Valley’s Secession Bid

Re “Valley, South Bay Secession Drives Run Into Roadblocks,” Sept. 26.

Valley VOTE [Voters Organized Toward Empowerment] leaders have expressed displeasure with the Local Agency Formation Commission’s slow, deliberate steps in the required comprehensive study of the results of the present secession drives. The impatient leaders, like genuine agent provocateurs, would have LAFCO issue the required report hurriedly in year 2000 in time for the 2002 ballot--never mind the quality of the report.

The Valley VOTE leaders are obviously partial to the secession effort, but at what cost? Who will be the ultimate payers of an ill-advised, ill-planned and inappropriate secession effort? Of course, we all know who pays in the end--we, the taxpayers.

No one should interfere with LAFCO’s management or execution of plans. No one.

We should not be overly concerned over how long it takes LAFCO to prepare such a monumental report. We should know the correct consequences of secession before, not after secession, including the extra costs (taxes).

Perhaps it is too early to start screaming, “Remember the Belmont Learning Center disaster,” but I always like to start early. The Belmont inquiry is just commencing, yet taxpayers have a sixth sense in detecting gross negligence or scandal, with the related enormous waste of their money (taxes, again).

Let us not permit the secession effort to become another Belmont--we cannot afford it. Belmont would look like child’s play by comparison!

DRO AMIRIAN

Studio City