Secessionists Join Forces Against Bond

Leaders of secession movements in the San Fernando Valley and the Los Angeles Harbor area said Monday they will campaign to defeat a $532-million bond measure for new fire stations and animal shelters, fearing the new debt would threaten their cityhood proposals.

Richard Close, chairman of Valley VOTE, said that the secession group itself will not get involved because it is focused on cityhood, but that he and other secessionists from throughout the city have begun talking about uniting in a campaign against the November ballot measure.

“If you are on the verge of a divorce, that is not the time to buy a big house with a big mortgage,” Close said. “There is a concern that the bonds would make it more expensive and complicated for the Valley to become a separate city.”

Andrew Mardesich, head of the harbor area secession group, said he will oppose the bond measure, describing it as a “poison pill” that would undermine efforts to break up the city.

“It absolutely makes no sense to take on that kind of debt when we are talking about such a large area detaching,” said Mardesich.

Others actively opposing the bonds are Valley VOTE President Jeff Brain and board member Tony Pasano.

A county agency has begun a study to determine whether Valley and harbor cityhood proposals are financially feasible. One key issue is whether the new cities can afford to shoulder a share of the city’s current debt.

If the proposals are found not to financially harm either the new cities or the rest of Los Angeles, the proposals may be placed on the ballot for a vote as early as November 2002.

The emergence of organized opposition to the bond measure has concerned some supporters, who said it will require a strong campaign to pass the public safety bonds.

“It can hurt,” said Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, regarding the organized opposition. “It’s very shortsighted because the harbor and the Valley are going to receive the benefits of these improvements.”

Even without strong opposition, a similar $744-milion police and fire bond measure fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage in April 1999.

Political consultant Joe Scott said he believes that it is premature for secessionists to talk as if the breakup of Los Angeles is a certainty. Even so, Scott said a campaign against the bond measure probably would be damaging.

“The odds are against it even without an organized campaign of opposition,” Scott said.

The bond measure would upgrade 19 fire stations, six animal shelters and the air operations unit at Van Nuys Airport. The bonds also would pay to build two more animal shelters.

“For these two departments, we know there is no doubt that the need is very dramatic,” said Miscikowski, chairwoman of the council’s Public Safety Committee.

Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., has asked to author the ballot argument against the bond measure. It is too early to say how much the campaign would cost, he said.

City officials, including Fire Chief William Bamattre, plan to meet shortly after the Democratic National Convention to plot a strategy for winning voter approval of the bond measure, said John Ware, Bamattre’s chief of staff.

“Any time there is opposition, it makes it a little more difficult, but having people asking the right questions is not bad,” Ware said. “We should be able to answer all of the questions.”

Secessionists also say they are concerned that the pending Valley cityhood proposal might cause the city to delay any bond-funded projects in the Valley, spending money first south of Mulholland Drive.

Pasano said he is upset over how the city handled previous bonds, including a 1989 measure that promised but never delivered a sixth Valley police station.

“On the measures in the past, so many of them have proven to be boondoggles,” said Pasano, president of the Sherwood Forest Homeowners Assn. in Northridge.

Miscikowski said it will be important for key city leaders, including Mayor Richard Riordan, to campaign for the measure to win passage.

Riordan has been preoccupied with the Democratic convention and has not yet decided what role he might play in a campaign for the bond measure, said Manuel Valencia, a spokesman for the mayor.

Valencia said the organized opposition may require the mayor to play a larger role in any campaign for the bond measure.

“The mayor supports it and thinks this is very important. He wants to make sure it passes,” Valencia said.