Proposed Bill Amendments Anger Valley Secessionists

Efforts to make it easier for San Fernando Valley residents to vote on seceding from Los Angeles may be headed for an 18-month state study, and secession supporters declared Tuesday that they are irate.

At issue are amendments put forward Monday by state Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward). The amendments would create a blue-ribbon commission to conduct a $1.2-million study of breaking up cities statewide and would require that any secession votes be held citywide--not just in the areas seeking to break away.

The amendments are being offered to a bill by Assemblywoman Paula L. Boland (R-Granada Hills), which would remove the Los Angeles City Council’s veto power over secession requests. The bill, which has passed the Assembly, has been stuck in the Senate Rules Committee for weeks, awaiting a decision by Lockyer.

On Tuesday, Boland denounced the new amendments as a “phony” way for opponents to kill the legislation without accepting responsibility for doing so. “I don’t have to be a party to giving people an escape valve from voting on democracy,” she said. “There’s no reason for me to let the bill go through as a sick bill.”

But Boland stopped short of saying, as she has in the past, that she would withdraw her bill rather than see it altered by amendments.

Lockyer on Monday offered what he views as a compromise for the bill’s supporters and opponents. It calls for an in-depth study of the economic and environmental impacts of splitting the Valley from the city. The study would be done by a consultant agreed upon by both sides and could take up to 18 months.

The proposed amendments eliminate the City Council veto, but call for a citywide vote on whether the Valley--or any other area--could break away from Los Angeles.

Boland insists that Valley voters alone have the right to control their destiny. A commission appointed by politicians is an arm’s-length way to kill the bill , Boland said.

A commission would “do the dirty work of politicians and vote no, so politicians don’t have to vote against democracy,” Boland said. “This amendment is sure death of the bill.”

Boland said that if the amendments are attached, it would be without her approval. Lockyer, however, doesn’t need her approval to amend the bill. And at this juncture, Boland lacks the votes to pass the legislation in its present form.

She conceded Tuesday that her bill has been in peril since it landed in the Lockyer-controlled Rules Committee. “The bill was in trouble then and it’s in trouble now,” Boland said.

In a related development, Valley VOTE, a group organized in support of Boland’s bill, denounced Lockyer’s proposal Tuesday and threatened to spread the secession movement to Venice, Hollywood and San Pedro if it passes.

At a news conference, the group’s co-chairman, Richard Close, an attorney from Sherman Oaks, said that an alliance of Valley secessionists and disaffected residents in other areas of the city would give secessionists a powerful edge should Lockyer’s plan for a citywide vote come to pass.

“In order for us to get a majority, we will expand beyond the Valley,” Close said, adding that many residents in Hollywood, Venice and San Pedro want to break loose from Los Angeles.

Lockyer’s call for a citywide vote on secession is “equivalent to veto power,” said Harry Coleman, president of the North Hills Community Coordinating Council and a Valley VOTE member. If it passes, the group would have no choice but to fight back by broadening the secession effort, he said.

Lockyer said Monday that he will send the bill to the Appropriations Committee, probably next week, for a hearing on the proposed amendments. But he has not assigned the bill yet.

Apprised of Boland’s apparent rejection of his plan Tuesday, Lockyer issued a warning.

“Those who refuse to consider constructive suggestions might wind up with nothing at all,” Lockyer said through a spokesman. “I’m trying to make the bill more fair and more palatable to all the people in Los Angeles. She should work with me.”

Contributing to this story was special correspondent Jill Leovy.