Number of Latinos, Whites Now Nearly Equal in the Valley

Fueled by an explosive growth of Latinos, a new San Fernando Valley city, split from Los Angeles, would be home to a nearly equal number of Latinos and whites, according to an analysis of 2000 census data by The Times.

Whites lost their majority status among the 1.4 million residents of the Valley, the census shows. Whites now make up at least 42% of the Valley population and 23% in the remainder of Los Angeles; Latinos make up 39% of the Valley and 45% of the rest of Los Angeles.

From 1990 to 2000, the Latino population shot up 42%, surging more than four times as fast as the rest of Los Angeles.

The Valley is also the growth engine of the city--its total population growing more than three times faster than the area on the other side of the Santa Monica Mountains.

This portrait of L.A., cleaved in half at Mulholland Drive, emerges from a Times analysis of Census 2000. The vigorous shift in the past decade means Latino political clout continues to grow.

“You can’t do anything in the Valley without appealing to Latino voters,” said strategist Darry Sragow, a former advisor to Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks).

Still, many are too young to vote or are immigrants who are ineligible to vote. As a result, whites in the Valley are expected to continue to have substantially more influence in elections, he said.

Some political analysts suspect most Latinos in the Valley oppose seceding from Los Angeles, which would occur only if approved by a majority of voters citywide.

It’s unclear how receptive Latino voters would be to the argument, pushed by separatists, that local control of a smaller city could benefit them.

“Everybody, everywhere, I don’t care where you live, wants to have the same services and resources for their family, whether you live in Sherman Oaks, Pacoima or Beverly Hills,” said James Acevedo, a strategist for several Latino elected officials in the northeast Valley.

At the same time, Acevedo added: “I don’t see an outpouring of Latino leaders sitting here saying Valley secession is good for their communities.”

It’s clear the Valley’s increasing diversity will shape the debate over secession. It can be used by separatists, for instance, to fend off charges the movement for Valley cityhood amounts to “white flight” from the rest of Los Angeles.

“It definitely shows that we’re not the white enclave bedroom community that people say we are,” said Carlos Ferreyra, a board member of the Valley VOTE secession group.

“We have always rejected the argument that it is an affluent movement or white flight,” said Jeff Brain, president of Valley VOTE. “Most of those arguments are made by people who don’t know the Valley. And those of us who are actively involved know it would be one of the most diverse cities in the nation.”

The state’s fastest rate of voter registration among Latinos is in Pacoima, Arleta and the rest of the northeast Valley, centered in the heart of Assemblyman Tony Cardenas’ (D-Sylmar) district, according to data from the Los Angeles City/County Latino Redistricting Coalition.

In a six-year study of Latino registration, Cardenas’ 39th District jumped from 28.4% in 1992 to 44.7% in 1998, said Alan Clayton, research chairman for the coalition.

In numbers, Latinos south of Cahuenga Pass are nearly double those in the Valley, at least 1 million to 529,000.

Asians are now just 9% and blacks 4% of the Valley’s population. On the other side of Los Angeles, blacks now represent 15% and Asians 11% of the population. The Asian population grew at 29% and the black population at 19% in the Valley from 1990 to 2000.

The Rev. Zedar Broadous, president of the San Fernando Valley branch of the NAACP, who joined the Valley VOTE board about a month ago, said blacks in the Valley are moving across the region and up to the Antelope Valley. Without a central, historic community, their power base is diminishing, he said.

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Secession View

In the last decade, the Latino population of Los Angeles surged. Today, if voters approved a San Fernando Valley secession and the city were split at Mulholland Drive, there would be about as many Latinos as whites in the Valley area. South of Mulholland, Latinos are by far the largest population group.

* Includes Pacific Islanders

Compiled by: RICHARD O’REILLY, RAY HERNDON and SANDRA POINDEXTER

Source: Census Bureau

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Times director of computer analysis Richard O’Reilly, computer project editor Ray Herndon and data analyst Sandra Poindexter contributed to this story.

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Times director of computer analysis Richard O’Reilly, computer project editor Ray Herndon and data analyst Sandra Poindexter contributed to this story.