Election Wrapup : The Only Game in Town Is a New Name

LAKE LOS ANGELES —  Forget about the school voucher initiative and the sales tax extension. Voters in this remote desert community had to decide Tuesday whether the town--which has no lake and isn’t anywhere near Los Angeles--needs a new name.

And the winner is: Desert Buttes, favored by 194 voters, the most ballots cast for any one name. Of those who voted, 55.9% said they believe that it’s time for a name change.

Among the 4,518 eligible voters in this rural community 20 miles west of Palmdale, 757 marked advisory ballots on the proposed name change.

“It was an incredible turnout for Lake Los Angeles or any small town during an off-year election,” said Barbara Crane, who had lobbied for a switch to Desert Buttes. “I’m on top of the world.”

Crane and other members of the Rural Town Council will now ask County Supervisor Mike Antonovich to take the name change to the Board of Supervisors for an official OK. Then, it will be time to tell Thomas Bros. and the American Automobile Assn. to change their maps, Crane said.

The man-made lake that gave the town its name dried up a dozen years ago, and some local leaders sought a name change to end the confusion.

In Tuesday’s poll, Desert Springs finished second, followed by Saddleback, the name of an area rock formation.

Several residents provided some offbeat suggestions for a new name in the ballot’s write-in space: Blowing Sands, Beavis, Outcast Flats, Fools Paradise and E-I-E-I-O.

Nine voters sought to change the town’s name to Barking Dogs.