Valley Group Offers Revised Breakup Plan

A new San Fernando Valley city should continue to receive most services from Los Angeles for up to three years, should permanently share water and power services, and should take control of Van Nuys Airport, according to a revised proposal released Monday by secessionists.

In its most detailed plan for breaking up Los Angeles, Valley Study Foundation Inc., an offshoot of Valley VOTE, set the stage for a possible legal battle by proposing the Valley city jointly own and operate the Department of Water and Power, Harbor Department, Los Angeles Zoo and sewage system.

“What we have tried to do with this plan is provide for a smooth transition and put the decisions where they should be, with the elected officials in the new Valley city,” said Jeff Brain, president of Valley VOTE.

The Local Agency Formation Commission will use the plan to make a final determination on the feasibility of Valley cityhood and whether it should be placed on the ballot in June or November 2002.

City Hall had immediate objections to the proposal to reorganize the DWP into a utility district jointly held by Los Angeles and the Valley city. The plan calls for giving the Valley city equal rights to water and power services.

Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who chairs a panel overseeing secession, said such a shared operation could create problems similar to those at Burbank Airport, which is run by a multi-city authority whose members often battle over its future.

“I would not think that is a good recommendation or remedy particularly when the DWP is operating very well,” she said.

Bill Fujioka, the city’s top analyst, said its lawyers have not yet determined that the Valley city would have a legal right to share ownership or control of the DWP and receive the same rates charged in the remainder of Los Angeles.

A LAFCO financial study released in March concluded that the Valley is so tightly entwined with the rest of the city that it would have to rely on Los Angeles to run its water, power, sewer, computer and 911 emergency dispatch systems.

In particular, the LAFCO study said that the Valley would have to contract with the DWP for service and that LAFCO can order the utility to charge the new city no more for power than it does the rest of Los Angeles.

Valley VOTE’s plan takes a different tack, proposing that the DWP be reorganized into a utility district in which the Valley city would get a proportional share of ownership and control.

Some city officials have said Los Angeles could charge the Valley city higher water rates. But the plan released Monday asserts the Valley city will receive its “equitable share of service and ownership of existing water rights.”

LAFCO originally proposed an eight-month transition before city services are transferred to the Valley city, but the Valley VOTE study and its team of consultants and attorneys said that is inadequate.

Valley VOTE countered Monday by proposing a three-year transition, during which the Valley would continue to be served by the Los Angeles police and fire departments and other agencies, giving a Valley city council time to decide which services it would provide on its own.

Lisa Gritzner, an aide to Miscikowski, also said there will be questions about putting off decisions for a three-year transition period.

“We firmly believe that whatever goes to the voters has to be clearly spelled out,” she said.

The report released by Valley VOTE was in response to the LAFCO financial study that found the Valley could survive as a robust independent city but would need to pay $68 million a year in “alimony” to the rest of Los Angeles to cover a deficit in the old city caused by the loss of the Valley tax base.

In addition to asserting that the group has met all of the statutory requirements for the cityhood issue to be placed on the November 2002 ballot, Valley VOTE agreed in concept to “meet any obligation” to Los Angeles to ensure that neither city is harmed financially, but limited alimony payments to 10 years.

LAFCO had previously concluded that Los Angeles would have to keep ownership and control of Van Nuys Airport because of federal restrictions and bond agreements.

Valley VOTE attorneys disagreed, saying the Valley city should take over control of the airport, either by an ownership transfer or a joint operating agreement with Los Angeles.

“Their consultant said it is not legally possible, but our attorneys say we think there may be a way to accomplish this,” said Richard Close, chairman of Valley VOTE. “We think the airport is an important part of the new city.”

In a key measure to address concerns of city employee unions, the Valley VOTE plan promises to honor worker seniority, contracts and benefits, and will accept the transfer of its share of employees, with the jobs offered first to city workers in the Valley.

The Valley VOTE plan calls for a 14-member city council and mayor to be elected at the time of the cityhood vote and for voters to choose from among five names for the city.

The city of Los Angeles now has 45 days to respond to the financial study and Valley VOTE’s proposals, before LAFCO adopts a final financial analysis that will drive its decision on whether Valley cityhood meets the test for being put on the ballot: that it does not financially harm the new city or old city.