Foes Unite for Secession Study’s Sake

Foes of San Fernando Valley secession frequently say the drive to deconstruct Los Angeles will divide people rather than unite them.

Whatever the case, the secession movement has succeeded in bringing together some unlikely political personalities--perhaps few as unlikely as Richard Alarcon and Richard Katz.

Alarcon and Katz went toe to toe last year in one of the nastiest political campaign brawls in recent memory, a racially charged Democratic primary for state Senate that eventually went to Alarcon by a mere 29 votes.

There is clearly no love lost between the two, according to those who know them. But there they both were last Friday, standing behind a podium with Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) to show their support for a proposal to seek state funding for a study of secession.

Katz, a former assemblyman who remains active in Valley civic affairs, was representing Valley VOTE, the group driving the secession movement. Alarcon (D-Sylmar), a former city councilman, was there in his new role as Senate point man for the secession funding campaign.

When the news conference broke up, the two even exchanged an awkward handshake.

Alarcon downplayed his past differences with Katz, saying it should come as no surprise that the two men came together to show a unified front on secession, one of the hottest issues in the Valley.

“We recognize that we need to move forward,” Alarcon said. “We have a lot of common issues that we support, and we are not about to let personal differences get in the way of what is best for the Valley.”

Katz also shrugged off any mention of the beef with Alarcon, noting there was another, even odder political pairing at the news conference: Villaraigosa, a liberal, and Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Northridge), a conservative anti-government-spending crusader.

“What strange political bedfellows are you referring to, Villaraigosa and McClintock? Clearly, the Valley getting what it deserves is a bigger issue than anything between two people,” Katz said.

The fight between Katz, who is Jewish, and Alarcon, a Latino, was clouded by charges of race-baiting, a recount, and a lawsuit. Many observers believe the reputations of both men took a hit as a result, and some say the repercussions on Latino-Jewish relations are still being felt.

Among the divisive political propaganda used was a mailer by the Katz campaign that featured a photo of a man’s dirty hands, with a headline that read, “It’s more than Alarcon’s hands that are dirty.” Some Latinos interpreted the line as an implication that they were dirty people.

Another mailer, by Alarcon supporters, falsely suggested that Katz had been involved in a 1988 incident in Orange County, in which some Republicans posted armed guards at polling places to intimidate Latino voters. Katz, in fact, had led a lawsuit against the politicians behind the incident.

But hey, that was then, this is now, Alarcon said. And the important thing for both men these days is to band together on the study funding issue, because it is going to be an uphill fight in Sacramento.

Senate leader John Burton (D-San Francisco) and Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), key figures in the upper house, both oppose state funding of a secession study, which is required before the breakup can reach voters.

Ironically, it was Polanco, an Alarcon supporter, who put out the now-infamous hit piece against Katz last year.

Oh, the ever-shifting state of political bedfellows.

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SHE’S BACK: Someone should have told Sue Gold that you can never go home again.

A former spokeswoman for Alarcon from his days as a councilman, Gold has returned to the Valley to resume working with Alarcon after a one-year stint in her hometown of New York.

Gold, who also worked for Katz in a similar capacity, was serving as a spokeswoman for New York City Comptroller Alan Hevesi, also a mayoral candidate in the Big Apple. But she said she missed the West Coast political scene, and when Alarcon talked to her about rejoining him now that he is a state senator, she jumped at the chance.

“I enjoyed working for Richard. We had kept in touch throughout the year, and California politics is something that I enjoyed a lot,” Gold said. “I love the Valley.”

Gold is no stranger to political life: her father, Emanuel Gold, served in the New York Legislature for three decades, sponsoring the now-famous “Son of Sam” law to prevent convicted criminals from profiting off their crimes. Indeed, some New York politicians had a hard time seeing Gold for what she now is, she said.

“To a lot of them, I was still 5-year-old Susie,” she said. “But I enjoyed my time there. California politics is just more interesting.”