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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

The “No” Campaign Coming to a Chamber Near You

The ‘No’ Campaign Coming to a Chamber Near You Politics by Jacqueline Fox Officials at the Universal City/North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce say James Burkhardt, North Valley area director for Mayor James Hahn’s office, recently asked the chamber’s government affairs committee to persuade the group to recall the full chamber’s earlier vote in support of secession. Committee chairman Larry Blumenstein said Burkhardt told committee members the chamber’s vote in favor of secession was premature and asked them to table the issue until the final terms and conditions are laid out by the Local Agency Formation Commission. The committee tabled Burkhardt’s request, but the visit has sparked anger among secessionists. Valley VOTE President Jeff Brain accused Hahn of using city staff on city time to campaign against a Valley breakup. “Our position is that, as the mayor of Los Angeles, to have his staff working on taxpayer dollars to implement the goal of his own political action committee, is just wrong and should be stopped,” Brain said. “I think this is going to get them in trouble down the road.” Julie Wong, Hahn’s communications director, said Burkhardt’s visit was simply an outreach effort by the mayor’s office to, among other things, talk about the pros and cons of a breakup and that there was nothing improper about it. “What has been happening since the beginning is we wanted to be more proactive in reaching out to members of the community,” Wong said. “Obviously, the chambers are a great way to meet a bunch of business leaders at one time.” In addition to the Universal/NOHO chamber, the Sunland/Tujunga, Filipino- American, Encino, Chatsworth and Northridge chambers of commerce have all adopted positions in favor of Valley secession. $500K for Somebody Else’s Roads Representatives of the San Fernando Valley Transportation Strike Force, chaired by David Fleming and Richard Katz, held a meeting Feb. 26 to tout their accomplishments since formation last year. The good news is that the strike force has lobbied successfully for $820 million in funding for highway, transit and signal programs, despite state budget cuts for other programs. It was also announced that the Strike Force has received a cash infusion of $500,000 from Washington Mutual Bank and that a representative of the bank is now a board member. That’s the same Washington Mutual fighting tooth and nail to get the 3,050-home Ahmanson Ranch project off the ground, and the same Washington Mutual that has yet to satisfy opponents’ requests for a study on how the project would impact traffic along the 101 corridor and nearby surface streets. ‘Yes’ Campaign Begins Carlos Ferreyra, a Valley VOTE board member and one of the chief petitioners of a study on Valley secession, has filed for formation of a political action committee in favor of secession. Residents for Independence, made up of homeowners in the Northeast Valley, is the first organization formed to lobby in favor of a Valley split. Valley VOTE’s board members, led by President Jeff Brain and Chairman Richard Close, have to date said they are neither for nor against secession, but simply want to see the issue go before the voters in November. “We are really the first group that’s going to be putting out the effort to convince people that secession is the way to go,” said Ferreyra, a Valley Glen resident. “The mayor has obviously raised money to fight this issue, and he’s going to get his money from the downtown and special interest groups. Ours will come from the people who actually live here.” The Northeast Valley is reportedly the area where Valley VOTE gathered the largest number of signatures for the initial petition to conduct the secession study. Headed for Takeoff It seems the fans of the Van Nuys Airshow, cancelled this year due to city budget constraints and the impact of Sept. 11, are going to have their time on the tarmac anyway. Deputy Mayor Felipe Fuentes said he’s working with a group of Van Nuys aviators and residents to come up with a plan for what will be called the Van Nuys Aviation Open House. He said the event, tentatively scheduled for late August, will be a scaled-back version of the popular air show held each summer. Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), the airport’s landlord, has always produced the event and, according to Fuentes, usually spends about $1.2 million to pull it off. He said aviators have long pushed LAWA to reduce the budget and let them get involved in the planning process. Now that LAWA’s piggy bank is busted, it looks like they will get the chance. Fuentes said the group is aiming to produce the one-day event with a budget of around $400,000. Jacqueline Fox is politics reporter for the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. She can be reached at [email protected] or 818-676-1750.

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