Wilson Signs Extension for Valley VOTE Drive

SACRAMENTO —  Gov. Pete Wilson signed legislation rescuing a hard-pressed San Fernando Valley secession campaign Wednesday, giving activists three extra months to petition for a study and possible vote on splitting the Valley from Los Angeles as a new, independent city.

The three-month reprieve came a day before the activists’ deadline for gathering signatures and virtually guarantees Valley secession will undergo an intense state-sanctioned review, the determining factor in whether the question of Valley independence will be placed on a citywide ballot.

Without Sacramento’s intervention, the fate of the Valley secession campaign appeared uncertain. Valley VOTE, the group leading the petition drive, said that by Sunday it had collected 137,000 signatures--enough, technically, but 20% short of the cushion the group felt is needed to cover invalid signatures. The group had been trying to meet a deadline of today but now has until Nov. 27.

“This is significant for the citizens of the San Fernando Valley,” said Wilson, a long-standing ally of the dissatisfied Valley activists leading the campaign. “This allows them the necessary time to determine whether the current government services being provided are adequate for their families and their children.”

Valley VOTE needs to collect signatures from 25% of the registered voters in the Valley--about 135,000 of the 526,000 people on the rolls--to trigger a secession study. Leaders of Valley VOTE had said they hoped to collect at least 180,000 to ensure the petition qualifies even if county elections officials disallow some, either because signers live outside the Valley or are not registered voters.

Until last week, leaders of Valley VOTE had assumed Wilson’s approval was a sure bet, since he often expressed support for putting Valley secession on the ballot. However, their confidence disintegrated when the governor vetoed state funding for a secession study last Thursday. Wilson said he opposed the use of state money to pay for a regional concern.

Their spirits were revived by his support Wednesday.

“This is excellent, the best news since the start of the campaign,” said Richard Close, chairman of Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment. “This will make it a virtual certainty that we will get the signatures necessary.”

Close said he doubts the group will need the entire 90 days and predicted Valley VOTE will be able to submit all the petitions in about a month. The group plans to continue its strong push for signatures, led by more than 50 paid petition-gatherers throughout the Valley.

According to Valley VOTE, more than 200,000 petitions still are in circulation, meaning the group may already have tens of thousands of signatures yet to count.

“A lot of those petitions may be in the trash, but it also might turn out in the next three or four days we get all we need,” Close said.

If Valley VOTE’s petition drive is successful, the state’s Local Agency Formation Commission will be required to study whether secession would be a financial burden on either the Valley or the rest of the city. If the study’s findings favor Valley secession, voters citywide could be asked to vote on the issue as early as 2000.

The bill granting the three-month extension coasted through Sacramento’s hazardous political process with unprecedented cooperation and speed, winning the Legislature’s approval less than two weeks after being introduced and with only one dissenting vote.

The prospect of Valley secession ignited a bruising political brawl in the Legislature just four years ago, when former Republican Assemblywoman Paula Boland of Granada Hills tried to scrap a law giving the City Council veto power over Valley secession. The bill failed, but a bipartisan compromise version succeeded two years later, pushed by Assemblymen Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) and Tom McClintock (R-Northridge).

“Just two years ago, it was a pitched battle, and four years ago it was treated as a laughingstock,” McClintock said after the petition extension passed the Assembly on Monday.

“I think the Legislature has come to the conclusion that people have a fundamental right of self-determination.”

Hertzberg filed the emergency legislation on behalf of Valley VOTE to settle a legal dispute over whether the group had 90 days or 180 days to complete its petition drive, which began in late May. Leaders of Valley VOTE, on the advice of county officials and their own attorney, worked under the assumption they had only 90 days.

“We’ve said all along that when citizens want to petition their government, government ought to tell citizens the rules,” Hertzberg said Wednesday.

“I’m also very happy that the governor and the Legislature saw fit to act on this measure so quickly,” he said. “Too often, people assume that government won’t respond to their needs. Today, we have evidence to the contrary.”

Hertzberg acknowledged that the bill’s chances for success were slim when he filed it in early August. Emergency legislation requires two-thirds approval in both the Assembly and the Senate, and the measure had the added hurdle of getting through before lawmakers adjourn Monday. Plus, the bill had to avoid a possible veto by the governor.

The bill’s quick ascent began after staunch opponents of Valley secession, including Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), lined up in support of Hertzberg’s bill, joined by key legislative leaders.

After voting in favor of the petition extension, Polanco said he still opposes the Valley’s breaking away from Los Angeles. However, he supported the legislation to make amends to Valley VOTE, whose members had been barred from gathering signatures at the city-owned Van Nuys Airport during an air show in July.

Hertzberg’s bill also entitles Valley VOTE to a 15-day extension immediately after the new deadline if the petition drive falls short. State law already provides for the 15-day extension but requires petitioners to wait up to three months before it begins.

Close remained concerned that the voter registration rolls may be inflated by 10% to 20%, since they may include the names of people who have died or moved. If true, Valley VOTE’s task of getting signatures from 25% of the registered voters in the Valley will be extremely difficult because they “cannot collect signatures from dead people,” Close said.

Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Conny McCormack said Valley VOTE’s concerns are groundless, that the problem is much less severe than the group estimates.

Morain reported from Sacramento and Willon from the San Fernando Valley.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Petition to Secede

THE PETITION: The petition calls on the Local Agency Formation Commission to study the effects of forming a new, independent city that would be created by the San Fernando Valley seceding from the city of Los Angeles. The petition also calls on LAFCO to place the issue on the ballot for a citywide vote.

WHO CAN SIGN?: Only registered voters who live in the San Fernando Valley, and who live within the boundaries of Los Angeles, are eligible to sign the petition.

DEADLINE: Nov. 27 is the last day to sign.

****

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?:

* After the deadline, Valley VOTE has 60 days to submit the petitions to LAFCO, the state authority with jurisdiction over applications for secession.

* LAFCO then has 30 days to validate the petitions. Valley VOTE must submit signatures from 25% of the approximately 540,000 registered voters in the Valley--135,000 signatures. Signatures must be verified, and only the signatures of registered voters living in the Valley will count.

* If Valley VOTE fails to collect the required number, LAFCO must give the organization another 15 days to gather additional signatures for a “supplemental petition.” LAFCO then has 10 days to verify those signatures. If that also falls short, the effort fails.

* If the petition drive is successful, LAFCO is required to study whether an independent Valley city would be viable, and also determine the financial conse-quences secession would have on the remaining city of Los Angeles. If the findings are favorable for Valley secession, LAFCO must decide whether to place the issue on the ballot for a citywide vote--which could happen as early as 2000. The measure would have to be approved by a majority of voters citywide, and a majority of voters in the Valley.

Compiled by PHIL WILLON / Los Angeles Times