Secession Poll Boosts Focus on Charter Reform

At first, a poll of San Fernando Valley voters’ attitudes toward secession seemed to hit last week like a magnitude 7.0 earthquake.

The survey, conducted for a pair of Valley businessmen by pollster and political consultant Arnie Steinberg, found overwhelming support for the notion of carving up the city of Los Angeles.

The poll of 1,205 Valley voters, the first on secession since 1996, showed that 58% would vote to create a separate Valley city if the matter were on the ballot today. The majority of voters polled said that a separate city would provide a more efficient, less bureaucratic government.

Despite the findings, most of the Valley’s most prominent business and community leaders continue to remain on the sidelines. At the same time, the poll has put new pressure on secession’s opponents, such as Mayor Richard Riordan and most City Council members, as well as the elected and appointed commissions working on charter reform proposals.

“I think it puts a lot of pressure on the City Council,” said former Assemblyman Richard Katz. “If they are going to make a case for keeping the city together, they have to show how they are going to give the Valley better services.”

But most Valley business and community leaders are still calling for careful study before any secession plans are considered.

“It’s a very important thing and if you are serious about exploring it, it’s not something you want to do overnight,” said Robert Scott, vice chairman of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., one of the Valley’s most prominent business groups.

Even the nonprofit group that lobbied successfully last year for legislation to make secession easier continues to advocate in-depth fact-gathering before voters are asked to decide on the issue.

In fact, two days after the survey was released, the group, Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment, adopted a new mission statement that eliminated previous mention of putting secession on a citywide ballot.

The group plans to circulate a petition this summer, asking a regional state agency--the Local Agency Formation Commission--to study the feasibility of creating a separate Valley city.

While the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. supports further study of secession too, it also backs charter reform.

The United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley supports Valley VOTE but has not taken a position on secession. “There is not enough information on it yet,” said Gary Thomas, past president of the Valley chambers.

The poll was commissioned by Valley business leaders David Fleming and Herbert Boeckmann, but neither is interested in pursuing secession at this point. Fleming, a Studio City attorney, called the results of the survey “remarkable” and “astounding.” But, he said, “I really think the future of the city lies in charter reform.”

In that context, Fleming hopes that the survey’s results will pressure the two charter reform panels to recommend dramatic changes in the way the city operates.

Erwin Chemerinsky, chairman of the elected charter commission, said the survey would have been more complete had it asked voters if they support other alternatives to secession, such as creating neighborhood councils with some power to control community matters.