Pro-Secession Activist Skips Secret Hearing

Comparing it to an “inquisition” shrouded in secrecy, a leading San Fernando Valley activist Monday refused to attend a closed-door discussion called by Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger 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 noticeably Mayor Richard Riordan, insist that municipal breakup is an abandonment of the poor in the rest of Los Angeles by the more-affluent Valley.

“It will be better to have people with that background, including clergy, who can discuss morality and ethics,” Close said.

Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, called it “unfortunate that he’s not coming since he is one of the most articulate spokesman for Valley secession.” 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.

Ex-Board Member Will Testify

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. “We have a very large number of very poor people.”

Broadous said he is still undecided about his position on secession, but believes there is nothing ethically wrong with one part of the city wanting to break away in order to obtain better city services.

“I don’t see any moral issues that preclude the Valley from becoming a separate city,” Broadous said. “I know the term ‘white flight’ has been used by some, but the reality is the Valley is probably the most diverse place in the city.”

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, Hollywood and the Harbor area breaking away from Los Angeles.

Preconceived Notions Questioned

Katz, a former 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.”

He said conducting the hearings behind closed doors raises questions about whether the group has preconceived notions.

“What is the baseline that they are going to measure it [secession] against?” Katz said. “Should they first look at the morality and ethics of the current city of Los Angeles, with its high poverty rate and high crime rate and disenfranchisement of voters?”

The working group was appointed by the multidenominational Council of Religious Leaders, which will issue a report in the spring.

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

“That’s just not fair,” Tamberg said of Close’s comparing the project to an inquisition.

Close said other supporters of Valley VOTE have widely used the word inquisition, and he looked it up in the dictionary to see whether it applies.

“The concept is a closed-door meeting where you are not given information on your accuser or what you are being accused of and the deliberations are done in secret,” Close said. “It definitely has the same elements as an inquisition, although I wouldn’t call it such.”

The executive board of Valley VOTE regularly excludes the media from portions of its monthly meetings.