Secession Study Legislation to Be Sought
Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) and City Councilwoman Laura Chick said Friday they hope to craft emergency legislation to give San Fernando Valley activists more time to petition for a study and possible vote on secession.
Hertzberg said the process will be extremely difficult because the California Legislature will recess at the end of the month, but he remained hopeful.
Hertzberg hopes to give Valley VOTE, the civic group leading the petition drive, an additional three months to gather signatures. Under state law, Valley VOTE has 90 days to gather 135,000 signatures to prompt a study on creating an independent city in the Valley. The deadline is Aug. 27.
Also Friday, attorneys for Valley VOTE asked the city attorney’s office to abandon efforts to gain Valley VOTE additional time for the study. City attorneys planned to ask the Local Agency Formation Commission, the agency that would conduct a secession study, to grant Valley VOTE the additional time.
Valley VOTE President Jeff Brain said the group’s attorneys do not believe LAFCO has the legal authority to grant an extension.
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