Polanco Submits Hostile Clauses on Secession Bill

A leading opponent of the defeated San Fernando Valley secession bill has submitted a set of hostile amendments that, if approved, would put a citywide vote on the table if the measure is reconsidered this week by the state Senate.

The secession foe, Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), quietly filed the amendments Friday to meet a deadline that day, but asked that they be held in reserve, apparently as an ace in the hole in case the rejected bill shows new life when it comes up for what is usually a routine reconsideration.

The measure, sponsored by Assemblywoman Paula L. Boland, a Granada Hills Republican, lost 19-18 on Thursday, coming up two votes shy of the 21 needed for passage.

The bill would have removed the power of the Los Angeles City Council to veto requests by communities within the city to leave Los Angeles and form new municipalities.

This is the final week of the Legislature’s session, so any efforts on behalf of the bill must be made in the next several days.

On Friday, state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) announced his intention to revive the bill by adding its provisions, along with others, to another bill already in the system.

Hayden sent Boland a letter Monday setting forth the plan, asking for her reaction and promising to return from the Democratic Party convention in Chicago to work on the amendments.

Boland has already rejected most of Hayden’s amendments, but may be open to an amendment requiring a citywide vote, which has been offered by both Hayden and Polanco.

Boland was unavailable for comment late Monday, but her chief of staff, Scott Wilk, commented on Polanco’s amendments by referring to an earlier Polanco statement about the bill: “I thought he said, ‘Never amend a bad bill.’ ”

Polanco’s amendments were reviewed by the Senate Rules Committee Monday. That panel, which is chaired by state Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward), sent the amendments to the Local Government Committee for consideration.

The bill itself remains on the Senate floor, though it cannot be voted on again until the Local Government Committee either approves, rejects or tables the Polanco amendments, said Rick Rollens, the secretary of the Senate.

Although the Local Government Committee does not have a meeting scheduled this week, Rollens said one will be held to deal with Polanco’s amendments. If the committee approves the amendments, they would still have to be voted on by the full Senate, which could incorporate them into the Boland bill or reject them and reconsider the present bill, unchanged.

The Local Government Committee has been friendly territory for the Boland bill, approving it earlier this year.

But Lockyer has worked hard to defeat the proposal, offering an alternative plan that would include a citywide vote and a study of the ramifications of the Valley’s splitting off from the rest of Los Angeles.

A lobbyist for the city of Los Angeles, which has been fighting Boland’s bill, said she was perplexed by Monday’s developments.

“It’s a very unusual thing for amendments to be referred to committee without referring the bill,” said the lobbyist, Leslie McFadden. “I’m not sure what it means.”

Polanco said his amendments include a provision for the Boland bill to apply throughout California, not just to Los Angeles, although that is not readily apparent from reading the text of the amendments.

Applying the Boland bill statewide is a way to make proponents from outside Los Angeles consider how the new law might affect cities in their districts, Polanco said. That approach could attract new enemies in the process.

But the legislator sees it as a question of consistency. “Everybody should have the same standards,” he said.