Valley VOTE Miffed at Cost Estimate of Secession Study

By MIGUEL BUSTILLO, PATRICK MCGREEVY and SUE FOX

Jan. 28, 1999 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

San Fernando Valley secession activists nearly went into a tizzy last week when county officials reported that studying the proposed fragmentation of Los Angeles could cost $8 million, and possibly more.

What ticked off Valley VOTE, the group behind the secession petition movement, was that the updated estimate--more than four times as pricey as the previous one--was based in part on the premise that all city breakaway plans should be included in the analysis.

Activists in six other areas, including Eagle Rock and San Pedro, are also pondering secession. But the Valley is the only area that has turned in petitions--the first step in the process--and Valley VOTE leaders believed it was absurd to study other secession drives that may never get as far.

Well, it turns out that Valley VOTE members were not the only ones who felt that way.

The Local Agency Formation Commission, the panel that oversees the secession process, on Wednesday asked the county officials and economic consultants who prepared the report to determine how much a study on Valley secession alone would cost.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich shared his outrage as well, demanding in a letter that the study be refocused.

“I really have a lot of problems with this,” said Councilman Hal Bernson, a LAFCO member. “I don’t recall that this commission ever asked for a [report] of anything other than the San Fernando Valley.”

In fact, as LAFCO director Larry Calemine pointed out Wednesday, the panel had asked for a report on the cost of studying Los Angeles secessions in general, not just for the Valley.

But that was before the sticker shock set in.

Because Valley VOTE wants government to pay for the study, claiming the price is too steep for activists to bear, it is a politically volatile topic. The coming estimate, though cheaper, is still expected to be high.

Economic consultant Beverly Burr noted that whether the topic is breaking off Playa del Rey or the Valley, the issues behind municipal divorce are largely the same. Burr projected the scaled-down study could cost close to three-fourths as much as the original--which did not even include estimates for dividing complex assets like the Department of Water and Power, wild cards that could significantly raise the ultimate tab.

Several members of the commission suggested that college researchers or nonprofit groups could do part of the study instead of paid professionals. But Wayne Bannister, the county official who headed up the study, suggested that could prove costly.

“If you have amateurs doing this business,” he said, “you could pay more in legal costs in the long run.”

FITTING HER IN: The election for the 7th District seat on the Los Angeles City Council is still four months away, but candidate Ollie McCaulley has already won over at least one voter.

Her name is Aurora Gonzales, and she plans to marry McCaulley on Sunday in a ceremony in Shadow Hills with Antonovich officiating.

Gonzales, who met McCaulley at church and is a volunteer on his campaign, has already shown she has the patience necessary for the spouse of a political animal.

The wedding was originally supposed to occur in June, but was postponed because McCaulley was in the heat of a campaign for the state Senate, which he lost to Richard Alarcon.

“Because of the Senate campaign being so hectic, we put it off,” McCaulley said.

Now the government relations manager for an affordable-housing firm is a candidate for the 7th District City Council seat vacated when Alarcon won election to the Senate.

And Gonzales is being asked to sacrifice again.

The couple are postponing the honeymoon at least until after the April 13 primary election so they can stay in town and campaign.

And if McCaulley makes it into the June runoff?

“If I make it into the runoff election, I would have no choice but to delay the honeymoon again,” McCaulley said.

However, Gonzales’ patience extends only so far. Wouldn’t it be easy for invited guests to be asked to sign McCaulley’s nominating petition when they sign the guest book as they arrive at the wedding?

“Not at my wedding,” he said. “This is not a political wedding.”

TRIBUTES FOR RESCUERS: The dramatic rescue last week of a construction worker buried alive in a Pacoima trench prompted a round of heartfelt tributes and certificates of appreciation from the City Council.

Councilman Joel Wachs recalled “eyes filled with tears” and “a heart that swelled with pride” as he watched on television the nail-biting rescue by Los Angeles firefighters.

Councilwoman Laura Chick recounted the early stages of the eight-hour drama, noting that “the outlook was very grim.” Her colleague Hal Bernson pronounced the rescue “the type of service that our public service employees provide every single day.”

But as the cameras zoomed in on the firefighters being lauded Tuesday, only Council President John Ferraro seized upon the goodwill and free publicity to plug a $744-million bond measure for fire and police stations.

“This is an example of why everyone should work at passing that bond issue that’s going to be on the ballot to provide even more facilities for our public safety,” Ferraro declared.

Ferraro’s appeal was mild, however, compared to the recent enthusiasm expressed by other city leaders for the bond measure, scheduled to go before voters on the April ballot. Fire Chief William Bamattre called the measure “a must,” and Mayor Richard Riordan has dubbed it a “vote for life.”

TRADING PLACES: Gordon Murley is looking to trade his role as an outside agitator and homeowner activist for the power of an insider.

Murley is president of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization, San Fernando Valley Federation and Hillside and Canyon Federation.

He has decided to become a candidate for a seat on the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees representing the West Valley.

As head of the homeowner federations and Woodland Hills organization, Murley has been a vocal critic of city policies that he believes allow for overdevelopment, government waste and the perceived inequities of city services in the Valley.

That is also his theme as a candidate.

“We felt there needed to be more attention given to this area,” he said, charging that the district has not listened to the concerns of residents near Pierce College about how it is run.

In similar situations, other homeowner leaders have resigned their presidencies to run for public office, but Murley said he has no such plans during his campaign to unseat incumbent Georgia Mercer for Office No. 5.

“I don’t think I have any conflict. We rarely deal with community college issues,” he said of the homeowner groups.

But, if he is elected, he would probably step down.

“I think it would be the wise thing to do,” he said. “You can’t serve two masters.”

Other declared candidates in the race are Floyd Ray Frazier, Khalil Khalil, Jonathan Leonard and William D. Zuke.

Bustillo and McGreevy are staff writers; Fox is a correspondent.