Hollywood Secessionists Unveil Proposed City Map

Local secessionists released the map of their proposed new city Monday, claiming a stretch of Mulholland Drive that San Fernando Valley cityhood backers had previously proposed to be part of their new city.

Valley and Hollywood cityhood leaders downplayed the conflict. In the end, they said, any boundaries are merely proposals, and the Local Agency Formation Commission will make the final decision.

“This is not a battle over boundaries,” said Richard Close, chairman of Valley VOTE.

The potential Hollywood city boundary goes as far north in the Cahuenga Pass as Woodrow Wilson Drive, where it intersects with the Hollywood Freeway--a configuration that would include all of Mulholland Drive to the south.

The proposed Valley boundary, meanwhile, goes to the southern edge of Mulholland Drive at the Hollywood Freeway.

The proposed four-square-mile city of Hollywood includes Forest Lawn Memorial Park but excludes Griffith Park. The population of the proposed city is about 160,000 people, said Fares Wehbe, president of Hollywood VOTE.

Meanwhile, a group supporting the study of cityhood for the San Pedro area on Monday filed a written protest of plans to use $20,000 in Harbor Department funds to pay for its breakaway study.

The harbor is operated by the city of Los Angeles as a public trust, in an agreement with the state.

Andrew Mardesich, director of the Harbor Study Foundation, said the new Harbor-area city would ask to take over management of the port, arguing that the city has traditionally misspent harbor profits for non-harbor expenses.

He said state law limits the use of funds generated by the Port of Los Angeles to port costs and argued that plans to tap Harbor Department funds for the cityhood study are improper.