns and/or willingness to serve on the committee to: Business Advisory Committee, C/O Loma Linda Chamber of Commerce, 25541 Barton Rd., Loma Linda, CA 92354.

 

We hope that residents will take advantage of all the resources available within the City of Loma Linda. Our business community provides products and services needed by our residents as well as thousands of visitors, students, and employees. Please spend your dollars with our community businesses and help the city’s economy to expand as Loma Linda moves boldly into the future.

 

 

President, Loma Linda Chamber of Commerce.

 

2008, 2009, and 2010