Secession Study Shaping Up as Messy Divorce

The unprecedented study on the economic consequences of breaking up Los Angeles that will take place now that San Fernando Valley voters have petitioned to pursue municipal divorce may sound like a dry, humdrum accounting of city assets and liabilities.

In fact, it promises to be more like a politically charged trial--one in which Valley secessionists and their expert consultants square off against Los Angeles bureaucrats and elected officials, disputing facts as well as policy in an effort to influence the final verdict.

“It’s like a divorce between husband and wife,” said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who heads a panel that will hammer out the details of the study. “You get the vacation home. I get the camper. And we’ll let a judge decide who gets custody of the children.”

Valley VOTE, the group of business leaders and homeowners driving the secession campaign, will first be required to present its vision for turning the Valley’s sprawling expanse of postwar housing tracts into the nation’s sixth largest city. Los Angeles officials will then have a chance to offer a rebuttal, raising objections to the details of the breakup plan.

Hoping to dramatically reduce the number of issues that must be reviewed before secession can reach voters, Valley VOTE is planning to submit a preliminary proposal on division of city assets in coming weeks. Secession leaders say they are leaning toward asking only for the city assets north of Mulholland Drive, and sharing control of the Department of Water and Power, the nation’s largest publicly owned utility.

“It’s an unique opportunity to take a part in the process,” said Valley VOTE chairman Richard Close. “We’re not merely outsiders. We will be submitting our recommendations on what type of data should be studied and how the assets should be split. We don’t think it is necessary to value every firetruck and computer. But we want a fair valuation.”

Presiding over the process will be the Local Agency Formation Commission, a nine-member panel that usually handles minuscule municipal boundary shifts. Panel members--who include City Councilman Hal Bernson and county supervisors Yaroslavsky and Yvonne Brathwaite Burke--will initially attempt to play the role of arbitrator.

“No LAFCO in California has ever dealt with anything of this magnitude,” said Executive Director Larry Calemine. “We’ll be treading new ground. LAFCO is looking to be a facilitator in processing this thing. We want to let both sides discuss the issues as much as possible.”

But if that approach fails--as is widely expected by many of those involved--the panel will exercise its legal authority and act as judge, ruling in favor of one side or the other.

Ultimately, the panel must do so anyway, deciding whether the study shows Valley secession meets the standards required for a public vote.

To make the ballot, secessionists must prove that an independent Valley city can be economically viable and that the breakup can take place without hurting either side financially. Under a little-known state law, any split would have to be “revenue neutral,” significantly complicating the decision and potentially requiring municipal alimony payments from one side to the other.

Because the study is expected to take as long as two years, secession is not likely to appear on the ballot until 2002 at the earliest. It requires a majority vote of the Valley, but also of Los Angeles as a whole, which could theoretically occur without majority support from the remainder of the city because of historically high Valley turnout in city elections.

Before the study can take place, however, the commission must find a way to pay for it. Valley VOTE leaders say it would be unconstitutional for their group to shoulder the burden and have proposed that the city, county, state and federal governments share the cost, expected to run to several million dollars. Politicians at all four levels have agreed to seek the funding, but opposition is strong, particularly at the city and county level.

Councilman Richard Alatorre, chairman of the council’s Budget and Finance Committee, and panel vice chairwoman Rita Walters also said they oppose city funding of the study.

“I don’t know when they are coming [for help], but I ain’t voting for no money,” Alatorre said. “Why should I? If they want the facts, tell them to raise the money and give the people the facts. I don’t believe in secession.”

Indeed, a majority of council members said they are unsure how they will react when a funding request is submitted. Only councilmen Joel Wachs and Rudy Svorinich Jr. said Tuesday that they would support funding for a secession study.

“The citizens have done their part by collecting signatures,” Wachs said. “Government has a responsibility to complete the study.”

At the county level, secessionists may now have the necessary three votes from the Board of Supervisors after Burke said she would be willing to consider a funding request. Yaroslavsky and Supervisor Mike Antonovich have previously expressed support for funding a secession study.

“If the state and the city agree to pay for one third, I would agree to pay for one third,” Burke said.

At the state level, Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) said he will ask the Legislature to pay a portion of the study’s costs. Other state leaders, including Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles), have told him they are open to the proposal, Hertzberg said.

“There is no question in my mind that the burden of the cost for this study should be on government,” Hertzberg said. “When you go to trial, you don’t have to pay for the bailiffs, right? That is the cost of government, and so is this process.”

In Washington, D.C., Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), said he will seek funding for the study from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. But he conceded that the odds of success in Congress are steep.

“It’s a longshot. But it’s something we are still working on,” Sherman said. “There aren’t too many people on Capitol Hill that are interested in Valley secession at this time.”

Two prominent Valley political power brokers are preparing to launch an ambitious fund-raising campaign to assist Valley VOTE in paying for the study, and the experts needed. Businessman Bert Boeckmann, a city police commissioner, and attorney David Fleming, who heads the city fire commission, want to ensure the study takes place in a thorough and responsible manner, Fleming said.

“I think this will be beneficial to the city as a whole, regardless of whether this goes to the ballot,” Fleming said. “The citizens of Los Angeles are going to learn a lot from this process.

“We’re going to be putting light into a lot of dark corners.”