15 Economists Say Secession Would Aid All

If the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood seceded from Los Angeles, the economy of all three cities would improve, 15 economists from Cal State Northridge said Friday.

The economists, who include the current and past chairmen of the university’s economics department, the former dean of the business school and the founder of the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center, released a statement they said was meant to debunk claims by Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn and others that secession would hurt the economy.

“Research on municipal government does not support the claim that it is more expensive, on a per-person basis, to produce public services in cities smaller than Los Angeles,” the group wrote. “Economies of scale do not justify a city as large as Los Angeles.”

The economists stopped short of formally endorsing secession. But they made it clear that, in their view, breaking up the city would boost the economies of the new municipalities as well as the remainder of Los Angeles.

“Breaking up Los Angeles would not, as Mayor Hahn has said, ‘slam the brakes on the economy,’ ” the economists said. “This is pure assertion, not backed by any evidence or economic reasoning.”

The group said secession could improve the quality of life as the downsized governments became more responsive to residents. That, in turn, would make the cities more attractive to businesses and increase property values, they said.

“Breaking up Los Angeles would make it easier for residents to monitor municipal government and would make public officials more approachable,” the educators said. “As a result, municipal governments would be more inclined to take actions and spend money on services that residents want.”

Economist Shirley Svorny, founder of the university’s San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center and a supporter of secession, said the group wants “to counter the extreme claims such as those made by the mayor.”

“For us as economists, it is very frustrating to hear politicians and others make statements that are without any kind of support,” Svorny said.

Kam Kuwata, who is running Hahn’s campaign against secession, derided the economists’ claims, saying secession brings the risk of higher water and power prices, as well as worsened public safety services.

“A rational person would say as you drive up costs on water and power, as you jeopardize your public safety, that’s not going to help an economy,” Kuwata said. “But they’re tenured professors. Maybe in their world you can do these things.”

The state commission that approved the secession measures for the Nov. 5 ballot determined that Valley and Hollywood cities would be able to provide the same level of police and fire service as Los Angeles. The Local Agency Formation Commission also required the Department of Water and Power to continue serving the Valley and Hollywood, if secession wins, at rates no higher than those charged in the rest of Los Angeles. Anti-secessionists have questioned LAFCO’s authority to impose that condition.

Richard Katz, chairman of the San Fernando Valley Independence Committee, said the economists’ statement confirmed LAFCO’s finding that secession would not harm the economy.

“This is an independent validation of what LAFCO and cityhood proponents have said,” Katz said. “Breaking up L.A. will help economic development, not hurt it, and there are better ways to deliver both jobs and services than the way L.A. does.”

Meanwhile, Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles) and local gay and lesbian activists gathered Friday to state their opposition to secession. They said secession could undo hard-won protections for members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community who live in Hollywood and the Valley.

Goldberg and others spoke at an event organized by Hahn’s campaign. Held at a Hollywood union hall on National Coming Out Day, it was billed as the kickoff of the gay and lesbian anti-secession campaign.

In Los Angeles, city employees and their domestic partners get the same benefits as married couples. Los Angeles also requires companies that do business with the city to offer employees with domestic partners equal benefits.

Also, a city anti-discrimination ordinance protects people with HIV and AIDS in housing and employment.

If Hollywood and the Valley seceded, the new cities would not have to retain those protections, Goldberg said.

Secession leader Gene La Pietra, who is running for Hollywood city council, said he would, in fact, push for domestic partner laws stronger than those in Los Angeles. He said he believed all the candidates actively campaigning for Hollywood city council supported such protections.

“I am going to make it happen,” he said.

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Times staff writer Nita Lelyveld contributed to this report.