Valley VOTE Seeks Change, Spare Change

Greetings, Valley secession sympathizers: Can you spare a dime?

That is the low-budget pitch that Valley VOTE, the group pursuing a study and possible vote on the breakup of Los Angeles, will soon be making to thousands of residents at convenience stores and fast-food outlets around town.

Taking a page from endangered-animal organizations, groups assisting malnourished Third World children and other charities, Valley VOTE is launching an aggressive campaign to literally nickel and dime its way to a healthy bankroll by placing donor boxes at businesses throughout the Valley.

The clear plastic boxes are backed by a small sign that pictures a Valley panorama and urges voters to “support an educated choice” on secession by helping Valley VOTE pay for a study of the split.

“You see boxes in markets all the time, raising money for children’s projects and all, and we thought people would be interested in contributing to our cause,” explained Jeff Brain, Valley VOTE’s president.

Valley VOTE predicts it will need hundreds of thousands of dollars for consultants and lawyers to help shape the secession study, which is required under state law and must arrive at certain findings--mainly that the break would not hurt the rest of the city--before a vote on the issue can occur.

So to raise such huge sums, secession advocates are resorting to creative means--thinking small as well as big. They have talked to local Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises around the Valley about posting the boxes near cash registers. They plan to do the same with 7-Eleven and other minimarkets, Brain said.

Whether the charitable giving strategy will yield pennies or real cash for the Valley cityhood movement remains to be seen. But it can safely be said that one optimistic scenario dreamed up by secession leaders is highly unlikely.

“A million-dollar check in there from the mayor would be nice,” joked Carlos Ferreyra, a member of Valley VOTE’s executive board. “I could see that happening.”

Call it a hunch, but as one of secession’s strongest foes, Mayor Richard Riordan is probably more likely to slip his loose change to Jerry Lewis.

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PLEASE, COACH, PLEASE: Newcomers to the Los Angeles City Council go through a period when they are expected to defer to more senior city leaders, but Alex Padilla of Pacoima got a taste even before taking office.

Padilla, 26, was one of the city officials invited by the Los Angeles Dodgers to participate in the ceremonial throwing of the first pitch during a game on Father’s Day.

The invitation was a natural for the newly elected councilman from the northeast San Fernando Valley’s 7th District. He was a pitcher at San Fernando High School.

But Padilla got bumped from the pitcher’s mound, ending up catching instead while Department of Water and Power General Manager David Freeman got to pitch.

Freeman’s pitch was wild, forcing Padilla to throw his body in front to block it.

Afterward, Padilla’s political consultant, Rick Taylor, did what political consultants do, and groused with good humor that his client didn’t get better billing.

“He should have been allowed to pitch,” Taylor said. “He was a pitcher in high school. At least he would have gotten the ball across the plate.”

Dollars, not seniority, made the difference.

Freeman got the nod because of the DWP’s advertising partnership with the Dodgers, which includes a large DWP billboard past the outfield, according to DWP spokeswoman Darlene Battle.

Taylor hinted that if Padilla had been allowed to pitch, he might have caught the attention of Dodgers scouts looking to beef up the bullpen.

“Who knows, they might have signed him,” Taylor said. “They could use him.”

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PADILLA, PART II: Padilla, who plans to take the oath of office at his church, Mary Immaculate Church in Pacoima, sometime during the week of July 10, also had his first taste of battling with the city bureaucracy.

In response to his complaints that a traffic signal does not give children at his old elementary school enough time to cross the street, city officials have adjusted the timing on the signal at Telfair Elementary School.

But Padilla isn’t satisfied.

“They’ve added two seconds to the crossing signal,” Taylor said. “Now the poor kids have got seven seconds to run for their lives.”

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CUTTING THE RED TAPE: Navigating the bureaucratic maze of city government can be frustrating, but City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski has provided a road map to 23,000 of her most active constituents.

It will never rival the books on The Times’ best-sellers list, but the Community Resources Guide is a popular publication, according to Glenn Barr, a spokesman for Miscikowski.

“We’ve gotten a lot of calls and e-mails from people who are glad we did it,” Barr said.

The 93-page booklet, which cost about $20,000 to print and mail, tells 11th Council District residents who to call if there is a stray dog in the neighborhood, or a loud party, or trash isn’t picked up.

“It helps the constituents be more effective not only in dealing with city government, but also county, state and federal government,” Barr said.

In addition to the 23,000 mailed to active voters, 13,000 are available for distribution on request.

Until ethics reforms, council members sent the booklets--with photos and their names on every page out--right before elections.

Those days are gone. Miscikowski is not now running for reelection, her name but not photo is on the cover, but the rules prohibited her from putting her name on subsequent pages, except in a list of council members.