City Objects to Scope of Secession Panel’s Request

City officials vowed Tuesday to provide vast reams of data to a commission studying the San Fernando Valley’s proposed secession from Los Angeles, but accused the panel of seeking far more than it needs.

The Local Agency Formation Commission has asked for payrolls, contracts, budgets and inventories on everything from helicopters and fireboats to parking meters and stop lights.

It has requested the name of every licensed taxi owner in Los Angeles, a geographic breakdown of police vice cases, a map of sewer lines--including the diameter of each one--and a list of every place the city picked up horse manure last year.

Ron Deaton, the city’s chief legislative analyst, said the panel’s 25-page request, the first of several, was too broad. “I think they are making a mistake,” he said, adding that the commission might not get everything it’s seeking.

The commission will use the data as the foundation of its study on whether the Valley can break away from Los Angeles without harming residents on both sides of Mulholland Drive.

Several City Council members voiced concerns Tuesday about the scope of the request. Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, head of the secession committee, said she had qualms about providing specific addresses requested for things like the city’s bulky-item garbage pick-ups.