Powerful Team Joins Hahn Bid to Stop Valley Secession

Faced now with a five-month campaign over Los Angeles’ future, Mayor James K. Hahn and other civic leaders pledged unity Thursday, even as some members of the effort to defeat San Fernando Valley secession offered thinly veiled criticism of Hahn’s approach so far.

City leaders have fretted that Hahn has been both too passive and too negative in his response to secession, in which he has combined modest service improvements with dire predictions of what would result if the Valley broke away.

But with the matter now headed for the Nov. 5 city ballot, Hahn has been joined by an expanded leadership team, some of whom are urging that the campaign emphasize Los Angeles’ virtues.

In addition to Hahn, prominent secession opponents who say they will campaign against the measure include former Mayor Richard Riordan, former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa and former Secretary of State Warren Christopher. Villaraigosa lost to Hahn in last year’s mayoral campaign; two other candidates from that race, Playa Vista President Steve Soboroff and U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra, said they too will participate in the effort to defeat secession.

Riordan, who often disagreed with Hahn when he was mayor and Hahn was city attorney, and who did not support Hahn’s candidacy in last year’s mayoral campaign, joined with Hahn on Thursday to announce their combined campaign to hold the city together.

“We will work together in every community, in every neighborhood to speak about this city, to speak about what’s great in Los Angeles,” Hahn said at a morning news conference with Riordan outside City Hall.

“We’re also going to talk about the harm secession will do to every community in our city.”

Hahn said he will organize a broad coalition of citizens to educate voters about the ramifications of breaking apart Los Angeles. And for the first time, he ruled out the possibility of the city suing to stop the measure from going to the ballot.

“I don’t intend to sue,” Hahn said. “What we want is for people to have an opportunity to vote on this. We think we can win this battle at the polls.”

New Effort Cheers

Some City Leaders

The mobilization of Hahn’s L.A. United campaign cheered some city leaders who thought he has been too slow in addressing the secession movements in the Valley, Hollywood and harbor area. “The campaign is now getting underway,” said City Councilman Jack Weiss. “I see it turning an important corner.”

In addition to recruiting new faces and stepping up the pace of the anti-secession effort, some leaders of that camp have urged that the campaign take on a more positive cast, worried that denunciations of secession advocates might provoke a backlash.

The mayor has called breaking up Los Angeles “harebrained” and has argued that creating a separate city in the San Fernando Valley would be a “financial disaster.” He also has warned that a new city would face higher taxes, reduced services and be more vulnerable to crime and terrorism.

Secession advocates have jumped on Hahn’s comments, calling them “scare tactics.” On Thursday, state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar) said Hahn’s statements have reinforced the determination of some secessionists to go their own way.

“Mr. Hahn has been the greatest deterrent to keeping the city together, by the irresponsible comments he has made,” said Alarcon, who said he is undecided about secession but is considering a run for mayor of the new Valley city.

Though acknowledging the need to point out the downsides of secession, some city leaders opposed to the breakup say the emphasis of the L.A. United campaign should be on the attributes of the nation’s second-largest city.

“I feel that saying the positive, that we are a great city and let’s keep it that way, is the best argument,” said Riordan, who, as mayor, argued that municipal breakup would be immoral because it would harm the poor. On Thursday, Riordan declined to reiterate that criticism.

“Los Angeles is seen as one of the truly great, great cities in the world,” he added.

“To tear it apart is to detract from its greatness.”

Villaraigosa, whose mayoral campaign was set back by negative advertisements that Hahn’s camp unleashed against him, echoed that sentiment, and said he doesn’t believe the tone Hahn has struck so far will be effective.

“We’ve got to get away from an adversarial debate and initiate a conversation in neighborhoods all across the city,” he said. “I don’t believe you scare people into wanting to stay together. I think you inspire them.”

Bill Carrick, the campaign strategist running the L.A. United effort, said Hahn will be focusing on both the positive aspects of the current city and the risks of breaking apart.

“I don’t think we have any strategic tension about what people ought to be saying,” he said.

Hahn agreed.

“They are two sides to the same question,” he said. “Because we love Los Angeles and it is such a great city, it would be a terrible thing to break this great city apart. If that’s negative to say that, then people can judge it that way.”

Part of the debate about how to address voters may be a question of timing, some political observers said. In that view, the campaign may start off positive and then turn more critical as the election approaches.

“It may be they need to talk about what one city is all about before they talk about how ugly two cities can look,” said Rich Lichtenstein, a longtime City Hall lobbyist and consultant. “It may make sense to start off rallying people about what a great city Los Angeles is.”

However the campaign begins, some political experts said stressing the uncertainties of secession ultimately may be the city leadership’s most effective tactic.

“If you can confuse the voters, or at least raise questions about the potential impact it could have on them, it can be effective,” said Larry Berg, founding director of USC’s Jesse Unruh Institute of Politics.

In the end, Hahn must craft a message that both soothes discontent among Valley residents and boosts the enthusiasm among the rest of the city for keeping Los Angeles whole, campaign experts said.

“Part of this race comes down to the level of passion that Valley residents have for breaking away and the level of indifference of the rest of the city,” said campaign consultant John Shallman. “One of the most important things Mayor Hahn will have to do is outline the impact on those who will be left behind.”

In addition to the political leaders rallying around the anti-secession effort, leading business figures, including philanthropist Eli Broad and developer Ed Roski, have signed on to help as well.

Broad said he hopes to form a committee of 100 civic leaders to mobilize resistance to secession.

“If the mayor wants, there are going to be a lot of prominent people from all over the city who are going to be involved,” Broad said.

The L.A. United campaign committee already has raised about $2.5 million in pledges and donations, half of its goal so far, according to campaign consultant Kam Kuwata.

Broad already has donated $100,000, with promises of more if needed, and Riordan said Thursday he would write “a good-sized check.”

The campaign will need a deep war chest to afford pricey television advertising, especially at a time when an expensive governor’s race will be dominating the airwaves, Hahn said.

“We need to win this thing this summer,” he said. “We can’t wait until November.”

Times staff writers Tina Daunt and Patrick McGreevy contributed to this report.