Latino Activists Planning Summit on Secession

Saying they fear the impact on Latinos, several prominent community activists have called a summit on splitting the San Fernando Valley from Los Angeles--one to which leaders of the secession movement are not welcome.

The invitation-only forum Saturday has already ignited a local political firestorm and may mark the emergence of the first grass-roots group to question the wisdom of secession for Valley residents.

“This is uncomfortable for some people to address, but there are racial implications to secession,” said Irene Tovar, head of the Latin American Civic Assn., a sponsor of the meeting. “Will this benefit one group over another?

“We’re part of the American fiber, and we’re asking questions about a very important decision,” she added. “We’re not just going to follow like sheep.”

After learning of the exclusive forum at San Fernando High School, to which a select 50 to 75 Latino leaders have been invited, Valley VOTE President Jeff Brain struck out at the event’s organizers, calling them insincere and their concerns unfounded.

He accused organizers of being beholden to powerful Latino politicians from other parts of Los Angeles who oppose the secession movement.

“They don’t speak for the people on this,” Brain said. “They get their money from people on the other side of the hill.”

Xavier Flores of the nonprofit group Pueblo Y Salud, the forum’s other main sponsor, called the accusation offensive, but acknowledged he fears that Valley Latinos could lose clout if secession separated them from Los Angeles’ Latino leaders.

“If Latinos find out we have a better chance at stronger representation by staying a part of Los Angeles, we will,” Flores said. “I have a harder time believing we would have the same opportunities in a Valley city.”

Although the secession movement has faced concerted opposition from most entrenched city politicians, including Mayor Richard Riordan, there has been little evidence of much ground-level opposition.

Tovar and Flores both stressed that they have not taken positions on secession and still have much to learn about the issue. But they pointedly questioned the motives of Valley VOTE and said they were wary of the group, which last week wrapped up a petition drive to spur a study of secession.

With assistance from paid petition circulators, Valley VOTE gathered 205,000 signatures--well over the 135,000 needed to trigger a secession study. The study is the final legal step before the issue could be placed on the ballot, which could come as soon as 2000.

“We have never opposed secession,” said Flores, who also represents the Valley chapter of another forum sponsor, the Mexican American Political Assn. “We are very leery about seceding when we see who is leading the march.

“The proponents of secession, some of them are the same people that supported breakup of [the Los Angeles Unified School District], and that happened right after Latinos had some political success,” Flores said. “What they do not want is more Latino representation.”

Such arguments lack foundation, Valley VOTE chairman Richard Close said.

He said he was disappointed that the group behind the secession drive was not invited, arguing that it could best explain why Latinos, and the rest of the Valley’s diverse population, could benefit from breaking away and forming the nation’s sixth-largest city.

If anything, Close said, the Latino-heavy northeast Valley and other areas that have traditionally felt disenfranchised by Los Angeles politicians stand to gain most from the secession movement.

“It’s discouraging when a forum like this is held and proponents are not encouraged to participate,” he said. “But this is a free country, and not them, not us, but the voters of the Valley and of Los Angeles, will decide this issue.

“Clearly, they have motivations,” he added. “Whether those motivations are good or bad for the Valley, I have no idea.”

The forum was organized by a group called the San Fernando Valley Consortium on Valley Secession, which plans to conduct a series of meetings on the issue, later including public participation.

The first meeting of the group, which is also sponsored by Cal State Northridge and a Spanish-language television station, will begin to examine the impact of secession on core issues such as political representation, planning and land use, and taxes and public services.

“I suspect there may be similar things in the black and Asian communities,” said sponsor Bill Flores of CSUN’s College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

“I don’t personally believe this, but when you go into certain communities, there is concern that there could be racial overtones to secession. People ask, ‘Why do they want to do this?’ ”