She Should Have Said ‘No’

Where one stands depends on where one sits. Nowhere is that clearer than in the ongoing battle over the boundaries of the new “West Hills” section of Canoga Park.

Should you be blissfully unaware of this guerrilla war, it began some months ago with a petition to Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus from the “West Hills Property Owners Assn.” for recognition, but not actual incorporation, of their relatively affluent section of Canoga Park as a new community of West Hills. This was justified on the basis that the inhabitants of that neighborhood could not enjoy a full “sense of community” without such a separate geographic designation.

That, of course, is pure sophistry. Tired of living in untrendy Canoga Park, with its “aging factories and subdivisions,” the West Hills aspirants were wearier still of real property values that were rising only slowly or not at all. Why not, then, simply divorce the faithful but aging and, frankly, boring remainder of Canoga Park, thus increasing their own property values at the expense of the remaining Canoga Park landowners?

Why not indeed? A petition was presented to Picus, who, like most politicians, is only too willing to bestow benefits on organized groups of constituents provided only that the costs can be hidden through diffusion across a much larger group of losers. Presto! The new community of West Hills was born. Its boundaries, of course, were wholly arbitrary, and those excluded--the losers--proved to Picus’ chagrin to be far less diffused than she had imagined.

The political shrapnel began to issue from those scorned, whereupon Picus agreed to extend the boundaries of West Hills to some adjacent neighborhoods just as pleasant as those within the original boundaries. This raised the ire of the original West Hills petitioners, who obviously were loath to see their gains diluted; their “sense of community” carries a “small is beautiful” qualifier. Not to be confused with Solomon, Picus tried to divide the baby by declaring the newly admitted neighborhoods “open zones,” to be referred to as Canoga Park or as West Hills as each inhabitant might deem appropriate.

Unsurprisingly, this satisfied no one --least of all the once-scorned, once-embraced, scorned-again inhabitants of the open zones. Picus responded by circulating a letter solemnly informing all concerned that property values are “highly subjective” and dependent on “a number of variables.” This infantile obfuscation was co-signed by a realtor, James R. Gary, who availed himself of this opportunity to attack “real estate agents” (that is, his competitors) who “have made inflammatory comments” and who (unlike himself, of course) are “motivated by a desire to generate property listings and commissions.”

This letter could not have swayed a child, and so Picus, unable to make the controversy go away, convened a meeting of the leaders of the factions. With no compromise in sight, Picus finally has decided to abide by a poll of constituents in three candidate neighborhoods, displaying yet again her abhorrence of leadership.

By this time, of course, Picus wishes that she had never heard of West Hills. And that is as it should be, for the saga of West Hills is nothing more than the story of one special-interest group attempting to use the political process for the purpose of appropriating the wealth of others. It is, therefore, of far greater relevance than as a mere squabble in the western San Fernando Valley. We cannot be inspired by the crass political calculations of Picus, whatever the degree to which they have backfired. As long as politicians refuse to say “no,” supplicants will appear at their doors, and the economy will be driven less by productivity and more by connections and influence.

And it would have been relatively easy to say “no” in this case; after all, if the original West Hills petitioners do not want to live in Canoga Park, with its “aging factories and subdivisions,” then they should not have purchased property there. Moreover, the original West Hills petitioners as a group are wealthier than the remaining inhabitants of Canoga Park; should politicians transfer wealth upward?

That Picus now should be denied the political benefits of her actions is delicious; one can hope only that it will serve as a deterrent to other decision-makers faced with similar pressures. The appropriate--and courageous--course now for Picus would be to delete the West Hills designation everywhere , thus returning all property owners to their original positions.

More generally, we should strive for institutions that constrain rather than reward efforts to acquire wealth through political activity. This means that government spending should be limited and its regulatory powers constrained. And the ability of local politicians to bestow such benefits as new geographic designations should be eliminated unless clearly associated with some larger public good. Such constraints on the power of government would serve to limit the satisfaction of special-interest demands in favor of the larger public interest.