Hopefuls Start Run for Hollywood City Offices

The first prospective candidates for a Hollywood city council picked up petitions Tuesday, after the Board of Supervisors formally placed the secession measure for the region on the Nov. 5 ballot.

The Los Angeles County board’s routine action Tuesday opened the filing period for council candidates, but only five people have begun the process of qualifying for the election. Secessionists said they expect many more contenders for the five seats to emerge before the Aug. 9 filing deadline.

“There are many good candidates who have been waiting for today and will now be able to file papers to run,” said Ferris Wehbe, a board member of the Hollywood Independence Committee. He said he knows of 11 people seriously considering a run for council.

The San Fernando Valley secession measure, which is on the same ballot, has attracted 61 prospective candidates for mayor and 14 council seats. The most prominent declared candidate is Assemblyman Keith Richman (R-Northridge), who said he intends to file papers to run for Valley mayor.

Only one Valley nominating petition had been turned in as of Tuesday. The filing deadline for the Valley offices is also Aug. 9.

Secession leaders hope a large number of candidates will help the breakup campaigns deliver their message that smaller government is better. They initially predicted a field of about 150 candidates.

Flower shop owner Garry K. Sinanian is among those who picked up a petition for the Hollywood council.

“It is very unfortunate, but true, that for decades Hollywood has been neglected,” Sinanian said. “We have a tremendous amount of potential.”

Studio prop maker Eric F. De Young, hotel manager Jeff M. Zarrinnam, and David L. Lynch and Scott A. Wengel, whose occupations were not available, also picked up petitions.

Because the Local Agency Formation Commission, the state panel charged with analyzing breakup proposals, determined that a Hollywood city would be financially viable, the supervisors were required to put the secession measure on the ballot. The board’s vote was unanimous and came without discussion.

Soon afterward, Los Angeles City Councilmen Eric Garcetti and Tom LaBonge, who represent parts of Hollywood, filed papers to create an anti-secession committee, called I Love L.A. Several other City Council members have launched similar committees, and Mayor James K. Hahn is spearheading his own effort against secession.

Valley secessionists, who asked not to be named, said they will file a formal complaint alleging that Hahn and other Los Angeles officials are illegally using city resources and time to campaign against a breakup. The complaint would be lodged with the city Ethics Commission and the state Fair Political Practices Commission.

Hollywood secessionists filed such a complaint with the city commission earlier this month.

Hahn and other city officials have denied that they are campaigning at taxpayers’ expense.