Sponsors of ‘Exhaustive’ Secession Survey Put the Buzz on Hold

All the political buzz this week has been over a survey to gauge the support of a Valley secession from Los Angeles.

Despite all the interest in the results, Studio City attorney David Fleming, who heads the foundation that sponsored it, says he will not release the findings until Monday. All he would say is that the survey was sponsored by himself and Galpin Ford owner Herbert F. Boeckmann, who together formed the San Fernando Valley Civic Foundation to study issues of Valley equity.

Fleming is also a member of the California Transportation Commission and Boeckmann is a member of the city Police Commission. The poll of 1,200 Valley voters was conducted by political strategist and GOP pollster Arnie Steinberg.

Fleming said the survey also asks voters to rate their elected officials, including City Council members, county supervisors and school board members.

“It’s a very exhaustive poll,” he said.

Although Fleming is keeping the results a secret, sources say the poll will show there is strong support among registered voters for Valley secession. But don’t expect the survey to stifle criticism of the secession movement. Critics are likely to attack the way the poll was conducted and question the integrity of the sponsors of the survey.

No doubt critics will also note that state law requires a majority of voters citywide to approve secession. The Valley cannot by itself break away.

In Moderation

British politician Aneurin Bevan once said: “We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over.”

Yet in certain voting districts, staying in the center can be the height of political wisdom.

Take Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), who represents a district that stretches from the west San Fernando Valley to parts of Ventura County, with 45% of its voters registered as Democrats and 39% Republicans.

As a Democrat who faces strong Republican challengers in his upcoming reelection bid, he doesn’t want to seem too liberal or too conservative.

That is why Sherman is proudly trumpeting the news that the National Journal, a magazine that annually rates members of Congress, has ranked Sherman right in the middle of the political spectrum.

Under the journal’s rating system, Sherman averaged in the 62nd percentile among liberals and in the 36th percentile among conservatives.

The Journal based its score on votes on key foreign policy, social and economic issues in 1997.

“The media naturally focuses on flamboyant individuals with highly partisan agendas on either the left or the right of the political spectrum,” said Sherman. “Fortunately, the partisans on each side tend to cancel each other out, and time and again we moderates prevail.”

Here is how other area Congress members ranked:

Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) ranks on average in the 86th percentile among conservatives. He ranks in the 3rd percentile among liberals.

Rep. Howard Berman (D-Mission Hills) ranks on average in the 88th percentile among liberals. He ranks in the 5th percentile among conservatives.

Rep. James Rogan (R-Glendale) ranks on average in the 85th percentile among conservatives. He ranks in the 8th percentile among liberals.

Great Scot

Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Northridge) is of Scottish descent. But you could have guessed that by reading the latest bill he is pushing through the Legislature.

McClintock has introduced a resolution to declare April 6 and every April 6th thereafter Scottish Tartan Day.

Sorry, the bill does not give state workers the day off. Even Scots must show up for work.

A tartan, by the way, is a woolen cloth with a plaid pattern. In the Scottish Highlands, each clan has its own distinctive tartan pattern.

According to the resolution, April 6 would “commemorate the many substantial contributions of the Scottish people to the world, and pay tribute to the tartan, a symbol of Scottish courage.”

This is not the first pro-tartan bill McClintock has introduced.

Last month, he introduced legislation to adopt an official state tartan, to go along with the state’s official insect (the dogface butterfly), motto (Eureka!), nickname (the Golden State), reptile (desert tortoise) and the state’s fossil (the saber-toothed cat), to name a few.

If the bill is adopted, the state’s official tartan would be blue (to represent the state’s sky, ocean, rivers and lakes) and green (to represent the mountains, fields and parks). Red, gold and blue seams would signify the arts, sciences, agriculture and industry of California.

McClintock said he was urged to introduce both measures by J. Howard Standing, president of the St. Andrew Society of Los Angeles Inc., a 125-member group dedicated to the preservation of Scottish and Scottish-Irish culture, art and dance.

McClintock said he has faced no opposition yet, but “I have had some ribbing.”

Brad Redux

Sherman’s district runs from Sherman Oaks to Thousand Oaks.

So why was the freshman representative meeting this week with Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) and FAA administrator Jane Garvey about Burbank Airport?

Sherman said he’s interested in the 5-million-passenger facility, which is outside his West Valley district, for the same reason it’s a hot issue in Burbank: noise. Sherman said he doesn’t believe expansion should take place unless more extensive controls are placed on airport noise.

“We’ve been more focused on Van Nuys [Airport],” Sherman said of his district. “But our constituents also get noise from Burbank Airport--including this constituent.”

For now, Sherman is following the lead of Berman, who has been involved in the issue since the 1970s. And he applauds his colleague’s efforts to get the FAA administrator personally involved.

As a newcomer, Sherman said he has a lot to learn about the complex and emotionally charged history between the city of Burbank and the Burbank Airport Authority over a bid to construct a new, larger terminal building.

Burbank City Councilman Ted McConkey said he is glad Sherman has taken an interest in the debate.

“He’s no carpetbagger, he has a legitimate right to be at the table,” McConkey said. “We need everybody that’s a stakeholder to give their voice to these issues.”