Effort to Reform Panel Overseeing Secession Fails

A bill aimed at altering the powers of the state commission that will rule on any San Fernando Valley secession application was rejected by an Assembly committee Wednesday.

State Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) offered the measure because he said reforming the Local Agency Formation Commission is as important as removing the veto power the Los Angeles City Council now holds over secession attempts.

The little-known but powerful agency known as LAFCO has broad discretion in matters of communities becoming cities or detaching themselves from existing local jurisdictions.

The proposal by Hayden was offered as companion legislation to a bill by Assemblywoman Paula L. Boland (R-Granada Hills) to eliminate the Los Angeles City Council’s veto power over attempts to secede from Los Angeles.

Boland refused to join the bills, saying she does not want her measure unnecessarily complicated by other issues.

The 5-1 vote against Hayden’s bill in the Assembly Local Government Committee stymies, at least for now, his effort to change LAFCO’s rules.

Hayden’s proposals included requiring that an area seeking to detach from a city have “substantial” socioeconomic diversity. His bill also called for adherence to the federal Voting Rights Act, environmental integrity and citizen authority over civic decisions.

Another key element in the proposed legislation was aimed at establishing a conflict of interest policy for LAFCO. Such a policy is needed to protect against the undue influence of development interests, Hayden has said.