Valley Leaders Unswayed by Secession Poll

At first, a survey of San Fernando Valley voters seemed to hit last week like a magnitude 7.0 earthquake.

The poll showed that the idea of carving up the city of Los Angeles--considered from the downtown perspective as the heretical rantings of a fringe group of angry homeowners--has solid public support in the Valley.

But unlike residents, many of the Valley’s prominent business and community leaders remain on the sidelines, taking a wait-and-see approach to the contentious issue that is opposed by most of the political establishment.

At the same time, the poll has caused opponents--such as Mayor Richard Riordan, most City Council members and panelists of two boards mapping city charter reform--to respond quickly and decisively.

“I think it puts a lot of pressure on the City Council,” former Assemblyman Richard Katz said. “If they are going to make a case for keeping the city together, they have to show how they are going to give the Valley better services.”

The poll of 1,205 Valley voters, the first on secession since 1996, showed that 58% would vote to create a Valley city, independent of Los Angeles, if the matter were on the ballot today.

If the issue does get as far as the ballot, however, it will require approval of voters citywide, not just in the Valley.

Among those Valley residents polled, most said they believe a separate city would provide a more efficient, less bureaucratic government that would improve the Valley’s quality of life.

But many Valley business and community leaders are still calling for calm, careful study before any breakaway plans are considered.

“It’s a very important thing, and if you are serious about exploring it, it’s not something you want to do overnight,” said Robert Scott, vice chairman of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., a prominent Valley business group.

Even the nonprofit group that lobbied successfully last year for legislation to make secession easier continues to advocate in-depth fact-gathering before voters are asked to decide.

Two days after the survey was released, the group, Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment--or Valley VOTE--adopted a new mission statement that eliminated any mention of putting secession on a citywide ballot.

“We want to take a pragmatic approach,” said Jeff Brain, president of Valley VOTE. “We need a thorough investigation because there are still those who are not ready to say, ‘Let’s go.’ ”

The group plans to circulate a petition this summer, asking a regional state agency--the Local Agency Formation Commission--to study the feasibility of creating a separate Valley city.

Many of Valley VOTE’s members--including chairman Richard Close--support outright secession. But the group as a whole is officially neutral on secession.

Despite that conservative approach, Valley VOTE has not been able to gain broad support for its group from Valley leaders.

For example, the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. supports further study on secession but does not endorse Valley VOTE as a group.

At the same time, VICA backs a movement to overhaul the city’s 73-year-old governing charter in order to make city government more responsive.

“The VICA board tries to take positions that are well-reasoned,” Scott said. “It’s good if people want certain things to happen . . . but it’s important for our position to be informed, and there are still a lot of facts that are unknown.”

Occupying yet another niche in the labyrinthine political landscape, the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley support Valley VOTE but have not taken a position on secession.

“There is not enough information on it yet,” said Gary Thomas, past president of the group.

The $50,000 poll was commissioned by Valley business leaders David Fleming, a city fire commissioner, and Bert Boeckmann, a police commissioner, both appointed by Mayor Richard Riordan.

But neither Fleming nor Boeckmann are interested in pursuing secession at this point. Fleming, a Studio City attorney, called the results of the survey “remarkable” and “astounding.” But he said he remains faithful to the charter reform movement--the drive to streamline city government and make it more responsive to residents.

“I really think the future of the city lies in charter reform,” he said.

Still, Fleming hopes that the survey results will pressure the two charter reform panels--one elected and one appointed--to recommend dramatic changes in the way the city operates.

“It moves the process along,” he said. “We are not getting meaningful charter reform without this sword hanging over our heads.”

Standing almost alone is former Rep. Bobbi Fiedler, an avowed secessionist who represented the Valley while in Congress. She refuses to join Valley VOTE unless the group takes a clear-cut position in favor of secession.

“Unless they change their fundamental goal of being for secession, I won’t join,” she said. “Maybe the poll will help them build more confidence that it is a good thing.”

Former Valley Assemblywoman Paula Boland, who has advocated secession and pressed for legislation to make it easier, is still interested in breaking up the city of Los Angeles. But her first priority is to collect signatures for a ballot measure to carve up the Los Angeles Unified School District.

She noted that the same survey found that 61% of Valley voters think the school district is doing a poor or very poor job.

“People are clamoring for the petitions to break up the school district,” she said.

There is yet another group of Valley leaders which in the past expressed support for secession but is now calling for restraint.

Councilman Hal Bernson, who helped form a group in the 1970s to study a separate Valley city, said he would like to see a similar updated report. But since he is now a member of the council, Bernson said he is more interested in getting the existing government to provide better services for the Valley.

“Right now, all we have is a poll,” he said. “We don’t have the whole picture at this stage of the game.”

The survey has put pressure on the charter reform members, but they say they have always felt pressure to offer substantial change.

“I don’t know how I can have any more pressure; its already on us,” said George Kieffer, who heads the appointed charter reform panel.

The survey has not prompted any secession opponents to reconsider their position. Some argue that the poll results do not tell the whole story.

Kieffer and others noted that the same survey that found support for secession also revealed strong support for creating a New York-style borough system, which would give Valley residents jurisdiction over police, fire, parks, libraries and planning.

In fact, support for such an alternative to secession was slightly higher, at 60%, than support for secession.

Erwin Chemerinsky, chairman of the elected charter commission, said the survey would have been more complete had it asked voters if they support other alternatives to secession, such as creating neighborhood councils with some power to control community matters.

Kieffer agreed, but went further, saying he suspects support for secession is not as strong as the poll indicates.

“I’m very suspicious of this poll because it leads people to answer the poll in a way they would not take on their own,” he said.

Regardless of how strong the secession sentiment is, Kieffer said careful study is needed before any dramatic changes are taken.

“What we have learned in studying local government all across the country is that you’d better know what you are doing when you put a new system in,” he said. “We’ve got to devise a system that works, not one that just pleases a few activists.”