Valley VOTE Chief Criticizes Private Talks

Comparing it to an “inquisition” shrouded in secrecy, a leading San Fernando Valley activist said Monday he will not attend a closed-door discussion called by Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger M. Mahony on the morality of secession.

Richard Close, chairman of the secession group Valley VOTE, said he expects that a group of Valley religious leaders will appear instead on Wednesday.

“Because of the secretive nature of the proceedings, I feel it’s inappropriate for me to attend,” Close said. “It has been compared to an inquisition. It’s impossible to refute the statements being made to the group by others because we don’t know what they are saying.”

Secession opponents, most notably Mayor Richard Riordan, say that municipal breakup is an abandonment of poor people in the rest of Los Angeles by the more affluent Valley.

Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the archdiocese, called it “unfortunate that he’s not coming since he is one of the most articulate spokesmen for Valley secession.” Tamberg also said it was unfair to compare the proceedings to an inquisition.

Those who might appear include the Rev. Zedar Broadous, a Valley VOTE board member and president of the Valley branch of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, and Ellen Michiel, a Catholic lay minister and executive director of the West Valley Community Development Corp., an affordable-housing agency.

Michiel, a former Valley VOTE board member, said she will testify that she does not believe Valley secession would be ethically or morally wrong if it results in two smaller cities that provide better access and representation for the poor.

“I do not believe detachment is an abandonment of the poor by any stretch of the imagination,” Michiel said.

Broadous is still undecided about whether he supports secession, but says there is nothing ethically wrong with one part of the city wanting to break away in order to obtain better city services.

Originally, Close and Valley VOTE board member Richard Katz had accepted invitations to address a 10-member working group of civic and religious leaders convened by Mahony to investigate the ethical and moral implications of the Valley breaking away from Los Angeles.

Katz, a former state assemblyman, wavered briefly Monday over whether to attend, but decided to testify even though he shares Close’s concerns.

“I do think it’s wrong not to do it in public,” Katz said. “It should be a public meeting.”

The working group was appointed by the multidenominational Council of Religious Leaders, which will issue a report on possible ethical issues involved in secession proposals by the Valley, Hollywood and the Harbor area.

Private sessions are appropriate because the testimony is designed to help the panel of religious leaders decide on secession, Tamberg said.

The word “inquisition” is often used to describe the Roman Catholic Church’s tribunal set up in the 13th century to discover, suppress and punish heretics.