Slideshow: Needles' attempt to leave California

Needles residents talk about their desert city in contradictory terms.

They decry high gasoline and electricity prices, the crumbling houses in half-deserted neighborhoods and the sleepy downtown. In the next breath, they express fierce loyalty and a desire to live nowhere else.

"It's a strange thing," said Bernice Morris, who has lived in Needles almost 65 years. "We complain about it and we curse the City Council, but we love Needles."

Those dueling impulses have been on display this spring, as city officials threatened in April to break away from California and divorce what they have called an unsupportive San Bernardino County government.

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Rodrigo Peña/The Press-Enterprise

Needles resident Karla Greable, right, manages the Hungry Bear in Needles. At left is Richard Stamper, of Needles, and his daughter Stephanie Farmer, of Goodyear, Ariz. “It’s sad because I like Needles,” Greable said about the high costs of living.

Residents have long held a simmering discontent over what they perceive as second-class status in their home county, as well as the strangling high costs of living in California.

Discontent escalated to talk of secession after the county Board of Supervisors proposed to strip Needles' hospital of its emergency room and inpatient services.

County officials said the hospital does not get enough patients to be self-sustaining. Needles officials and residents saw the proposed downgrade as the final straw for a city stuck in a downward spiral.

Their struggle, they say, is only underscored by the prosperity of neighboring cities across the state lines in Arizona and Nevada.

"By closing the hospital, that was just another nail in our coffin," said Needles City Councilman Robert Smith. "Why would a family move here?"

A Railroad Town

Morris, head of the local museum, said the city, which drew its name from the nearby pointy mountain peaks, was founded in 1883 as a railroad town. Train crews and their families moved to the community nestled on the banks of the Colorado River.

"They built a grocery store and many saloons," Morris said.

When she first arrived in Needles from Texas, Morris said she was overwhelmed by the heat. The area often pushes 120 degrees during the summer.

"I wanted to get back on the train. It was August and it was horribly, horribly, horribly hot," said Morris, 91.

But she quickly fell in love with the place. On Saturday nights, residents could chose from among a dozen bars, and on Sunday morning, they had almost as many options for church, she said.

The railroad was the lifeblood of the sun-baked town, and the streets teemed with activity, she said.

"Oh yes," she said, enjoying the memory. "The railroad employed so many people ... We had as many as 10,000 people then and they stood in line at the theater, they stood in line at the sweet shop, they stood in line at the drugstores."

Shrinking Population

Now, roughly half the population and most of the stores are gone.

The movie theater has not shown a film in 20 years, residents said. On the side of the museum, the word Penney's is still etched in paint, a faded reminder of a long-shuttered department store.

The railroad dismantled much of its Needles operation in the 1960s, leaving a void that has never been filled.

"The city has never recovered," she said.

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The 2000 census put Needles' population at 4,830. The city was one of the few that shrank during the Southern California growth spurt of the 1990s.

The population has rebounded slightly since then, some city leaders said. But others say the exodus continues.

The Needles Unified School District lost 114 students in the school year just concluding, said Superintendent Dave Renquest.

"We've seen shrinking enrollment for the last dozen or so years. It's been a steady downward plunge," he said.

The district's seven schools have about 1,000 students.

While the district is small, its athletic teams are the pride of Needles. This year, girls teams won championships in Nevada leagues in basketball and softball. Boys teams won in baseball and football.

Students compete in neighboring states because even the closest California communities are too far away.

"We are not on the edge of the planet, but you can see it from here," Renquest joked. "Our nearest neighbors in California are more than 100 miles away."

In one of the few remaining Needles bars -- Hartwick's Hungry Bear -- Karla Greavle knows nearly every customer. The 43-year-old bartender doesn't wait for her regulars to order before she replaces their empty bottles with the next fresh beer.

She said Needles residents flee to Arizona and Nevada because the cost of living is lower there.

"On my street there are 12 houses, and six of them are for sale," she said.

Electricity costs are high in Needles -- a significant expense during the blistering summer when air conditioning is not an option. Gasoline prices are about a dollar a gallon higher than at stations across the state line, she said.

"It's sad because I like Needles," she said. "It's a great place to live."

Needles 'Comes Through'

Her love of the town was challenged in December, when doctors diagnosed her with cervical cancer. The local hospital could not treat her, and her medical insurance was not accepted in Nevada.

So, for several months, five days a week, she drove nearly four hours each way to Loma Linda for treatment.

She said she supports the city joining Nevada, if only because "then I wouldn't have to make that drive."

As fuel costs ate away her bank account, Greavle was reminded of why she loves the city. In April, residents held a fundraiser and collected about $10,000 to help her.

"The town of Needles comes through," she said, struggling with emotion. "They come through for you when you are down."

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Rodrigo Peña/The Press-Enterprise

The city of Needles, founded in 1883 as a railroad town, was named after the pointy mountain peaks in the area.

The town also has a history of looking after itself.

In the 1960s, it successfully fought the diversion of Interstate 40 away from Needles and through Searchlight, Nev. City leaders say winning that fight kept Needles afloat.

And on more than one occasion, the city has run its own hospital, the Colorado River Medical Center.

In April, the city took over once again, after flirting for nearly a year with having San Bernardino County manage it. The hospital's previous administrators, LifePoint Hospital, built a medical center in nearby Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

With physicians leaving and services dwindling, the Needles council turned to the county for help. The Board of Supervisors offered to take over but said the county could only offer a lower level of service, making the hospital more like an urgent care facility.

Feeling Betrayed

Since its earliest days, Needles has had a medical clinic. City leaders are proud of that heritage and were outraged at the proposal.

Councilman Richie Pletcher, who mows the medical center lawn to save money, said city leaders felt betrayed.

It was initially estimated that the city had enough money to keep the hospital open 45 days.

But staff is working without overtime and benefits and patient traffic has been brisk, said hospital CEO Rob Mannix. It is too early to tell, but he said he believes the hospital could break even, or even make some money.

He said it grossed $2.47 million in April, with about 800 emergency room visits.

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Rodrigo Peña/The Press-Enterprise

Dr. Edward Paget, of Needles, came back out of retirement to help at the city’s Colorado River Medical Center.

Even if the hospital proves financially viable, city leaders continue to explore secession. The City Council has formed a nine-member committee to study it. The council has shelved the thought of forming its own county in California, Pletcher said.

That would have required a minimum population of 10,000 residents and approval by two sets of voters -- those in the area seceding and those in the county losing residents.

Joining Nevada or Arizona won't be any easier.

It would require an act of Congress and approval of legislatures in both California and the adoptive state.

Needles officials have not contacted officials in their neighboring states yet, preferring to first explore the issue at home, they said.

Some residents scoff at the notion of leaving California.

"I think it's ridiculous," said resident Marilyn Willis. "I can't see it happening in my lifetime."

Reach Zeke Minaya at 909-806-3062 or zminaya@PE.com