Secessionists Battered by Setbacks

A series of setbacks and missteps this month have cast a gloom over the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood secession campaigns and put the leadership under pressure from supporters to be more aggressive in recruiting backers and raising money.

Secession leaders say that the situation is not as grim as some inside and outside the movement claim and they are building campaigns that can be sustained over the nearly four months before the Nov. 5 election.

But even the staunchest secession supporters say the campaigns have to quickly overcome the reversals that have marked the early weeks of the drive to break up Los Angeles.

“It’s been a tough month. It’s very discouraging,” Valley VOTE board member Carlos Ferreyra said. “We are moving forward but we have been set back a couple of steps.”

The campaigns have been hurt by the disclosure that Valley secession leaders Richard Close and David Fleming held secret talks about possibly removing the cityhood measures from the ballot in favor of a borough plan. Close further angered his fellow secessionists when he threatened to file a lawsuit if voters citywide reject the breakup measures.

The secession campaigns also suffered when state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar) announced that he would not run for mayor of a new Valley city but would fight to keep Los Angeles intact. That leaves Assemblyman Keith Richman (R-Northridge) as the only declared candidate for mayor.

The secessionists have been unable to attract other well-known candidates for mayor and council of the proposed cities. Their cause has won no major endorsements, beyond those of Valley-area chambers of commerce and, in the case of Hollywood, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante. Plus, their fund-raising has been sluggish.

Meanwhile, Mayor James K. Hahn’s campaign against secession has enlisted one big-name backer after another--including former Lakers star Earvin “Magic” Johnson--and has raised $1.6 million to the secessionists’ $300,000.

Jaime Regalado, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State Los Angeles, said the secession campaigns have lost momentum. “It’s going to be an uphill battle,” he said.

And Joel Kotkin, a Valley political scientist who favors secession, said the movement is beset by “incompetent leadership.”

But former Assemblyman Richard Katz, chairman of the Valley Independence Committee, said the campaigns are just now emerging from the planning stage. The number of volunteers has reached 3,000, block captains are being organized and financial contributions are coming in, Katz and other leaders said.

“Campaigns go through cycles,” Katz said. “If the opponents are peaking right now, that’s great. We will peak in November.”

The Hollywood secession campaign will send out its first fund-raising letter next week and has hired an experienced staff of political operatives, said Hollywood Independence Committee President Gene La Pietra. He and other board members have contributed $160,000 to the effort.

“Ours just started. We’ve got a lot of catch-up,” La Pietra said. “There is an excitement. People believe this is actually going to happen.”

The cityhood backers are pinning big hopes on a large number of candidates filing nominating petitions for Valley and Hollywood offices before the Aug. 9 deadline. They had predicted up to 150 would sign up for mayor and 14 council seats in the Valley, but only 35 had taken out papers as of Friday.

Eight candidates have begun the paperwork to run for the five Hollywood council seats.

Andrew Mardesich, a leader of harbor-area secession drive that failed to make the ballot, said the Valley and Hollywood campaigns should have done more to recruit candidates early on.

“It was an error on their part,” he said. “They thought once it got approved for the ballot there would be a stampede of candidates. They should have started recruiting candidates last year.”

Valley VOTE President Jeff Brain said more than 90 people are considering runs for the Valley and Hollywood offices that will not exist if the secession measures lose.

“Even if we have 50 candidates, that’s a lot of money and effort spent to promote themselves and the cause,” Brain said.

Jay Rosenzweig, a Valley council candidate, said the campaign will pick up steam in the weeks ahead.

“This is a marathon. The other side is sprinting way faster than us right now, but it’s not necessary to do that,” he said.

But other secession supporters expressed frustration at a Valley VOTE meeting last week.

Mark Volper, who has provided T-shirts for the cause, said his heart trusts that the campaign will prevail.

“But my mind wants to ask why nothing has been done in our campaign,” he told the Valley VOTE board. “The tide is tilting not in our favor.”

Gerry Gunster, a political consultant hired by the secessionists, told the gathering the campaign has a detailed plan. But he declined to discuss it because reporters were present.

Noticeably absent from the meeting was Katz, who has spent much of his time in Sacramento recently as an unpaid advisor to Gov. Gray Davis. And though Katz and secession campaign co-chair Laurette Healey said they are confident of winning in the fall, both have mixed records at the polls.

Katz lost his last election, for the state Senate, to Alarcon, and Healey lost by a wide margin to Laura Chick in last year’s race for city controller.

At City Hall, officials say they are not taking victory for granted, but some are beginning to gloat.

“The Hollywood and Valley secession movements are sinking like a lead balloon,” said David Gershwin, a spokesman for City Council President Alex Padilla.

Summing up the battle between Hahn and Valley secessionists, secession supporter Kotkin said, “The powers of inertia are triumphing over the ill-organized supporters of change.”