Alarcon Aims to Secure Rates for Valley City

A state lawmaker who hopes to become mayor of the proposed San Fernando Valley city moved Thursday to protect Valley ratepayers from what he said would be unfair water and power prices in the event the region secedes from Los Angeles.

State Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar) said he was incensed at the possibility that Los Angeles might try to charge higher utility rates in areas that leave the city. He introduced legislation Thursday to prohibit cities from doing just that.

“This is just an issue of fairness,” Alarcon said. “Whatever happens with secession, the people in the Valley have basically helped build the Department of Water and Power, and they should not be charged higher rates.”

The issue has significant political implications for both sides of the secession debate. Opponents of breaking apart the city could raise the specter of higher electricity and water bills to dampen enthusiasm for secession, while supporters insist that the Valley taxpayers deserve protections from unfair rate increases.

The measure comes a day after city officials resisted a breakup plan proposed by the Local Agency Formation Commission that would bar L.A. from charging different DWP rates in breakaway areas.

Alarcon, who said earlier this month that he intends to run for Valley mayor if LAFCO places secession on the November ballot, amended his earlier bill asking the University of California to study alternatives to secession.

The reaction from city officials was swift--and not altogether serious.

“I’ve never heard of Sacramento changing something that fast,” said Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, a LAFCO board member, noting that the panel has just three weeks to decide whether to put secession to a citywide vote. “I think we all need to take some time and come back and look at this with cooler heads.”

Ron Deaton, the city’s chief legislative analyst, said he thought the power to run municipal utilities and set rates was embedded in the state Constitution--and therefore immune to Alarcon’s challenge.

While politically clear cut, the water and power issue is legally murky. LAFCO has received conflicting legal opinions, with the county counsel saying the agency does not have the power to split the DWP system between Los Angeles and the Valley, and the state legislative counsel disagreeing.

Secessionists, meanwhile, began gearing up their campaigns. Leaders of the Valley and Hollywood secession groups announced Thursday that they have hired the political consulting firm of Goddard Claussen Porter Novelli.

The firm has run dozens of successful ballot measure campaigns in California, including the 2000 campaign for Proposition 39, which allows school bonds to be adopted with 55% of the vote instead of a two-thirds majority.

“They know how to help their clients communicate on contentious issues in ways that resonate with voters,” said Jeff Brain, the president of secession group Valley VOTE.

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Times staff writer Patrick McGreevy contributed to this report.