State Panel to Vote on Secession

A pivotal vote on a bill that could set the stage for a Valley secession movement--or stop it in its tracks--will be cast today by a seven-member state Senate committee, and the vote is expected to be tight.

Neither side would claim victory or concede defeat late Tuesday, but a bare majority of four committee members appears to favor the legislation.

“The bottom line is we’re not giving up,” said Los Angeles lobbyist Norm Boyer. “We think we have a shot at stopping it.” Even so, state senators from Los Angeles seeking to defeat the bill are already girding for a floor fight.

“I’m still really cautiously optimistic,” said the bill’s author, Assemblywoman Paula Boland (R-Granada Hills).

The Boland bill, which has caused a furor in the Valley, as well as at City Hall, neither mentions nor takes a position on secession.

What the bill does is remove the veto power of the Los Angeles City Council over proposals to break away from Los Angeles. This veto power hangs over any attempt to divorce Los Angeles, Boland says.

Backers of Boland’s bill say removing the veto would give the Valley negotiating power for fruitful discussions about whether the Valley receives its fair share of city services. Only then, proponents say, can an informed decision be made over whether a secession movement is warranted.

A hearing on the Boland bill before the Senate’s Local Government Committee is expected to draw a delegation representing San Fernando Valley business and homeowner groups, as well as elected officials on both sides of the issue.

City Councilmen Hal Bernson and Rudy Svorinich are among those who will testify for the bill.

“The Valley is entitled to have the right to self-determination,” Bernson said recently. “All the Boland bill does is correct an injustice.”

The Los Angeles City Council, which voted 8 to 6 to oppose the measure, is sending Council President John Ferraro, Controller Rick Tuttle and City Chief Legislative Analyst Ron Deaton to speak against the legislation.

The California League of Cities and the cities of San Jose and Pasadena also oppose the legislation.

If opponents can’t defeat the measure outright, they want to amend it to allow everyone in Los Angeles to vote on secession, not just Valley residents.

Ferraro said the council would not mind losing its veto power over secession if everyone in the city would get a vote on it.

Another amendment to make the law apply statewide is also expected. Such an amendment could hurt the measure’s chances of passage in the full Senate because legislators from other parts of the state would have to consider the bill’s impact on their own districts, rather than treating it like a local, Los Angeles issue.

Ferraro said he will tell the committee the legislation is unfair because it applies only to Los Angeles. “If it’s good enough for Los Angeles, it should be good enough for every city,” he said.

But if Boland sticks to her guns, her bill will live or die as it is written. She has said she will not accept amendments.

Three committee members either leaning toward or committed to the bill are: Sens. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Van Nuys), Quentin L. Kopp (I-San Francisco) and William A. Craven (R-Oceanside).

Sen. Newt Russell (R-Glendale) has not announced his support, but Boland’s camp is counting him as a yes vote.

Opposing the bill outright or unless it is amended are: Sens. Charles M. Calderon (D-Whittier), Patrick Johnston (D-Stockton) and Ruben S. Ayala (D-Chino).

Staff writer Hugo Martin contributed to this story from Los Angeles.