Airport Settles Valley VOTE Suit Over Ban

City airport officials agreed to pay a $50,000 settlement Tuesday to Valley VOTE, the group of San Fernando Valley activists ousted from a Van Nuys air show in July when members tried to collect signatures for a study and possible vote on Valley secession.

The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners unanimously approved the deal, resolving a lawsuit filed by Valley VOTE in U.S. District Court that accused the city of violating the constitutional rights of the petition gatherers. Airport security barred Valley VOTE members from the Van Nuys Aviation Expo ’98 on July 18-19.

City Atty. James K. Hahn apologized for the incident, as have other city officials. However, the city made no admission of wrongdoing in the settlement, even though Hahn’s own investigation determined the petitioners’ rights were violated.

“I think everybody recognized that they should have been able to gather signatures at the air show,” Hahn said. “It’s a public event, and this is one of our most cherished constitutional rights. . . . It’s unfortunate that the security personnel were, I think, in error.”

Hahn also sent a memo to all city departments aimed at boosting awareness of 1st Amendment rights.

The city owns Van Nuys Airport. Because the money will come out of the airport department’s budget, not the city general fund, the settlement was submitted to the Department of Airports commissioners. The City Council is expected to let the decision stand, Hahn said.

Leaders of Valley VOTE commended Hahn’s quick action and said they were happy to put the matter behind them.

“We decided the best course of action was to quickly settle this and to avoid a lengthy battle,” said Richard Close, chairman of Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment. “We’re going to need the city’s cooperation and assistance over the next year or so.”

Valley VOTE needs to collect approximately 135,000 signatures from registered voters in the Valley to trigger a study and possible citywide ballot initiative on severing the Valley from Los Angeles to create an independent city.

Close said Valley VOTE has collected 165,000 thus far and wants to gather at least 185,000 before its Nov. 27 deadline. The extra signatures could ensure the petition drive is successful, even if some of the people who signed are ineligible because they are not registered voters or live outside the Valley, Close said.

Hahn said he personally worked on the settlement, negotiating with attorney David Fleming, a city fire commissioner and one of Valley VOTE’s biggest financial backers. Hahn said Fleming contacted him and offered to serve as an intermediary, since they both hoped to prevent the city and Valley VOTE from spending thousands of dollars in legal expenses in a protracted court battle.

“It didn’t make any difference to me whether it was settled or not--I don’t get anything out of it,” Fleming said Tuesday. “I just didn’t want to see city resources spent on a lawsuit when they already admitted liability.”

Valley VOTE and the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in August, alleging that airport officials violated the federal and state constitutions by ejecting signature gatherers from the air show, which attracted an estimated 250,000 spectators.

Leaders of Valley VOTE estimated the Van Nuys Air Show imbroglio cost them 20,000 to 40,000 signatures. In the lawsuit, the group sought unspecified damages, but Close had hinted that the group might ask the city to pay the expenses of a second Valley VOTE petition drive if the current one failed. That cost has been estimated at $300,000.

Early on, city officials acknowledged that the petition gatherers were turned away in error. John J. Driscoll, executive director of the city Department of Airports, and several City Council members have offered apologies to Valley VOTE.

Under the settlement agreement, Valley VOTE will receive $45,000 to compensate for the lost signatures. The ACLU will receive $5,000 to cover attorney fees.

Valley VOTE’s portion of the settlement was calculated based on the rough guess that Valley VOTE lost the chance at about 20,000 signatures, and that each signature costs the organization between $1 and $3 to obtain using a professional petitioning firm, Hahn said.

“It’s a settlement for everybody,” said Peter Eliasberg, attorney for the ACLU. “It should be taken as a warning that the city has to be careful to protect people’s 1st Amendment rights.”

During the initial settlement negotiations, leaders of Valley VOTE wanted the city to agree to pay a portion of the secession study if the petition drive is successful. The study, expected to cost at least $1 million, would be conducted by the Local Agency Formation Commission, a state-sanctioned land-use authority funded by the city and Los Angeles County.

“The city refused to do that because, admittedly, it was apples and grapes--two different issues,” Close said Tuesday. “The study costs were not related to the airport incident.”

The question over who will fund a possible secession study remains unresolved. County Supervisor Michael Antonovich has filed a motion calling on the city and county to set aside $500,000 apiece for the study, but his proposal was postponed until October.

Meanwhile, David E. Janssen, the county’s chief administrative officer, has recommended the Board of Supervisors urge LAFCO to make Valley VOTE assume the full costs of the study or pursue other non-county funding sources.