L.A. Mayor Seeks More Study on Secession

Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn on Friday raised new concerns to the agency studying the secession proposals for the San Fernando Valley and harbor area, saying it must expand the scope of environmental impact reports that are already underway.

In a letter to Larry Calemine, executive director of the Local Agency Formation Commission of Los Angeles County, Hahn said that the reports being prepared by a LAFCO consultant must look at secession’s impact not just on the breakaway areas, but on what would remain of Los Angeles.

He said the reports also should examine other scenarios, including those that fall short of secession. In one such scenario, Los Angeles would restructure its government to address the secessionists’ complaints. Another would involve smaller seceding areas. The mayor also said that effects on land use and planning must be explored, because regional facilities such as power or water treatment plants could be in trouble if, due to secession, they were not maintained or allowed to expand.

Secessionists said the mayor’s new concerns are only another delaying tactic, aimed at keeping secession off the ballot. LAFCO will decide in the spring whether to put harbor and Valley breakaway proposals to a citywide vote in November. The agency also is reviewing a secession proposal for Hollywood.

“The mayor is obviously trying to delay this,” said Richard Close, chairman of Valley VOTE, the leading group advocating for secession. “Apparently, he’s afraid to let the people of the Valley vote on this issue on Nov. 5.”

But Deputy Mayor Felipe Fuentes said Hahn simply wants LAFCO to address all important questions while framing the scope of the environmental reports. The City Council voted unanimously Friday to send the letter to Calemine. Although the scope of the reports still could be expanded, the consultant, LSA Associates Inc., already has started to study key issues such as traffic.

Calemine would not comment on the letter, which he said he had yet to receive, or on whether the mayor’s requests might cause delays. “All I can say is, we expect the EIR [environmental impact report] to be very broad in scope,” he said.

Fuentes said the reports should look at a range of potential socioeconomic effects, such as job losses if a company in one of the new cities relocated, or harm to the environment if a new Valley city closed a landfill and people had to drive long distances to dump trash.

He said the city doesn’t expect LAFCO to come up with every possible scenario, just to think more broadly.

He pointed out that the mayor’s letter was only 21/2 pages long.

“We’re not saying in a 900-page letter that we want all the gory details. We are just expressing some concerns,” he said.

Close said that supporters of secession believe LAFCO is conducting its studies fairly.

“LAFCO’s consultant is doing his limited review. What the city’s trying to do is to make the limited review a massive review so it can’t be done in sufficient time for a vote,” Close said.