L.A. Area Chamber Opposes Secession as Bad for Business

The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce is opposed to secession by the San Fernando Valley, harbor area and Hollywood because breaking up the city would be bad for business, the group’s president said Tuesday.

“Secession will do nothing to help our region’s ability to deal with the many complex issues that are facing us,” said chamber President Rusty Hammer.

“By creating new layers of government, new bureaucracies [and] more elected officials, [secession] will make it much more difficult to come together on solutions to the problems facing Los Angeles.”

Hammer also said that creating smaller cities would make it more difficult to tackle regional problems, such as transportation and housing.

Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn welcomed the chamber’s decision. “Business needs to count on predictability, and what is in the offing right now is very unpredictable,” Hahn said. “Now that we’re in the midst of this [economic] recovery, this is exactly the wrong time to break up Los Angeles. It could throw us back into a recession.”

But Richard Katz, co-chairman of the Valley secession campaign, said that businesses in the breakaway regions support secession and believe it would be best for them.

“Nothing epitomizes the downtown power structure more than the L.A. Chamber does,” Katz said.

The organization’s opposition to secession comes out of a desire by the powerful to hold onto their influence, more than a concern for business, he said.

The chamber board plans to announce its decision at a news conference today.