City Council Seeks Way to Give Valley More Power

Hoping to quash secession talk in the San Fernando Valley, the Los Angeles City Council instructed analysts Tuesday to study possible changes in the city’s governing structure to give residents more decision-making authority.

The motion, by Councilman Richard Alarcon, suggests that among other models, analysts consider a governing plan based on the charter school system, which gives schools greater independence on spending and teaching issues.

“The bottom line is that I’m trying to explore possibilities of local control to give people a sense of empowerment,” he said.

Alarcon, who first called for the study after the council voted last week to oppose a bill in Sacramento that would make secession easier, said he hopes changes in the city’s governing structure will address complaints from residents in the Valley and elsewhere who demand more say in deciding local issues.

“I want to create a disincentive to secession,” he said.

The motion was not the first effort to explore changes in the city structure to address secession talk.

Several weeks ago, Councilman Mike Feuer, who heads the council’s Rules and Elections Committee, asked city analysts to study possible amendments to the city’s charter to increase local control over city issues.

Using charter schools as a model, Alarcon said, the city could break up the city into many communities, which would each have the power to tax themselves to make local improvements.

He said the analysts may also study the borough system of governance used in New York City, which gives more administrative powers to the five major portions of the city.

Avak Keotahian, an analyst with the city of Los Angeles, said his office would respond to Alarcon’s motion by studying the governing structure of several major cities in the country and report to the council on alternative systems.

But Keotahian said he worked in New York for four years and believes that the governing system for the city of Los Angeles is more democratic than the borough system in New York, where power is centralized in the mayor’s office.

“The mayor runs that city with an iron fist,” he said.

In a related development, Mayor Richard Riordan, who has repeatedly voiced opposition to a Valley secession, used a radio appearance Tuesday to continue to campaign against secession.

In an interview on KCRW’s “Which Way L.A.?” Riordan said a Valley secession would hurt the city by eliminating a large segment of its middle class. The Valley, on the other hand, would lose the benefits of the city’s airports and harbors, he said.

“The bottom line is that secession is a lose-lose [proposition] for the city of L.A. and for the Valley,” he said.

Secession talk in the Valley has been spurred in part by a state bill proposed by Assemblywoman Paula Boland (R-Granada Hills). State law currently gives the City Council the power to veto a vote by any area that wants to secede. Boland’s bill, which was recently passed by the Assembly, would eliminate the council’s veto power.

Last week, the council voted 8 to 6 to oppose the bill, saying that if the council were to lose its veto power, the bill should at least allow the rest of the city a vote on a secession movement.