Fund Help OKd on Hollywood Secession Study

A Los Angeles City Council committee agreed Friday to help pay for a study on cityhood for Hollywood, but uncertainty over county and state funding cast doubt on whether the plan to secede from L.A. could be put before voters next year.

Supporters of Hollywood cityhood are scrambling to cobble together the $290,000 requested for the study by Los Angeles County’s Local Agency Formation Commission.

The commission is already preparing a fiscal study of proposals for San Fernando Valley and Harbor area secession from Los Angeles. The panel hopes to finish the study in time to put the plans on the November 2002 ballot.

Supporters of Hollywood secession want their proposal put to a vote at the same time, but LAFCO must first come up with the money to add the plan to the study.

On Friday the City Council’s ad hoc committee on secession approved a plan to chip in $29,000. The proposal must still clear the full council. But neither the county nor the state have agreed to provide the rest, despite a similar deal that is paying for the Valley and Harbor study.

“It’s the only fair thing to do, to give us the funding they gave for the Valley and the Harbor,” said Fares Wehbe, president of the Hollywood VOTE secession group.

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Meanwhile, the council committee tried to end a dispute between LAFCO and city officials over a revenue report that LAFCO says it needs for the secession study. The draft report released by the city last month broke down L.A.’s revenue by geography, giving the amounts produced by the Valley, Harbor area and the rest of the city.

LAFCO contended the report used incomplete and inaccurate data. The commission also accused City Hall of trying to sabotage its secession study with delays in finishing the revenue report.

The council committee ordered city officials to give LAFCO a final revenue report by Feb. 15.

“They should not be stonewalled,” Councilman Joel Wachs said.

“Nor have they been,” responded Chief Legislative Analyst Ron Deaton.