2 Sides Size Up Political Benefits of Secession

In the debate over the breakup of Los Angeles, Mayor James K. Hahn has argued that smaller cities will get less attention in Washington and Sacramento, and therefore a vote in favor of secession ultimately would hurt those who benefit from state and federal programs.

Secession advocates disagree, with some arguing that competition between Los Angeles and Hollywood and San Fernando Valley cities would help all the areas get more.

Each side in the argument marshals some evidence to support its contention. Secession opponents cite examples where Los Angeles appears to have benefited from its size. Secession supporters counter that even when the city gets money, it does not always use it in ways that adequately benefit Hollywood or the Valley.

“There is no question in my mind that being the second-largest city in America brings some attention to Los Angeles,” Hahn said.

The city received more and quicker federal financial help--more than $11 billion--for the 1994 Northridge earthquake than San Francisco did for the Loma Prieta temblor, for instance. Los Angeles also received state and federal money, including a $400-million federal loan, to help build the $2.5-billion Alameda Corridor rail expressway linking the harbor and the downtown rail yards.

And when the Clinton administration announced in 1998 that California would get $144 million to hire 792 more police officers, $133 million of that amount--enough for 710 officers--was allocated to Los Angeles.

In some cases, the size of those grants reflects Los Angeles’ needs as much as it does the city’s political influence or population. But some federal officials say the city’s size clearly has helped it reel in some important grants.

When Los Angeles needed help recovering from the 1992 riots and 1994 quake, for instance, the federal government provided $450 million in grants and loan guarantees to start up a Community Development Bank to finance businesses in economically depressed areas of the city.

Many large cities that were smaller than Los Angeles did not get similar banks, said Henry Cisneros, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and former mayor of San Antonio.

Cisneros said he opposes secession because he believes the city’s clout will be diminished.

“When Los Angeles came to Washington in force, it was a command-performance moment for Cabinet officers,” Cisneros said. “You certainly wouldn’t do that for Hollywood. Whether you would do that for the Valley is questionable.”

Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) said if the Valley wants more transit dollars for its area, it currently can count on 13 members of Congress who represent Los Angeles to help. If the Valley becomes its own city, it would have as few as three members of Congress, Becerra said.

“If you break up into fragments, it’s more difficult to advocate for the same amount of the pie,” Becerra said, adding that the cause also may be complicated if the Valley city and Los Angeles have different funding priorities in Washington.

Secession leaders, including former state Assemblyman Richard Katz, said a Valley city, with 1.35 million people, and Los Angeles, which would be left with 2.3 million people, could still hold sway in Washington and Sacramento if they worked together.

“It’s ridiculous,” Katz said of the claim of reduced clout. “If your third-and sixth-largest cities push together, they will have a tremendous amount of clout.”

Lobbyist Fred Gaines, chairman of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., said more resources might be won “if you have two cities of a million-plus people.”

The two or three cities still would be represented by the same congressional delegation in Washington and the same state legislators in Sacramento, Katz said.

Still, J. Brent Eidson, deputy director of government affairs for San Diego, said Los Angeles definitely has more pull in Sacramento than does his city.

He points to Proposition 40, the March state parks bond, in which Los Angeles legislators were able to write in several projects for their area, while smaller cities received little in comparison. The ballot measure earmarked $40 million each to the Santa Monica Mountains and Baldwin Hills conservancies but nothing for the San Diego area.

But, federal and state records indicate that size does not always matter for cities.

The Federal Transit Administration provides an amount to each city based on a formula that includes population. Because secession would not affect the region’s overall population, that federal help would not diminish if Los Angeles was broken into two or three cities.

In fact, Los Angeles does not do as well as some smaller cities in transit funding where federal legislators earmark money through the political process.

Under the category of new projects, Los Angeles this year received $16.5 million for the Eastside light rail system and the remaining North Hollywood subway extension bills.

San Diego--the nation’s seventh-largest city with a population of 1.2 million--received $59 million for its Mission Valley East light rail system. San Francisco received $74.9 million to extended its BART system to the airport.

Legislators and political clout also play a role in earmarking funds for bus projects. Los Angeles this year received $3.7 million for its rapid bus system, while San Francisco, with a population of nearly 800,000, received $3.9 million, and Houston, with a population of 1.9 million, received $5.4 million.

Los Angeles received less community development block grant money--anti-poverty funding--than Chicago, the nation’s third-largest city and less per capita than both Chicago and San Francisco, records indicate.

Katz said Los Angeles has a reputation of not doing as well as other cities in Washington.

“Frankly, the California delegation is infamous for not working closely together,” he said.

In the state Legislature, Los Angeles’ clout has meant the last three Assembly speakers have come from the area.

Former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) said he opposes secession but doubts the breakup of Los Angeles would reduce the area’s clout in Sacramento.

“I just don’t think that argument holds water,” he said.

The state legislators from Los Angeles County have failed to form a united front on issues in the past, Hertzberg said.

Los Angeles’ huge bureaucracy is partly to blame, Katz said, adding that it is too slow and not efficient enough to compete well for federal and state dollars. Breaking up the city into three municipalities will result in leaner, more-efficient city governments that would be more agile when competing for funds, he said.

While agreeing that Los Angeles’ elected leaders have not always presented a united front, Hahn said, “I think the Valley is going to be less successful competing with Los Angeles for federal dollars, especially those meant for urban areas. The Valley probably gets more attention because it is part of Los Angeles.”

But Katz said that when Los Angeles wins block grant money, little of the money goes to the Valley, even though there are pockets of serious poverty there.

Most of the $91 million in federal block grant funds received this year goes to citywide programs, but a large amount is earmarked by council district.

A review of city records found that the average community development block grant allocation to the four council districts wholly in the Valley before recent redistricting is $275,206, while the average received by the eight districts wholly out of the Valley is $1.9 million.

The West Valley’s 3rd and 12th Districts each got $43,900, the lowest amount earmarked for districts, while the largest amount was $5.2 million allocated to East Los Angeles’ 14th District, represented by Nick Pacheco, chairman of the council’s budget committee.

Edward Baker of the city Community Development Department said the disparity reflects the fact that the distribution of the money “is meant to address issues associated with the incidence of poverty.”

Katz said federal rules requiring neighborhoods receiving anti-poverty help to be contiguous means the Valley doesn’t get the funding it needs. Having the Valley compete separately likely would yield better results for the Valley’s poor, he said.