Accepting defeat, General Flores fled southeast to Sonora, while Major Pico headed north into the San Gabriel Mountains with a hundred Californios.

[13][14] Leonis created an enticing attraction, leasing property to the founders of the city, for a baseball stadium, a 7,000-seat boxing arena, and the "world's longest bar", 100 feet long with thirty-seven bartenders.

The most important of these was that of 1925, when almost 800 acres of the Central Manufacturing District, which was already built up with 28 industrial plants, adding an assessed valuation of $8 million to the city's resources.

This annexation was voted up unanimously by Mr & Mrs A. J. Olsen, of 4318 S. Downey Road, the only two legal voters in the district.

1887, Castle Donington, Leicestershire, England) and his wife Judith (née Furlong), who in 1913 were married at St. Martha's Church in Vernon.

Twenty-seven slaughterhouses and the Los Angeles Union Stock Yards eventually lined Vernon Avenue from Soto Street to Downey Road until the late 1960s.

[12] The 1940s and 1950s added aerospace contractors Norris Industries, box and paper manufacturers, drug companies such as Brunswig, and food processors General Mills and Kal Kan.

[20] The City of Vernon alleged that the men were part of a hostile takeover attempt by convicted felon Albert T. Robles, who nearly bankrupted the nearby city of South Gate as treasurer, and Eduardo Olivo, a former Vernon attorney who also worked with Albert T. Robles in South Gate.

During the trial it was alleged that all three of the newcomer candidates had direct ties to Albert T. Robles: Alejandro Lopez is a first cousin, David Johnson Jr. is the brother-in-law of a business partner, and Don A. Huff is associated through Eduardo Olivo.

[23] In August 2006, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Aurelio Munoz ruled that the newcomers received free rent and jobs prior to registering to vote and that they were involved in a scheme orchestrated by Albert T. Robles and Eduardo Olivo to "steal" the election, but that such actions were not illegal.

The Los Angeles District Attorney's office had launched an investigation in April 2005 upon allegations that the city's former administrator, Bruce Malkenhorst Sr., had misappropriated public funds for personal use.

[24] Malkenhorst Sr. was charged with 18 counts of "misappropriation of public funds" for reportedly taking $60,000 of city money for personal use.

Malkenhorst Sr., who also has been charged with misappropriation of public funds,[24] retired in 2005, and as a former employee, still receives a pension that is the highest in the state of California.

[citation needed] His total of $105,000 in fines will be no problem for Malkenhurst, who continues to receive the highest public pension in California: $509,664.

"The law states that pensions are revoked if an elected official is convicted of a felony, but not in the case of an employee," said Brad Pacheco, a spokesman for CalPERS.

[citation needed] O'Callaghan was indicted by a Los Angeles grand jury on three felony counts of conflict of interest and misappropriation of public funds.

[citation needed] The Los Angeles Times reported that Eric Fresch, who now serves as a legal consultant, has been paid over $1 million for the last four years.

[33] Prosecutors stated he claimed to live in Vernon but actually had a home in the wealthy Hancock Park area of Los Angeles.

[34] The allegations of rampant corruption prompted the state Assembly to approve Pérez's proposed legislation, AB46, to disincorporate cities with fewer than 150 residents.

[35] According to an editorial in the April 26, 2011, edition of the Long Beach Press-Telegram, support to maintain Vernon's city status came from two powerful groups that were rarely allied: The business community (including the California, Los Angeles, and Vernon chambers of commerce) and the labor community (including the Los Angeles Federation of Labor and the Teamsters) joined in the battle against Sacramento.

Gloria Molina, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, which has voted in support of disincorporating Vernon, stated: It is a "company town masquerading as a city.

[37] In the last few weeks of the legislative session of summer 2011, a team of attorneys and lobbyists from Vernon were trying to kill the bill that would disincorporate the city when state Senator Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) came to them with a creative and unconventional offer.

[39] The Vernon City Council unanimously passed salary limits and other wide-ranging reforms on May 26, 2011, as the tiny Los Angeles suburb fought efforts to eliminate its cityhood.

[citation needed] The reforms took the city of Vernon further toward a more open, transparent and inclusive governance structure," MacFarlane said.

[citation needed] In effect, this means that the democratic process in Vernon can no longer be a carefully managed internal affair used to keep already influential individuals in power, a major adjustment in its own right.

[64] According to the 2010 United States Census, Vernon had a median household income of $32,188, with 20.0% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

Apparel companies in Vernon include 7 for All Mankind, BCBG Max Azria, Lucky Brand Jeans, and True Religion.

In 1989, Vernon formed a redevelopment agency, which has since invested millions of dollars to develop property within the city to successfully attract and retain business.

In March 2015, the facility was permanently shut down by California regulators due to decades-long arsenic and lead leakage and emissions that are expected to require extensive cleanup efforts.

In the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Vernon is in the Fourth District, represented by Janice Hahn.