Vote on a City Before You Elect Its Mayor

The city of Los Angeles will be embarking on a roller-coaster ride if San Fernando Valley secession is placed on the November ballot. Adding insult to injury, the executive officer of the entity that decides whether the city votes on secession has recommended a concurrent vote in the Valley for a mayor and city council.

Voters throughout the city already would have a lot to consider in deciding whether the 1.4 million people in the Valley should secede and form what would be the sixth-largest city in the United States.

An extra Valley election would require candidates to run for positions that might never be needed. Some ambitious politicians might spend millions of dollars to be elected mayor, while other deserving candidates probably would be deterred from running for offices that didn’t exist yet.

The Local Agency Formation Commission’s recommendation also is for a Valley mayor and city council to be elected by the greatest number of votes, even if the figure represents only 15%. There would not be a runoff.

All of this extra politicking in the Valley would confuse and distract voters. Candidates for Valley mayor and council could spend millions of dollars. This additional campaigning would unfairly promote secession in the Valley and would improperly skew the citywide vote. Further, it would be a waste of taxpayer dollars to hold an election in the Valley for positions that might not be needed if secession was rejected.

If secession passes, a separate election for Valley leaders could take place in March 2003, when Los Angeles (including the Valley) is scheduled to have a regular election. No valid reason exists that can justify having the Valley elect a new mayor and council without a runoff and before the voters first decide if they want to form a new city.

Voters who signed the petition that asked for a vote on Valley secession never asked for the bizarre election being recommended on their behalf.

We must insist that LAFCO require a separate election. If it does not, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors and the state Legislature must show leadership and require a fair election. As a last resort, the courts must be asked to prevent the election on secession from being skewed by the circus that would result from a concurrent election in the Valley.

The key decision of whether to break up the city of Los Angeles should be based on one citywide vote that is not eclipsed in the Valley by a secondary election for nonexistent Valley offices.