Mayor Says City Will Pay Share of Secession Study

Breaking from his former hard-line position, Mayor Richard Riordan met Thursday with San Fernando Valley secessionists and agreed the city should pay “its fair share” of the costs of a study of Valley cityhood, a spokeswoman for the mayor said.

The pledge by Riordan came as government officials and secessionists were moving closer to a cost-sharing formula under which the state, which authorized the secession process, would pay most of the cost.

The meeting with Riordan at the Regency Club in Westwood was orchestrated by Valley leaders close to Riordan, including Police Commissioner Bert Boeckmann and Fire Commission President David Fleming, who both attended the session.

Boeckmann and Fleming are financial backers of Valley VOTE, the group pushing Valley secession. They have begun fund-raising to cover Valley VOTE’s share of the study costs, and already have tentative pledges totaling more than $500,000, Fleming said Thursday.

Riordan continues to believe the study will show secession will not be good for the Valley, but he acknowledged that the city has an obligation to help complete the analysis because it was triggered when more than 130,000 Valley voters signed petitions, officials said.

“He has agreed that the city should pay a portion of the . . . study, its fair share,” Deputy Mayor Noelia Rodriguez said. “The mayor believes that in the interest of fairness, the city should pay a share, as well as the county and state.”

Riordan did not commit to a specific dollar figure, but sources say the actual study is expected to cost about $2.5 million, and the city’s share might be 10% of that, or $250,000, which is in addition to the internal costs of providing data.

“He believes the facts will bear him out that it is in the interest of the Valley for the city to stay united,” Rodriguez said.

City Council approval is needed, and opposition is expected.

Valley VOTE Chairman Richard Close, who attended the meeting with fellow group leader Jeff Brain and attorney Rob Glushon, said the commitment by the mayor is a significant step forward.

“Even though we did not change his mind on the benefits of Valley cityhood, it is a major accomplishment that we found some common ground,” Close said.

In addition to supporting the city’s financial involvement in the study, Close said Riordan also pledged to make sure the city cooperates in providing data and assistance to the Local Agency Formation Commission, which must determine whether Valley cityhood would hurt Los Angeles financially.

“He said he would work to make sure the required information was given to LAFCO and the study is done in a timely manner,” Close said. “That’s important. We always were concerned the city would stonewall and drag its feet on it for years.”

One source close to Riordan said the recent defeat at the polls of a $744-million bond for police and fire facilities has convinced the mayor voters may not fund needed city projects until the cityhood issue is settled.

Officials putting together the proposal for funding the study say talks are now focused on a formula in which the state would provide 60% of the money, the county 20%, the city 10% and Valley VOTE 10%.

“We have been in that range,” confirmed county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, a LAFCO member. “I don’t think anything is in concrete, but we think the state should pick up the bulk of the cost.”

Assemblyman Robert Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) has tentatively agreed to lead the bid for state funding, officials said.

Valley VOTE estimates it will pay an additional $500,000 in other application costs. Those costs, separate from the study, include determining what data are needed and developing a draft organization plan for a new Valley city that divides assets, Close said.