Putting Secession on the Map

The map makers are at it again.

Yes, more news on the secession front. And I’m not talking about “Valley Glen,” the little neighborhood that got an attitude and decided it wasn’t part of Van Nuys anymore.

This is bigger secession news. Bigger, but not necessarily big. For all the agitating about new cities, new school districts, new transit agencies, etc., secessionists of every stripe have yet to actually make the kind of news they dream of making.

State Sen. Pete Knight (R-Palmdale) is the latest to take a stab at cartography. He recently wrote legislation that proposes that chunks of Los Angeles, Kern and San Bernardino counties be carved away and merged to form “High Desert County.” It would be located north of the San Fernando Valley, stretching east from Interstate 5 all the way to the Nevada border.

“Knight’s county would make three good counties,” says Santa Clarita Councilman Carl Boyer, a secessionist from way back. “Canyon County, Antelope County and Mohave County.”

Used to be that everybody was a critic. Now everybody’s a cartographer.

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“High Desert” would be California’s 59th county. Knight’s idea of course triggered instant objections. Politicians don’t give up power just because it might seem like a good idea, and Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who represents the parts of L.A. County that Knight covets, swiftly went on record against the plan.

Knight, old test pilot that he is, must realize his prototype won’t fly as is. Some engineering flaws are obvious. But before dwelling on what’s wrong with his idea, let’s consider what might be right. And to do that, let’s compare Knight’s case for secession with our hardy Valleyistas.

First, the complaint that Valleyistas make about L.A., the city--that it’s just too big--is triply true for L.A., the county. And although Valleyistas point to the Santa Monica Mountains as a great geological barrier, this is a speed bump compared to the San Gabriels. In the San Fernando Valley, people sometimes say they’re going “over the hill.” In the Antelope Valley, people bound for L.A. say they are going “down below,” which sounds more like hell than the City of Angels.

Then there’s the cultural differences. Valleyistas say the Valley, while much more ethnically diverse than in yesteryear, is more of a conservative, “family values” kind of place than the rest of L.A. But not only is the Valley becoming more like L.A. ethnically, the influence of the entertainment industry is growing. (If the Valleyistas ever do succeed in seceding, “L.A. Lite” might make a good name.)

But drive up to the Antelope Valley and you know you’ve left L.A., no matter what the county map says. Palmdale and Lancaster, for all their growing pains, sprouted in a harsh, windy landscape of Joshua trees and tumbleweeds. L.A. is by turns an urban jungle and a glamorous paradise. The Antelope Valley is neither, the character rugged and flinty, the politics much more conservative, with an influential strain of religious fundamentalism.

Then there’s the troublesome “fair share” issue. Every secessionist figures that his or her community is in some way getting the shaft from the established order. Mayor Riordan’s office contends that past imbalances have been corrected. But any geographical assessment of how and where and why revenues are collected and spent is a tricky business. The biggest budget item is public safety, and although the Valley has fewer police officers per capita than the remainder of the city, it has more cops per crime. The city’s crime rate has been going down for more than five consecutive years at a faster pace than the decline nationwide.

Lancaster and Palmdale, sadly, have been bucking that trend of late. Rapid growth has brought an increasing crime rate. And the criminal courts have been so overloaded for years that residents there must make the long drive “down below” to address civil complaints. The county’s delivery of health-care services is another frequent complaint.

Yet another “fair share” issue concerns the democratic process. Valley secessionists often complain about alleged lack of representation on the City Council. The Valley constitutes about 35% of the city as a whole, but only four of the 15 council members actually reside in the Valley, while three have districts that straddle the mountains and include parts of the Valley.

Now, the county Board of Supervisors is a very different beast. A county supe is not one in a million. A supe is one in 2 million. Each represents gargantuan districts with about 2 million residents--or about 1.75 million more people than are represented by L.A. council members. The Antelope Valley is just part of one supervisor’s district.

So the old idea of busting up L.A County is advanced once again. The most glaring flaw in Knight’s plan is the fact that he would bring such distant and different cities as Santa Clarita and Needles into one domain. Santa Clarita, more of a traditional L.A. suburb, relates more to both the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County than to the Antelope Valley.

Santa Clarita’s Carl Boyer, of course, suggests that his city would make a fine county seat for a new Canyon County. Boyer’s been beating this drum for more than 20 years. Incorporation of the city of Santa Clarita provided more local control, but, Boyer says, it also demonstrated the need for a separate county because Santa Clarita’s wishes have been ignored as development keeps growing beyond city limits.

No, Knight’s bill isn’t the solution, Boyer says, but it will keep the kettle boiling. More important, he notes, was Assemblyman George Runner’s legislation last year that provides a mechanism for dividing Los Angeles County. More politicking has to be done, Boyer says, to get support from distant cities in the South Bay, San Gabriel Valley and Southeast to make Runner’s dream a reality.

So hope springs eternal. But there’s that other old saying: The more things change, the more they remain the same. The way Santa Clarita keeps growing, it reminds me more and more of south Orange County, only without the beach. And, by the way, south Orange County has a secession movement, too.

Scott Harris’ column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Readers may write to him at The Times’ Valley Edition, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, CA 91311, or via e-mail at scott.harris@latimes.com Please include a phone number.