Standing Together for L.A.

The campaign to keep Los Angeles united got off to a low-key but noteworthy start Thursday, one day after a government commission moved to put San Fernando Valley secession to a November citywide vote. Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn and former Mayor Richard Riordan told a gaggle of reporters at City Hall that they would work together to keep the city that both love from breaking apart. Their joint appearance struck the right tone--positive--and the right symbolism: two erstwhile adversaries working together, not walking away from their differences.

There’s been a lot of speculation, at least among political junkies, about how Hahn is going to run this unprecedented campaign. Secession advocates are old pros already, having spent years stoking discontent to get their measure on the ballot. They turned Hahn’s description of secession as a “disaster of biblical proportions” to their advantage by branding it a scare tactic. It was no more an exaggeration than their own sales pitch for a utopian Camelot, but a smart campaign needn’t give the other side ammunition.

Yes, Hahn and other supporters of a united city need to challenge secessionists to explain how, exactly, smashing Los Angeles to pieces would significantly improve things. The burden should be on those promoting a breakup to prove that different is automatically better. The mayor and those who want to keep Los Angeles as one dynamic city need to speak out when the secessionists’ assertions are unsubstantiated. But the mayor and other advocates also need to make the case for keeping Los Angeles whole. This city, after all, has attributes any campaign manager would love--money, looks, great name recognition, a can-do attitude and a generosity of spirit when times get tough.

Riordan was everywhere after the Northridge earthquake, rallying federal and private resources, guiding the city to a remarkable recovery. He was there to lead reform of the city’s 75-year-old charter, largely in response to Valley residents’ complaints that City Hall was distant and inattentive. The result is 30-and-counting new neighborhood councils, regional planning commissions that give neighborhoods a say in land-use decisions and an independent redistricting commission that, come July 1, will yield a fifth City Council district fully contained in the Valley.

Besides Riordan, Hahn also hopes to enlist runoff rival and former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa and former mayoral opponents Steve Soboroff and Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles). The more--and the more varied--voices he can recruit, the better, from basketball-star-turned-entrepreneur Earvin “Magic” Johnson to schoolteachers, shopkeepers and neighborhood activists. Remember, it’s not Hahn’s city to lose--it’s all of ours. Don’t wait to be asked to speak up.