Valley Group to Probe Petition Ban at Airport

The group pressing for a study of a San Fernando Valley secession demanded an investigation Monday into allegations that its volunteers were barred from circulating petitions during a public event at the Van Nuys Airport.

Leaders of Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment suggested airport officials were instructed by high-ranking city officials to obstruct their petition drive at the Aviation Expo ’98 this past weekend.

“I think this is a decision made at the highest level to impede this group,” said Valley VOTE chairman Richard Close. “The question is who.”

The ACLU joined Valley VOTE leaders in denouncing the alleged actions by airport officials, calling it a 1st Amendment violation.

Meanwhile, a city councilwoman is calling for an investigation into the charges.

But airport officials and representatives for the city attorney’s office said they have already investigated the incident and determined that it was caused by a simple misunderstanding.

“There was probably some confusion and I’m sorry if that caused the problem,” said airport manager Ron Kochevar.

According to Kochevar, the group tried but failed last week to get advance approval for exhibition space at the expo. Airport officials said they ran out of exhibition space about six weeks ago.

So when Valley VOTE volunteers showed up to collect signatures on Saturday and Sunday, Kochevar said security officials and police were under the impression that the volunteers wanted to set up an illegal booth.

Kochevar insisted that he told security guards and police to allow the petitioners into the airport as long as they were not planning to establish an unauthorized booth.

“Any group that wants to collect signatures and is walking around with signs and clipboards can do that,” he said.

But Valley VOTE president Jeff Brain dismissed Kochevar’s explanation, saying he is “just trying to cover his backside.”

Brain compared the incident to the civil rights violations committed under Nazi Germany in the 1940s.

“Everybody who lives in the Valley had their civil rights violated,” he said.

At a news conference in front of the airport, several Valley VOTE volunteers said they were escorted from the airport by security officials and police who told them they were not allowed on the facility under any circumstance.

Myra Ferrante, a Valley VOTE volunteer, said she was stopped as she arrived at the air show and taken to the security headquarters where police threatened to arrest her if she did not leave.

“I felt my civil rights had been violated,” she said.

Another volunteer, Norma Verdugo, said she was threatened with arrest simply for trying to get into the airport to use the restroom.

Elizabeth Schroeder, an associate director for the ACLU who appeared at the news conference with Valley VOTE volunteers, said the allegations depicted by the volunteers are a violation of the federal and state constitution.

“The right to petition government is one of the most fundamental rights,” she said.

The ACLU will file a lawsuit on behalf of Valley VOTE unless the city agrees to allow petitions on city-operated airports, Schroeder said.

Valley VOTE leaders demanded the city investigate the incident and “admit wrongdoing and formally apologize.”

In addition, the group asked for an agreement by city officials to stop interfering with the petition drive.

But Ted Goldstein, a spokesman for City Atty. James K. Hahn, said the city attorney’s office has already investigated the charges and agrees with Kochevar that the incident was caused by a misunderstanding.

“There apparently was a misunderstanding at the security at the Van Nuys Airport,” Goldstein said.

A spokesman for Mayor Richard Riordan said the mayor is content with the explanation of the incident given by airport officials.

“The mayor supports their judgment and their thorough investigation of this,” said Riordan aide Deane Leavenworth.

Still, a representative for City Councilwoman Laura Chick said she is planning to introduce a motion today calling on officials at the city attorney’s office and the Department of Airports to submit a report on the incident to the City Council within two weeks.

Times staff writers Jose Cardenas and Amy Oakes contributed to this story.