Petition Drive Starts for Valley Secession Study

It has been two years since a handful of disgruntled San Fernando Valley residents united in support of legislation easing the way for political secession from the city of Los Angeles.

Shut out in 1996, leaders of Valley VOTE tried harder and a year later celebrated with champagne as Gov. Pete Wilson signed the bill into law.

Valley VOTE leaders will soon learn if their perseverance will pay off.

Starting today, an estimated 4,000 volunteers are expected to fan across the Valley, intent on collecting 135,000 signatures on a petition calling for a study of the effect of secession. It is the first step in a long, complicated breakup process.

But a Times survey shows that as the key drive begins, there is no consensus within the organization itself. Two-thirds of Valley VOTE’s board of directors are not convinced that secession is the best way to redress their grievances about the shortcomings of city government, according to the survey.

“Clearly, I want the study,” said board member Lee Kanon Alpert, an attorney from Northridge. “Without a study we can’t make an educated judgment.”

Nearly three-fourths of the 21 board members say the top reason they support the petition drive is to provide the information needed to decide on secession.

“I want to see what the facts and figures are about whether the San Fernando Valley can stand on its own feet,” said board member Walter N. Prince, the president of a janitorial services company in Northridge.

Of the Valley VOTE members who support secession, three out of four say a breakup is needed because Los Angeles is too big and the government bureaucracy is unresponsive.

“It’s an issue of the delivery of municipal services,” said board treasurer Bruce L. Bialosky, a Studio City real estate broker who supports secession. “It’s not happening the way it should be in Los Angeles because of its size.”

While the group as a whole is reluctant to endorse secession, three out of four board members say they believe the Los Angeles Unified School District should be broken up into smaller districts.

“I’m for [breaking up the LAUSD] for the same reasons I support Valley independence: We need smaller, more responsive government,” said board member Gerald A. Silver, a college professor from Encino.

The survey shows that about half of Valley VOTE board members are also members of Valley homeowner groups. The rest are members of business groups and charitable organizations or work independently as community activists. Board members are longtime residents, having lived in the Valley for an average of 32 years, the survey shows.

The group, lead by Jeff S. Brain, a real estate consultant and former president of the Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce, and Richard H. Close, an attorney and president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., operates out of a donated storefront office in Sherman Oaks. Brain and Close have repeatedly declined to identify the group’s financial backers or disclose how much the group has raised in contributions. They said they are concealing the name of contributors to protect them from retribution by secession opponents, such as the Los Angeles City Council.

Two months ago, Valley VOTE leaders were energized by a survey finding that 58% of 1,205 likely Valley voters favored an independent city.

The survey--funded by Valley business leaders David Flemming and Herbert Boeckmann--found that supporters of a Valley secession were relatively evenly divided on the reasons, with 17% saying local control would increase, 14% saying local tax dollars would be kept in the Valley and 11% saying more efficient government would be created.

Brain said he expects the petition drive to be an overwhelming success, predicting that more than 4,000 volunteers will participate in the petition drive. He is also negotiating with Kimball Petition Management of Agoura Hills to use about 70 professional petition circulators to help volunteers collect the required signatures. Brain said Kimball will be paid 93 cents per signature.

Valley VOTE plans to take advantage of Tuesday’s primary election by stationing volunteers near about 250 Valley polling sites.

Brain said Valley VOTE’s offices have been “besieged” with callers interested in helping to collect signatures. “The buzz is out there,” he said.

That buzz has been around for decades. The first serious secession movement came 20 years ago when another group of disgruntled Valley residents and business owners united to study Valley secession.

The group, Citizens Investigating Valley Independent City/County, commissioned a study in 1977 to determine whether the Valley was getting its fair share of services from the city of Los Angeles.

The 17-page report, drafted by Jackson Mayers, an economics instructor at Valley College, concluded that Valley residents contributed 40% of the city’s taxes and received 15% of the city’s services in return.

In response to the study, the group called for a movement to cleave the Valley from Los Angeles. But the movement died when then-Mayor Tom Bradley and the League of California Cities joined forces to push legislation giving the City Council power to veto any secession movement.

Nearly 20 years later, in 1996, Assemblywoman Paula Boland (R-Northridge) introduced a bill to return to voters the power to decide. The bill died in the state Senate.

Last year, Assemblymen Tom McClintock (R-Northridge) and Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) introduced a compromise version of Boland’s bill, which was supported by Valley VOTE and the City Council. It was signed into law by Wilson and took effect Jan. 1.

But the bill did not make the process for breaking up the city easy.

Valley VOTE has 90 days to collect the signatures of 25% of the Valley’s registered voters. If the group succeeds, the Local Agency Formation Commission, an independent regional panel, must conduct a study on the feasibility of a Valley secession.

If the study shows that the Valley can sustain itself as a separate city without financially hurting Los Angeles, the county Board of Supervisors would put a secession measure on a citywide ballot. A majority in both the Valley and the entire city is required for passage.

It was the secession movement that triggered a parallel reform effort to overhaul the city charter. Anti-secessionists such as Mayor Richard Riordan have urged secessionists to instead join in the move to redraw the charter.

But Valley VOTE directors have mixed opinions about two citizen commissions--an elected panel and an appointed panel--working to rewrite the charter, a document that acts as the city’s constitution.

Fewer than one-third of Valley VOTE board members said they believe positive changes will result. The rest either have no faith in the reform effort or are not sure what to expect.

“The panels should be given a chance to come up with something,” said board member Tony Pasano, a tax consultant from Northridge. “But you also have to look at the realities. One is made up of political appointees and the other is beholden to large special interests such as the teacher’s union and labor unions. They may not solve anything.”

Alpert, the Northridge lawyer, has more faith in the reform panels.

“I’m hoping that charter reform works,” he said. “I think the book is still out. If it doesn’t happen, then we will have secession.”

This story was compiled from a survey conducted by Martin, Researcher Stephanie Stassel and correspondent Jon Steinman.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

FYI

Members of the executive board of directors of Valley VOTE surveyed for this story are: Mel Alfarero, Lee Kanon Alpert, Benny Bernal, Bruce L. Bialosky, Leroy Chase, Carlos Ferreyra, Marie Harris, Manny Lares, J. Richard Leyner, Guy McCreary, Alice McCain, Tony Pasano, Walter N. Prince, Donald Schultz, Irwin Silon, Gerald A. Silver, Gary Thomas, John Walker, Polly Ward, Jeff S. Brain, president, and Richard H. Close, chairman.