Valley Secessionists Propose Structure for New City

San Fernando Valley activists seeking to split off from Los Angeles released a conceptual plan Tuesday of their new city--a preliminary, incomplete yet distinct vision of what could become the nation’s sixth-largest municipality.

Valley VOTE, the group leading the secession drive, called for a frugal, bare-bones city government at the outset, providing better service at a lower cost. The plan calls for use of existing city facilities and employees until a new government--a full-time mayor and a part-time City Council--makes permanent changes.

The plan, while vague on details, asserts the need for independent police and fire departments and for replicating all existing city departments.

The goal of secession is to create a new city with a more responsive government, and lower taxes and fees. “We intend to make a Camelot out of it,” said Jeff Brain, president of Valley VOTE.

Some officials predict widespread opposition to a cornerstone of Valley VOTE’s proposal: The secession plan depends on the San Fernando Valley city’s keeping a share of such major Los Angeles assets as the harbor, airports and the Department of Water and Power.

“They want a lot,” said Councilwoman Ruth Galanter. “I don’t see any reason to give them anything. This [movement] is a great temper tantrum.”

The draft of the so-called vision statement distributed to Valley VOTE board members on Tuesday may be revised. It will be turned in Friday to the state’s Local Agency Formation Commission, which will use the statement as the basis of a study to determine whether the split would not financially harm either the new city or the old one.

Valley VOTE said it reserves the right to change its plan on the basis of new data from the commission’s study on revenues and liabilities.

In spelling out the proposed terms of the municipal divorce, the secessionists said the new city should be allowed to keep all city buildings, equipment and other assets now in the Valley.

The new city should receive 36.25% of the value of most Los Angeles regional and central assets--including City Hall and the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters at Parker Center. That share is based on the percentage of the city’s population that lives in the Valley, the statement said. The value of those assets should be credited against the Valley’s share of Los Angeles’ liabilities.

The plan suggests joint management of harbor, airport and Department of Water and Power assets and operations. That would be the “least disruptive” way of handling the breakup, said Richard Close, the chairman of Valley VOTE.

If Los Angeles refuses to accept joint management, he said, the commission can split up profitable city agencies. The statement also suggested that some services, such as water and power, could be privatized.

Valley VOTE, the vision statement says, “seeks to divide the city’s municipal services in such a way as to have a smooth and equitable transition, with minimal impact upon city operations, departments, employees and residents.”

Many city officials said Valley VOTE underestimates the difficulty of dividing city assets and liabilities.

Mayor Richard Riordan, who opposes secession, reserved comment on the details of the statement until he has a chance to review it. But he believes Los Angeles is better off intact, said spokeswoman Jessica Copen.

“Given how the mayor has improved city services and is continuing to improve city services, this is unnecessary,” Copen said.

The head of the city’s largest union for blue collar workers agreed it would be better to improve Los Angeles city services than break the city up. Given that position, Julie Butcher welcomed Valley VOTE’s assurances that all 34,000 current city workers would keep their jobs.

While some assets should be divided according to the Valley’s share of the population, Valley VOTE said other assets might be better divided on the basis of geography. The Valley has nearly 48% of the city’s land.

The new city would be governed by a full-time mayor and as many as 13 part-time city council members. The idea, according to secession backers, is to discourage career politicians.

The current 15-member Los Angeles City Council serves full-time and is the highest paid in the country, with each member earning $117,900 a year.

Larry J. Calemine, executive officer of the Local Agency Formation Commission, said the agency will use the report to draft its formal request for data from the city of Los Angeles.

Close, the chairman of Valley VOTE, said the group has not proposed any wholesale changes in services to be provided by the new city government.

“We don’t view it as our role to eliminate departments or make substantial changes,” he said. “That would be done by the first city council and the first mayor.”