Hahn Speaks Against Breakup

Mayor James K. Hahn called a new plan for San Fernando Valley secession “untenable on its face” Thursday night, as a leader of the drive for a municipal breakup asserted two cities are better than one.

Hahn and Jeff Brain, president of the Valley VOTE secession group, laid out their sharply contrasting views on the future of Los Angeles at the first public hearing on secession by the Local Agency Formation Commission for Los Angeles County.

Their one point of agreement: Both called on LAFCO to put Valley secession on the November 2002 ballot.

Hahn, the first speaker at Los Angeles Valley College in Valley Glen, told the commission and a crowd of about 200 that his top priority was to keep Los Angeles intact.

“I will work tirelessly to make sure that it stays together, and that the city works very hard on making sure that the neighborhoods feel connected and involved with city government,” he said.

Hahn vowed to put more police officers on the street, reduce traffic congestion and expand after-school programs.

“Let’s roll up our sleeves and not take the lazy way out, but get to the hard work that needs to be done to make this a more efficient, responsive city that better addresses the needs of neighborhoods,” he said.

Hahn suggested the latest draft of LAFCO’s secession plan, released last Friday, was too vague for voters to make an informed decision. The mayor and council of the proposed Valley city would run a government of just 19 people and contract with Los Angeles for at least a year for police and fire protection, street maintenance and nearly every other municipal service.

“A proposal that suggests that 19 people can adequately manage a city of 1.4 million people seems to be untenable on its face,” Hahn said.

But Brain told the commission that Valley residents had “long felt neglected and left behind” by City Hall. Many city residents, he said, believe Los Angeles has “grown too large to be properly managed.”

“Study after study shows that small cities are more efficient and manageable,” he said.

He pointed to key findings in LAFCO’s latest secession plan that appear to give the commission the legal power to put the proposal on the ballot. Namely, a Valley city would produce enough tax revenue to sustain itself and could break away from Los Angeles without harming the rest of the city.

“If we were talking about some foreign country where 1.4 million people were asking for independence, we would be sympathetic,” he said.

Brain also argued that secession would benefit the rest of the city, because each of its 15 council members would represent smaller districts.

“It will be good for all of Los Angeles and its residents, a win-win result,” he said.

Valley residents have “waited 20 years for this opportunity,” he said.

Still, Brain and Valley VOTE consultants urged LAFCO to revise the secession plan to ensure that a Valley city would get its fair share of parks, libraries and other Los Angeles assets.

Outside the hearing, former state Assemblyman Richard Katz of Sylmar took issue with another part of LAFCO’s plan for secession: Los Angeles would collect more than $500 million in taxes for the Valley city each year, and could intercept the money to pay for services.

“It should come to the new city, and then allow the new city to pay its bills,” Katz said.

City Council President Alex Padilla, an outspoken opponent of secession, told the commission that Valley residents faced “a clear choice.

“We can turn each city department upside down and inside out, and start from scratch with no source of water, no source of power, no police and no fire department to speak of,” he said. “Or we can choose to work together to improve the city and city services.”