Gloria threatens legal challenge after LAFCO says La Jolla secession can continue

Driving the news: The Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, the agency that regulates government boundary changes, announced Tuesday that the Association for the City of La Jolla had collected enough signatures to keep the effort alive.

• LAFCO said it "will now proceed with initiating the administrative review of the proposed special reorganization," after overruling the Registrar of Voters' determination that the La Jolla association came up short on signatures.

Friction point: Gloria called LAFCO's decision "outrageous" and said the agency relied on "exceptionally broad" interpretations to accept signatures that were rejected by the ROV.

• He said the city would "issue a formal Letter of Objection and continue to explore the legal options available."

Between the lines: Gloria has been an outspoken opponent of La Jolla's secession, telling the Voice of San Diego podcast in December that San Diego would not contract things like police, landfill or sewage services to the new city, if it was successful.

• But SD is hardly on the sidelines of the decision — Councilman Stephen Whitburn is the current chair of LAFCO's board of directors, and Council President Joe LaCava, who represents La Jolla, said he is neutral on the maneuver.