An Eyes-Open Vote

Los Angeles should begin negotiating “divorce terms” with secession advocates in the San Fernando Valley and harbor areas. That’s the recommendation of a key City Council committee, and it’s sound advice, given the likelihood that secession will be on the November 2002 general election ballot. But Los Angeles residents whose votes will determine whether their city remains one or breaks apart shouldn’t take city willingness to negotiate as a sign that a breakup is inevitable.

On the contrary, the negotiations, which the city wants to be open to the public, should give voters some insight into just how complicated it would be to break apart a city the size of Los Angeles. Rather than negotiating in private or waiting until after a vote on secession to work out the details--as suggested by those advocating secession--the city rightly wants voters to know exactly what they are being asked to decide.

The trick is going to be keeping voters awake during negotiations. Questions about debt allocation, division of liability and whether secession proposals meet state mandates to be “revenue-neutral” and “fiscally viable” are guaranteed to put all but the most avid policy wonk to sleep. But behind the jargon are real concerns. How such questions are answered determines how much money old and new cities would have available for city services; therefore those answers would affect the quality of life for residents of old and new cities alike. State law holds that secession cannot go forward if it is found to harm either.

The Los Angeles Local Agency Formation Commission, a quasi-governmental body charged with deciding municipal boundaries (albeit usually for much smaller cities), will decide in March whether secession goes on the ballot next year and, if so, in what form.

Secessionists as usual accuse the city of trying to obstruct the will of the 200,000 Valley residents who signed the petition setting the secession process in motion. That’s bunk. The petition called for a study of the effects of secession, which is exactly what city officials are trying to determine. Los Angeles residents, from the Valley to the harbor and between, deserve to know exactly what they are voting on before they vote.