Voters overwhelmingly decide to make Mountain House California's newest city
MOUNTAIN HOUSE — Voters in San Joaquin County have overwhelmingly said yes to a plan to create the first new city in California in over a decade.
The community of Mountain House didn't even have a single resident 30 years ago. Now, the population has grown to more than 20,000 and leaders say that Tuesday night's election result is proof that people are ready to take this next step.
The latest election returns as of Wednesday afternoon show 91.1% of voters said yes to incorporating Mountain House, with 8.9% saying no.
Mountain House sits outside of Tracy. It's one of the fastest-growing areas in the state.
While preparation for this moment has been in the works since the early 1990s, there is a lot that has to happen before the measure officially takes effect on July 1.
Training is being done with a brand new board of city council members and a mayor on how to operate and lead a city. More than 100 agenda items are already lined up for their first meeting.
Leaders say they want this transition to be as smooth as possible.
"One of the big challenges is nobody's done this for 13 years, and frankly, not many cities of all have done it in the last 24 years," said Steve Pinkerton, executive director of the Mountain House Community District. "I think our community is very resilient. They're used to change. It's constant change here. Every time you turn around, there's a new neighborhood under construction here."
Hard work lies ahead, but Mountain House has a lot going for them.
In addition to being the state's most competitive housing market, they are home to some of the very best school districts in California.
The move means they gain more control over economic development, policing, and city planning. They already broke ground on a new firehouse with plans for several new parks already in place.