Secession Study

Re “Backing a Secession Study Doesn’t Equate to Favoring a Split,” Jan. 7.

As chairman of the United Chambers of Commerce, I can assure your readers that Valley VOTE has significant organizational support, including virtually every Valley Chamber of Commerce and homeowners group. Never before has the San Fernando Valley been so united behind any one issue. From one end of the Valley to the other, people support the LAFCO [Local Agency Formation Commission] study to determine if the Valley would be better off as its own city. Then with the facts, we can all make an informed decision. That is all Valley VOTE is asking. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Regardless of whether one supports cityhood or not, it’s clear Valley VOTE’s efforts have benefited the Valley and its residents. As a result we are getting more attention, more services and more respect.

The information being gathered by the LAFCO study will help residents throughout Los Angeles learn how effectively the city operates and spends our tax dollars.

Everyone I talk to is grateful for the work of Valley VOTE. Their leaders, Jeff Brain and Richard Close, have done an incredible job as underdogs to get the process and study this far.

J. RICHARD LEYNER

Chairman, San Fernando Valley

United Chambers of Commerce

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I was one of the thousands of volunteers who collected signatures for Valley VOTE. [Leon] Furgatch . . . suggested that Valley VOTE had six months and needed an extension beyond that, and further suggested this evidenced a lack of support. To the contrary, the San Fernando Valley was only given three months to complete its petition drive, while in every place else in the state they are allowed a full six months for the same petition. How is that fair?

It was only after the city workers refused to allow residents wearing Valley VOTE T-shirts to enter public property at the Van Nuys air show that the state Legislature, including opponents of Valley cityhood, out of fairness granted the Valley the full six months. Not because they were short of signatures.

Valley VOTE collected over 202,000 signatures. Many of the signatures came through the thousands of volunteers like myself who helped.

All the volunteers I worked with were clear that the petition was for a study, which matches the mission statement of Valley VOTE. I personally collected over 1,200 signatures. Furgatch should do his homework next time.

LAURA DiGILIO

Chatsworth