Dim Prospects and Dubious Inspiration : Secession fans should carefully weigh City Hall’s record

Notwithstanding Assemblywoman Paula Boland’s (R-Granada Hills) continuing enthusiasm for carving up Los Angeles as we now know it, is there any real chance that the San Fernando Valley will secede from the city?

The answer appears to be no.

First of all, Boland’s bill to strip the City Council’s right to veto such a breakaway hasn’t cleared the Legislature, and there are no assurances that it will.

Secondly, Valley officeholders have summoned some unusual harmony on the subject. For the most part, they politely say that they are not against a secession vote by Valley residents, but would argue against it if it ever reached the ballot.

Thirdly, the process of setting up a local government for what would be the sixth-largest city in the nation figures to be arduous, time-consuming and perhaps prohibitively expensive.

Point 4: Where is the proof that the Valley would be better off?

Point 5: The Valley hasn’t even offered a viable plan for leaving the Los Angeles Unified School District, much less the city as a whole. Where is the groundswell in favor of this?

Does the record of Mayor Richard Riordan lend support to those who would like to see a breakup?

Again, no.

We have no interest in endorsing or condemning the mayor’s tenure at this point in his first term. In fact, we have disagreed in principle with some of the ways the mayor has favored the Valley over other parts of the city. But why do some Valley residents still feel shortchanged?

As the accompanying chart shows, Riordan enjoyed strong and growing support in the Valley through the summer of 1994. By the summer of 1995, however, that support had dwindled to the point that the mayor was less popular here than in the rest of the city. And what do you hear now, in 1996? All this bluster about secession.

Forgive us if we’re a little confused.

Let’s look at the record. During the Bradley years, as few as 11% of appointees to the mayor’s City Hall commissions were held by Valley residents. Under Riordan, the Valley holds one-third of those positions.

Crime has continued to be one of Valley residents’ biggest concerns. Well, Riordan hasn’t kept up the pace of his campaign pledge, but the Los Angeles Police Department has grown by 1,250 officers. There is also a new police training center (in the Valley).

How about the 1994 Northridge earthquake, cited by 52% of Valley respondents to a Times poll as one of the worst experiences of their lives? Riordan played a key role here--with the help of state and federal officials--in obtaining the largest financial-aid package ever assembled for a natural disaster in the United States.

What happened when Valley residents complained about a reasonable two-tiered water billing system that rewarded small users with lower rates and penalized large users (mostly in the Valley)? Riordan ordered a review of the rates, in favor of a revamped system that would mostly benefit Valley residents.

What about the LAUSD breakup effort, which we oppose? Riordan put up $40,000 of his own money to launch a breakup review group at UCLA, just so folks can have a place in which to brainstorm about their breakup plans.

Riordan has also called for a hearing office in the Valley where motorists could contest traffic tickets.

And what about the budget proposal that the mayor recently unveiled, the one that some observers fear is based on generous revenue assumptions and maintains a structural deficit?

It includes expanded library services for the Valley. About 80% of the 900 new miles of city streets that will be cleaned are located in the Valley. It offers a regional city hall for the Valley, more block-grant money for more quake-recovery programs in the Valley as well as block grants for better street lighting in the East Valley.

The Valley has one-third of the city’s population. Under Riordan’s proposed budget, now under review by the City Council, the Valley gets more than one-third of the city’s street resurfacings, more than one-third of the city’s storm drain repairs and more than half of the city’s tree-trimming.

That brings us to the final point: Show us where the Valley is being taken for granted or ignored by the sitting government in City Hall. If you have an example, write us. We’d like to know.

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Riordan’s Dropping Approval Rating

Here is a look at Richard Riordan’s approval ratings at key points during his first term as mayor. Riordan was elected by winning 71% of the votes cat in the San Fernando Valley.

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October, 1993: 4 months in office

Summer, 1994: 1 year in office

Summer, 1996: Midterm.Source: Times Polls