Proposals for L.A. Boroughs Faltering

Prospects that Los Angeles voters will get the chance in November to decentralize city government by adopting a system of local boroughs are all but dead, supporters of two such plans said Thursday.

The apparent demise of the proposals clears the way for a simple yes-no campaign over Valley and Hollywood secession measures already on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Competing borough proposals by former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) and Los Angeles City Council members Janice Hahn and Wendy Greuel have been promoted as an alternative to secession.

But with a City Council deadline for placing them on the ballot just days away, neither proposal has the votes to make it. The proposals have stalled as city officials have grown more confident that they can beat the separatists.

“We’re off the map, clearly at this point,” a Hertzberg spokesman said Thursday. “I went in to [Hertzberg] today and said, ‘The party’s over.’ ”

Hahn conceded her plan also faces defeat, though Greuel said she is holding out hope for a last-minute reprieve.

Boroughs had been embraced by some activists and city officials on both sides of the secession debate as a way to address the frustration of those who believe Los Angeles government is unwieldy and unresponsive, without going so far as to break up the city.

“It was an opportunity to have a real civic debate in this city like we’ve never had before,” Janice Hahn said. “I’m disappointed that voters won’t have something positive to vote on besides keeping the city together. But it just didn’t seem like there were enough people to take that leap.”

Mayor James K. Hahn, the councilwoman’s brother, said Thursday he does not favor putting a borough measure on the November ballot. The mayor previously had not taken a firm position on the idea. He would have the option of vetoing a council resolution sending a borough plan to voters.

“I just don’t think we are ready,” he said. “We have not had public hearings and input. I just don’t think we should rush it onto the ballot.”

The council is set to vote on the Hahn-Greuel plan Tuesday. Members might instead adopt a proposal by council President Alex Padilla to establish a commission that would examine ways to improve the structure of city government.

The Hahn-Greuel plan would ask voters to create a commission to draft a borough system. The commission’s final work would go back to voters in May. The boroughs would have authority over local spending, land-use decisions and city services.

Hertzberg’s proposal is much more specific. It calls directly for the elimination of the City Council in favor of a board of at least nine borough presidents. Each borough would be governed by a five-member council elected locally.

Despite weeks of lobbying, Hertzberg was unable to get significant support at City Hall for his plan. He also failed to strike a compromise with Hahn and Greuel that would have incorporated elements of his proposal into theirs.

The Hahn-Greuel plan picked up six votes on the 15-member council, according to the two councilwomen. Eight are needed to put it on the ballot, and 10 would be required to override a mayoral veto.

Thursday’s grim prognosis for the plans came just a day after two leaders of the Valley cityhood campaign said they would support a Hertzberg-style proposal as a secession alternative.

The leaders, Richard Close and David Fleming, made their statements as a part of a compromise that Hertzberg tried to broker after getting nowhere with the council. The overture was rejected by the mayor and Padilla. Several city officials said Thursday they viewed the secessionists’ willingness to consider boroughs as a sign that the Valley campaign is in trouble.

But Fleming and other secessionists criticized the mayor for refusing to consider any borough plan and predicted it would backfire.

“Hahn has done us a favor, there’s no question about it,” Fleming said Thursday. “He rejected [the borough plans] out of hand, saying, ‘I don’t have to listen to you people.’ It’s a slap in the face.”

Fleming and Close also sought to assure allies Thursday that there was nothing improper about their talking to Hertzberg, businessman Eli Broad and others about possibly delaying a secession vote for two years if a borough system was put to the voters that gave the Valley local control.

Close said his participation in the talks did not weaken his support for secession. In fact, he said, it has strengthened it.

Despite those reassurances, Gene LaPietra, the leader of the Hollywood secession movement, criticized Fleming and Close.

“I believe Mr. Close and Mr. Fleming were misguided in their actions,” LaPietra said in a statement. “Boroughs have been considered and rejected by the City Council, by the mayor and by two charter commissions. This is the best example of how backroom politics always fail. The business of the people should always be conducted in the light of day.”

The LaPietra statement marked the first public break between the Valley and Hollywood secession camps.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar) offered his own plan Thursday for remaking City Hall--a six-year program that would be led by an as-yet unformed state commission. On Wednesday, Alarcon announced he would not run for mayor of a Valley city and had decided to oppose secession.

He said Thursday he will introduce legislation that would create a state commission to revamp Los Angeles government. If approved by the Legislature, the panel would recommend City Charter changes every two years to boost the power of neighborhood councils, and would consider creating a borough system within six years.

Alarcon also asked the mayor to more than double the $3 million allocated to neighborhood councils for local priorities. The mayor said he would like to increase the councils’ budget, but would not commit to Alarcon’s figure.

Secessionists dismissed Alarcon’s plan as too little, too late.

“We don’t need another study,” said Richard Katz, chairman of the San Fernando Valley Independence Committee. “People have made it clear they want to vote on secession. They want more local control.”

The secessionists have also criticized the Padilla proposal for a 21-member city commission, which would have a largely undefined mission of reviewing the shape and performance of city government. Padilla said he is willing to have the commission consider boroughs, but only as one of many options for improving City Hall.

Janice Hahn said Padilla’s plan would be “better than nothing.” She predicted the commission would eventually endorse a borough system.

“I think the end result is going to be the same,” she said. “I will bet you $100 that Los Angeles will have boroughs. I believe it with all my heart.”

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Times staff writers Sue Fox, Nita Lelyveld and Kristina Sauerwein contributed to this report.