You d never get them to give it up. That s why merging all nine cities into one can t happen, politically. Maybe if we were starting from scratch . No city for sure, no city hall will ever voluntarily give up its independence. On the other hand, I believe the average voter doesn t give two hoots about local government.
Residents don t even think about it unless service levels are too low or taxes are too high.
What they do care about, though, is land use. They will fight to keep control of that. It s fundamental. Land use control was the chief reason why Palm Desert incorporated back in 1973. A really ugly, county-approved apartment project had been built and residents detested it.