Secession Group Need Not Disclose Finances, Panel Says

Because of an anomaly in California’s campaign laws, the group pushing for a study and possible vote on San Fernando Valley secession is not required to disclose finances, expenditures or contributors--but it could be in the future, according to a report by the city’s Ethics Commission.

The report offers no recommendations on whether Valley VOTE should be made to reveal its financial backers. However, it concludes that Los Angeles leaders do have the power to force disclosure.

Councilman Mike Feuer said he plans to suggest two proposals Wednesday that would increase public disclosure of campaign contributions when the report is considered by the Ethics Commission.

One would require groups collecting signatures to place measures on the ballot in Los Angeles to report the source of their funding. The other, requiring legislative approval, would require disclosure of lobbying activity at the Local Agency Formation Commission, the panel that oversees the secession process.

“If we require disclosure for far less significant matters than secession, I don’t see why we should not require it here,” Feuer said.

Feuer’s proposals elicited an angry response from Valley VOTE, which accused him of trying to intimidate secession boosters. Valley VOTE has refused to divulge its financial backers, arguing that its benefactors fear political retribution.

The Ethics Commission report noted that under the state law, secession campaigns are not required to report donations to promote a vote. But if an election is scheduled, secession campaigns are bound to report all money raised and spent--but only from that point forward.

Although the Ethics Commission report stated that city leaders could enact laws requiring further disclosure or lobby state leaders to do so, it suggested that such laws would not be applied retroactively.