Group to Study Morality of Secession From L.A.

Adding another dimension to the debate over breaking up Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony has appointed a group of religious leaders to study the morality of secession of the San Fernando Valley, harbor area and Hollywood.

A working group will report to the 12-member Council of Religious Leaders after meeting with secessionists, anti-secessionists, researchers and ethicists, says a letter to Valley secessionists from Thomas Chabolla, who heads the office of justice and peace for the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

“While there will be numerous studies examining the economic and political implications of Valley secession, the task of this working group is to study and identify the moral and ethical implications of the secession proposal,” Chabolla said in a letter inviting Richard Close, chairman of the secession group Valley VOTE, to address the panel May 23.

Secessionists have accepted the invitation. But concerned that the debate has been framed by opponents as one of a more affluent Valley abandoning the poor in the rest of Los Angeles, Close and others have said they will bring along people “who are active in the area of providing help and services to the needy in the Valley.”

The secessionists have also requested that the study group tour the Valley and attend a community meeting in the northeast Valley, which has large pockets of poverty.

Close said he will argue that secession would help people in the new and old cities, including the poor.

He and others noted that Mahony is close to Mayor Richard Riordan, a Catholic who has led the opposition to secession, calling it “downright immoral” and an abandonment of Los Angeles’ poor by its more affluent.

“Some people speculate that Mayor Riordan has gotten the church involved in this, but I have no evidence of that,” Close said.

Representatives of Mahony and Riordan denied that the mayor had a role in the cardinal’s convening the study group. But Riordan is interested in what the group finds.

“For many, many months, when asked about secession, the mayor has always said he opposes secession because he believes it is morally and ethically wrong,” said Peter Hidalgo, a spokesman for the mayor. “This [study] may validate some of the concerns the mayor has had.”

The working group will be led by Chabolla, a layman. Tamberg said the study is in the preliminary stages, so he could not offer a full list of participants, but he said members of other denominations, such as Methodists, Lutherans, Episcopalians and representatives from the Board of Rabbis, will be included.