Campaign Against Valley Secession Renewed

A day after state Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer withdrew his bill to ease the path of San Fernando Valley secession, Los Angeles lawmakers opposed to breaking up the city are renewing efforts to thwart other secession bills in the state Senate.

The campaign is being led by Democratic state Sens. Diane Watson and Richard Polanco, both of whom have never wavered from their belief that legislation that could lead to a divided city must be blocked.

Watson said Tuesday that she is meeting with others in the local delegation to map out a strategy. One approach under consideration is amending pending secession bills so they would apply statewide, not just to Los Angeles.

The current law, which gives city councils veto power over secession applications, applies throughout California.

Most proponents of the Valley secession bills oppose statewide application because it would make the legislation more difficult to pass. Lawmakers representing other urban areas are expected to view the bills as a threat to their own cities--and their own political futures--rather than as a reflection of a squabble in a city in which they have no personal stake.

Watson said unity among Los Angeles senators was needed to fight the legislation.

But as she concedes, some local senators--Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles), Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) and Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles)--supported Valley secession legislation last year.

The Watson-Polanco position against changing the law has been overshadowed in recent months by Lockyer’s vigorous involvement in the issue. A Hayward Democrat, Lockyer dropped out of the fray after meeting Monday with senators from the Los Angeles area who pressed him to get out of an issue some of them consider out of his jurisdiction.

With Lockyer’s bill dormant, that leaves a secession-aiding measure co-sponsored by Assemblymen Tom McClintock (R-Northridge) and Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks), which has passed the Assembly and awaits Senate action. A third bill is pending in the Assembly.