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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

The Valley Gets a New Best Friend in Mayor Hahn

The Valley Gets a New Best Friend in Mayor Hahn Politics – Jacqueline Fox Not long after they began, one prominent member of ValleyVOTE, the group spearheading the secession drive, told me the so-called “negotiation sessions” held between the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), ValleyVOTE and Mayor James Hahn and Co. were “pure fluff.” Easy to see why. City officials, ValleyVOTE and LAFCO have all shown that they appear no closer to an agreement on what a 2002 ballot initiative should look like than they were a year ago when I first started covering the debate. In fact, the date for producing an initiative has now been put off two months, and officials are considering whether to delay a vote until 2003 or possibly even 2004. LAFCO says the city’s stall tactics have made it impossible to meet pre-established deadlines for preparing its final proposal for a breakup. And there is now serious discord between LAFCO members and the group’s top executive, Larry J. Calemine, over the division of city assets and whose case law would hold up better in court. Meanwhile, Hahn’s campaign promise to let the voters decide if secession is a good idea, and his role, however transparent it may have been, to help craft a blueprint for a breakup unraveled quickly when he announced last month he intends to raise $5 million to defeat the cause. To secessionists, the mayor’s action is just one more example of empty promises by City Hall’s power elite. They have no reason to believe Hahn ever intended to let the voters run the show. But keep an eye on Valley-specific news involving Hahn and see if you don’t end up agreeing that Hahn does appear to be keeping his vow to show the voters of the Valley that they matter, even if it is little more than symbolic gestures. Because, while LAFCO and the city’s attorneys continue to squabble over who owns which police or fire station, a genuine interest in Valley issues on the part of the mayor appears to be taking shape. And, for better or worse, that interest carries the potential to weaken secessionists’ arguments if some form of an agreement between the two camps can’t be reached soon. In October, Hahn requested that city panels begin holding meetings in the Valley instead of exclusively downtown to give residents here more of an opportunity to participate. Both the Los Angeles Airport and Fire commissions have done so in the last two weeks and other agency meetings are planned down the line. Hahn is practically a weekly guest at one or more of the Valley’s chamber or business organization luncheons, most notably the mayor’s traditional headlining gig at the VICA annual business forecast conference in October. And this may seem like a stretch, but stay with me. The recent announcement of a plan to divide the Metropolitan Transit Authority into four semiautonomous transit sectors, with one in the Valley that could whip into action quickly, may be the brainchild of the agency’s newly appointed chief, Roger Snoble. But don’t think for a second Hahn won’t get behind the idea 100 percent. Snoble can’t get the votes to pass his proposal, being considered again next month, without the Mayor’s backing, and there’s little reason to believe Hahn would stand in the way. True, if Snoble’s plan is approved, it would neutralize a local push for an independent Valley transit zone, which would localize an important piece of the region’s transportation infrastructure. That plan aims to make things much better for those who have to take the bus from one end of the Valley to the other, and anyone who has ever done so knows just how badly changes are needed. And, yes, it would still be a city asset and one more thing for folks to fight over. But I’m betting Hahn will approve the new proposal to prove he is trying to give Valley residents more of what they want while avoiding breaking apart the city. Yes, these are baby steps. And residents from every corner of the Valley have laundry lists of serious complaints and attending a quarterly planning commission meeting certainly won’t resolve them. So, I don’t expect to hear secessionists coming out too loudly in support of Hahn’s recent efforts. But the longer LAFCO delays its decision on when to hold a vote on secession, the more the secession movement is in jeopardy. Holding a vote on the issue in 2003 is risky for everyone because voter turnout in off-year elections is historically low, even if most of those voters are Valley-based. Pushing a vote back until 2004 would be risky for Hahn, who can be expected to run for re-election in 2005. If he can defeat the secession initiative, he’d almost certainly face retaliation by the voters who supported it. Holding off until 2004 doesn’t seem like the best plan for secessionists or Valley residents either. That’s two more years of “fluff,” two more years of squabbling and two more years for Hahn to keep his promises about making the Valley happy. Hansen Dam is set to get a new children’s museum in 2003; ground has been broken, finally, on a new police station in the northeast Valley; and who knows? by then, we just may have a neighborhood council or two up and running. Staff reporter Jacqueline Fox can be reached at (818) 676-1750 ext. 15 or by e-mail at [email protected].

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