3 Cities Beat State to Punch, Launch Regional Coalition

Keen competition among Southern California cities is a time-honored tradition. But on Friday, three traditional rivals--Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena--took another step toward regional cooperation.

More than 160 government and business leaders from the three cities attended a seminar to launch what they called the first public-private coalition in the state designed to help them maintain local control over regional issues.

The impetus for the coalition is city and business leaders’ fear that the state will soon adopt legislation mandating formation of regional governments. Five bills introduced into the Legislature last year would create what critics call super boards, made up of state-appointed directors with no political accountability to the region they serve.

“We would rather do it our way than have another level of government,” said Bruce Ackerman, executive director of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and moderator of the seminar. It was a theme repeated throughout Friday’s conference, which was sponsored by the three cities and their chambers of commerce.

Instead of waiting for orders from the state, local leaders said they plan to create “regional governance,” which Ackerman defines as “mutual agreements and mutual cooperation” among cities without the legal standing of a state-mandated body, such as the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

“We intend to be proactive in this effort instead of reactive,” said Zoe Taylor, executive director of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce.

Officials said that another reason is that in an increasingly competitive and less stable economy, cooperation just makes more sense.

Attracting new employers to one of the cities, for instance, could mean job opportunities for residents of the other two. As Aulden Schlatter, executive director of the Glendale Chamber of Commerce, put it before the meeting: “Better here than in Santa Monica.”

The recession and cutbacks in government budgets make their alliance critical, said Ernest Silva, legislative representative of the League of California Cities. “As the economy goes from bad to worse,” he said, “this is the time to act.”

Leaders of the three cities said the unique coalition could serve as a model for similar alliances throughout the state. “There is no pattern, so let’s set one,” said former Pasadena Mayor John Crowley.

Formation of the coalition was encouraged by Carol Whiteside, Gov. Pete Wilson’s assistant secretary for intergovernmental relations of the state Resources Agency. “This Administration has heard loudly and clearly that a new level of government is not wanted.”

While the three cities are competitors, they also have a long history of working together. Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena share ownership of an airport and an emergency-dispatch system and have gained new political clout with a transportation coalition.

No formal vote was taken at Friday’s meeting in Burbank, but several participants volunteered to be on a committee that will draw up a proposed agreement, to be presented to the Legislature as an alternative to state-mandated regional government.