Valley Secession

* Why should the Valley separate from the city? Your May 9 edition has the answer. While [Mayor Richard] Riordan does a Valley tour / PR visit (on Page B1: “Riordan’s ‘Valley Tour’ ”), the Burbank City Council (on Page B4) is taking action to protect residents from the negative impacts of expanding Burbank Airport (“Burbank Plans Suit to Challenge OK of Airport Terminal”). When I call Riordan’s office to complain about airport noise, I’m told to write the FAA!

CAROL A. PRZYBYCIEN

Sherman Oaks

*

* I’m in favor of the Valley seceding from Los Angeles.

There are many reasons that we Valleyites don’t get our money’s worth back from the taxes we pay to the city of Los Angeles. One of the most important reasons is that so many of our politicians, city, state and federal, owe their allegiance to the Westside.

Mike Feuer is a good man and an able councilman. But his district straddles the Santa Monica Mountains and he is responsible to both the Valley and the Bel-Air, Westwood and Brentwood districts of the Westside. The political power and the money is there on the Westside, so to whom would you be responsive?

The same can be said for the best congressman California has: Tony Beilenson. When his district spanned the mountains, it was the Westside that received most of his attention. Now that his district is solely in the Valley we get his undivided attention and he does a great job for us in Washington as evidenced by the help we received from FEMA after the earthquake.

And why did we elect Herschel Rosenthal to represent us in the state Senate? He had represented the Westside for decades. He lived on the Westside. His only concern for the Valley was a district to represent when his term limits were up from the Westside. So what kind of a Valley senator did we expect?

If secession fails, can’t we at least have representation that is responsible to us, and us alone?

M. STEPHEN SHELDON

Studio City

*

* I couldn’t believe my eyes. I read today in one of your editorials that you just can’t see any examples of the Valley being ignored or taken for granted by City Hall. Are you blind? Can you read your own paper? Have you not seen over the past several years our appeals for lower rates on city sewer charges based on water consumption? Have you recorded the votes of the liberal Democratic City Council on this? Are they interested in justice for all or just reelection?

Anyone with any common sense, (a rare commodity in our City Council) must realize that sewer charges should be based on the number of residents living at any particular address. It has very little to do with water consumption. Any Valley resident knows it averages 10 degrees hotter here or more, and that we have far more vegetation to water and care for. Consequently it costs us more for water, but water we use for this purpose has nothing to do with the sewer.

Please understand this is just one glaring example. There are dozens of others. I would vote for secession in an instant.

JOHN OLTMAN

Sylmar