City Report Identifies Tricky Secession Issues

A city of Los Angeles report has identified 20 issues--from water rights to a requirement that federal approval be obtained for changes in the operation of Van Nuys Airport--that might be difficult to resolve as part of the process of creating new cities in the San Fernando Valley and the Harbor area.

The preliminary report by the Office of Administrative and Research Services said a large number of tough issues remains “because there is no precedent for a secession . . . of this magnitude.”

Other issues identified by city analysts include:

* Historical records, unique library collections and centralized communication and computer systems--assets difficult to physically divide.

* Modification of federally approved waste-water and storm-water permits, some with conditions set by the courts, that require Los Angeles to spend billions to improve water quality in Santa Monica Bay.

* How to divide up city debt and assets in a way that does not violate bond covenants and restrictions and hurt the holders of Los Angeles bonds.

* How breaking up city departments would affect federal consent decrees, including those that set affirmative action goals for hiring in city agencies such as the Fire Department.

* The loss of discounts for purchasing supplies in volume.

* The impact on voter-approved assessment districts.

* The difficulty of dividing specialized operations, including the LAPD Anti-Terrorist Division, and the Commission on the Status of Women.

* Developing a time frame to provide a smooth transfer of staffing, services and assets.

* Obtaining state and federal approval needed to lease, sell or transfer public utilities.

Valley and Harbor-area secessionists who triggered a study of breaking up Los Angeles by petitioning for cityhood said they believe the Local Agency Formation Commission, which is overseeing the review, has enough resources and flexibility to find a way to make the new cities work.

“This is not a simple process,” said Richard Close, chairman of the secession group Valley VOTE. “That is why $2.8 million has been allocated for analysis--legal, economic and otherwise. But these issues will be resolved. LAFCO has the power to resolve these issues.”

Ellen Sandt, the senior analyst for the city handling the secession issue, agreed.

“It’s not that these issues are insurmountable,” Sandt said. “It’s just something that everyone is going to have to work through.”

Close called on LAFCO and the city to negotiate resolutions to the stickiest questions, such as how the new Valley city would receive water.

“The way to resolve these issues is through discussion,” Close said. “If there are 20 tough questions, maybe we can resolve 12 of them by talking.”

Close said one way to avoid a legal conflict over dividing the water rights is to have the Valley city and Los Angeles jointly operate the Department of Water and Power.

Close said he contacted Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski earlier this year to begin talks with city officials about some of the tougher problems, but was told by Miscikowski that it would be premature while data were still being gathered.

Andrew Mardesich, executive director of the Harbor Study Foundation, also called on city officials to begin meeting with secessionists on the tough issues.

Another complicating factor cited by the city report is the federal government’s role in approving any change in the operation of the city-owned Van Nuys Airport. Federal officials “have a legal interest and oversight responsibility in the disposition of airports, airport property [and] airport funds,” according to the report.

Gerald Silver, a member of both the Valley VOTE board and the city’s Van Nuys Airport Citizens Advisory Committee, said the city is overstating these difficulties.

Silver said there was “no hitch” in obtaining federal approval when Lockheed gave up its interest in part of Burbank Airport.

“That may be a technicality we have to deal with, but I don’t see it as an impediment,” Silver said. “This is, in my view, another excuse thrown out by the city to make the process more difficult.”

Before LAFCO can legally call for a citywide vote, the commission must conclude that a municipal divorce would not financially harm either the new cities or the Los Angeles that remains.

The new report comes at a critical time in LAFCO’s study of the financial feasibility of the cityhood proposals.

“We are on the precipice of the single most important event in the history of this city, and most likely any other city in the United States,” said Miscikowski, chairwoman of the council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Special Reorganization.

A consultant is scheduled to submit comprehensive fiscal analyses of the cityhood proposals in January, although officials said delays in the city delivering key data may push back the schedule.

City officials said last week they have responded to all 764 requests for data. Miscikowski said the delivery of data is “amazing in its scope, complexity and thoroughness.”

But officials involved in the LAFCO study said many of the responses to requests for data are inadequate. For instance, inventories of city assets provided to LAFCO are missing valuations in many cases.

“There are many responses that are incomplete,” Close said. “They may have answered a question, but the answer is incomplete.”

Larry Calemine, the executive director for LAFCO, said the city is being cooperative in responding to follow-up questions for data, and he does not believe delays will be significant.

“I’m very satisfied with the city’s cooperation,” Calemine said.