Secession Leaders Hope Move Reflects Valley’s Diversity

Stung by criticism that the San Fernando Valley cityhood movement is just another manifestation of suburban “white flight,” secessionist leaders have been eager to show their movement reflects the Valley’s ethnic diversity.

So it was with some excitement that Valley VOTE announced Wednesday an invitation to join the group’s executive board has been accepted by the Rev. Zedar E. Broadous, president of the Valley chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.

“Our interest is to have all people, all interest groups, at the table, and this is another step in that direction,” said Jeff Brain, president of Valley VOTE.

If Broadous’ appointment is ratified by the 35-member board, he would become its second African American member.

Broadous said his acceptance of the board seat should not be considered an endorsement of Valley cityhood. While open to see whether a pending study will find cityhood a good idea, Broadous said he has many questions on how it would effect the 4% of Valley residents who are African American.

“There are some issues for me, including whether the African American community will have access to a new city government,” he said, adding that blacks make up 12% of the citywide population and therefore have had success gaining representation at City Hall.

For Broadous, the decision to join the Valley VOTE board was more to be a part of the debate and to get the Valley’s minorities more interested in the issue.

“Everybody should be at the table discussing it,” he said. “The African American community in particular, and the minority community in general, has not really discussed the issue and truly talked about how it would affect us.”

If Valley VOTE’s inclusion of Broadous on the board was an attempt to legitimize the group more with minority Valleyites, it has not worked with everyone.

“Absolutely not,” said Xavier Flores, an officer with the Valley chapter of the Mexican American Political Assn. “It still isn’t representative of minorities in the Valley. I’m not convinced that Latinos or minority groups have bought into what Valley VOTE wants.”

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LOBBYING TOP 10: The city’s Ethics Commission released its third-quarter lobbying reports for the period ending Sept. 30, and several Valley issues made the top 10 list.

* The brouhaha over the Chase Knolls apartments--whether to grant the 1940s-era Sherman Oaks complex historic cultural monument status--was the third most lobbied project, with more than $160,000 spent.

Of that total, Legacy Partners, the developer that wanted to demolish Chase Knolls, spent the lion’s share, with $157,592. Its rival was the preservationist group, Los Angeles Conservancy, which spent $2,826.

In July, the Los Angeles City Council approved Chase Knolls for monument status, though the apartments could still be razed.

* Another Valley issue, the Porter Ranch development, was the sixth most lobbied project. Last week the City Council agreed to cut the commercial portion of the development in half. The Porter Ranch Development Co. had decided it was no longer practical to develop 6 million square feet of shops and offices.

In the third quarter, the Porter Ranch Development Co. and the Lumbermen’s Investment Co. spent $92,007 in lobbying fees.

* Several of the third quarter’s most lobbied projects were citywide issues, including cable open access, which was No. 1.

The open-access issue, the pet project of Councilman Alex Padilla, will govern whether cable television companies must open their high-speed cable lines to all Internet service providers. Padilla has rallied for open access, but cable firms have opposed what they call “forced access.”

Last week the council passed a resolution to support open access and urged the Federal Trade Commission to require that of cable companies. Padilla had initially wanted the city to require local cable companies to adopt the policy, but federal court decisions have appeared to dilute local power over the matter.

Eleven companies spent $349,254 on open access, with AT & T the top spender with $102,146.

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NO SUNSHINE STATE: Let’s not be another Florida.

That’s the message from local lawmakers.

On Wednesday the Los Angeles City Council listened to a presentation by the city clerk on touch-screen voting, which debuted during this month’s election.

Council members were cautiously optimistic about using the system again in April, but many voiced concerns over power outages, ways to double-check results and recounts, and the expense of conversion from the 1970s punch-ballot system.

Councilwoman Laura Chick said the $50-million price tag to switch was too high. “I’m not in a hurry to replace the traditional voting booth,” she said. “But it can supplement voter participation.”

City officials said the touch-screen system won’t let voters cast two votes for candidates running for the same position. But there is no paper record if a recount were necessary.

Privacy and security also need to be studied with the new election method, Councilman Padilla said.

“There are lessons learned from Florida,” Padilla said.

On the other side of town, the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. offered its opinion on modernizing election methods.

The association voted Wednesday to support a statewide modernization, including the idea by Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks), who is seeking $300 million from the state budget to update every county in California.

Most of the counties in the state, including Los Angeles, use the punch-card system, as does Florida.

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MIT HOMECOMING: Padilla is heading east to his alma mater next week to speak to students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, giving them a firsthand account of Los Angeles.

They’ll get to hear about the city’s travails with the Rampart chaos in the Los Angeles Police Department, and the more mundane talk on repairing potholes, sidewalks and streets.

Padilla will also address the East Coast Chicano Student Forum, an organization representing 25 eastern universities. Padilla chaired the forum when he was an MIT senior in 1994.

Padilla, who has a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from MIT, said the academically challenging college is known by students “as the place you love to hate.”

What advice will he give to students during his visit?

“Stick it out,” he said. “As much as I suffered there, I’d do it over in a heartbeat.”

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ROAD RAGE: Just as finishing last in pro sports gets a team an early pick in the next year’s draft, the horrible condition of the San Fernando Valley’s streets has put it at the front of the line when it comes to doling out a windfall of resurfacing money.

Valley council districts will get the bulk of the more than $60 million in state surplus funds allocated to Los Angeles for street repairs, under a plan released this week by the Bureau of Street Services.

Councilman Hal Bernson’s 12th Council District, covering the northwest Valley, will get the largest share--13.6%--based on need, while Chick’s 3rd District, covering the southwest Valley, will get the second-largest share, 11.3%.

The Valley’s 11th, 2nd, 5th and 7th districts get the next largest shares, in that order, while non-Valley council districts all received shares ranging from 2.7% to 5.8%.

Richard Close, Valley VOTE chairman, said he is glad the city is finally admitting what many Valley leaders have believed for a long time, that Valley streets are a mess.

“I can testify to that,” he said. “It’s interesting that they are finally admitting what we have known all along, that we have more potholes than the rest of the city.”

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TIP OF THE ICEBERG? Allegations of financial improprieties in the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency have members of the agency’s former advisory panel in North Hollywood calling for an audit of activity in their community.

An audit released this week by City Controller Rick Tuttle found the agency had paid significantly more for property in Hollywood, Little Tokyo and Wilmington than agency appraisals said it was worth and failed to disclose the differences to the CRA and council.

Several members of the agency’s former Project Area Committee say they have suspicions of similar actions in North Hollywood.

“I feel there has got to be more to it,” said Victor Viereck, a certified public accountant who chaired the elected PAC before its authority was phased out last month.

Viereck said his own research has turned up a high rate of defaulted loans, excessive lease costs for agency offices and lax agency oversight of finances in North Hollywood. The committee also recently complained the agency had failed to properly disclose to the PAC that it had plans for sculptures to be built at the entrances to North Hollywood.

“We feel a full audit is needed not just of what the agency is doing in Hollywood, but also what it is doing here,” Viereck said.

Agency administrator Jerry Scharlin, who sought the audit that was critical of real estate transactions, said in a memo to his staff this week that he wants regular audits of agency operations to help judge the effectiveness of his department.