Business leaders, elected officials and local interest groups in favor of, opposed to, or just plain neutral on Valley secession are among those gearing up for what is being touted as the first local, non-political brainstorming session on the issue. Organizers of the day-long forum, “Rightsizing Local & Regional Government: A Symposium,” say the event, slated for Feb. 5 at the Sheraton Universal Hotel, will mark the first academic discussion on the feasibility and economic impact of secession. The panel includes a lineup of experts who will tackle a core of secession-related topics. The goal, organizers say, is to set aside political viewpoints and focus instead on the viability of a breakaway system vs. alternative systems using cities around the globe as a model. “I think a lot of what people have been talking about has been politically-motivated without a real sense of what’s out there on the academic level,” said Sam Staley, director of the Urban Futures Program of the Reason Public Policy Institute, one of four organizations sponsoring the event. “This really is, from my perspective, going to be a very academic approach, where we will talk about the potential effects and impacts of moving to smaller governments. There’s really a lot of very substantial academic research out there on this issue that has not been part of the debate in Los Angeles.” Staley said the speakers have been selected with the core issues connected to secession in mind. Those include the pros and cons of centralized vs. individual control over public services; how borough communities around the nation and overseas have managed or failed; and challenges to conventional wisdom about the deterioration of big communities in the so-called “New Economy.” “You are going to have a much better idea of what the impacts are going to be if the Valley breaks away from Los Angeles, or if the city tries to devolve more authority to the local areas,” Staley said. Panelist include: -Joel Kotkin, author of “The New Geography,” a senior fellow at the Davenport Institute for Public Policy at Pepperdine University and a regular contributor to The Business Journal; -Doug Munro, president of the Calvert Institute for Policy Research in Baltimore; -Tony Travers, director of the Greater London Group and lecturer at the London School of Economics; -Ronald Oakerson, author of “Governing Local Public Economies” and former senior analyst with the U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. “I think what local business people would find out is that this conference is going to tell them what they can expect if they consolidate or evolve,” Staley said. “So it will help them assess what the implications will be on their businesses and their livelihoods.” Elected officials, too, are being urged to look upon the event as a fact-finding mission with more than political gain at stake. “I’m sure (elected officials) are struggling with the same issues as local business people,” said Staley. “You see the secession movement in the Valley, but you don’t know if there is actual evidence to support the feasibility. So elected officials can come out of this knowing whether this is just politics, or whether it’s politics that can become policy.” Bruce Ackerman, president of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, also a sponsor, agreed the intent is to steer clear of the hot-button issues and focus on how smaller governments either work or don’t work. “Those of us who have lived here for any length of time have been dealing in various degrees with the issue of, is the San Fernando Valley really getting its fair share within the city of Los Angeles?” Ackerman said. David Fleming, chairman of the Economic Alliance, said elected officials were not that keen on the idea of a borough system vs. secession a few years ago. But now, “a lot of elected officials and the candidates for offices have said they are interested in attending because they are saying, ‘Hey, if there is an alternative to secession, let’s hear it,'” Fleming said. “I think that this symposium is going to be looking at the academic and economic pros and cons of reorganizing the size of Los Angeles,” said Richard Close Chairman of Valley VOTE. “This, as far as I know, is the first gathering of its kind on this issue to be held here in Los Angeles. And the questions that I think and hope will be discussed is, is this process good for the areas that will break away and, more importantly, will it be good for the smaller Los Angeles that remains?”