Secessionists Are Next on Mayor’s Fight Card

The Los Angeles Police Commission’s decision to deny Police Chief Bernard C. Parks a second term was a win for Mayor James K. Hahn, but the political cost of that fight could hamper the mayor as he takes on his next biggest challenge: stopping secession movements in three parts of the city.

Civic leaders opposed to breaking the city apart said they fear that the mayor’s controversial decision to oppose a second term for the chief has distracted the administration during the last few months and given secession advocates a chance to gain momentum, even as a decision nears to put the matter on the November ballot.

The commission’s decision to side with the mayor against Parks reinforced the anger of African Americans, one of Hahn’s most important constituencies. Some black leaders who were once staunch Hahn allies now warn that African Americans are so upset at the ousting of the black police chief that they will not follow the mayor’s lead on secession.

“What he has done is lost the ability to be trusted,” said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles). “Now people are going to question him on that issue. I think he’s in a weakened position.”

Hahn, who has vowed to do all in his power to keep the city together, formed a political committee called L.A. United in November to fight possible ballot measures and signed up some of the city’s top political operatives to run the anti-secession campaign.

At the time, Hahn called it absolutely imperative that he do everything he can to prevent the breakup of the city. “There’s really no other individual who can speak for the city of Los Angeles more than the mayor can,” he said then.

But in the last few months, the mayor has spent more time arguing for a change in leadership at the Police Department than talking about why secession is a bad idea.

In the meantime, secessionists have been moving forward, even touting several proposed names for a new Valley city, while state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar) has mused about running to be mayor of the new municipality.

“What’s disappointing about the secession issue is it’s been a one-sided argument for the past several months,” said City Councilman Jack Weiss, whose 5th District includes portions of the San Fernando Valley, which is home to the strongest secession effort. “There are forceful arguments to be made that will show people that secession is not in anyone’s best interest. But so far those forceful arguments are not being made.”

Weiss said he believes the mayor has had “too many complicated balls in the air” to give secession sufficient attention.

Secession Supporters Exploited Opportunity

Richard Close, chairman of a group advocating for Valley secession, agreed the mayor’s focus on other matters has given his group an opportunity to talk to voters about why creating a separate city is a good idea.

“We hope the mayor waits until three weeks before the election to start running his ads,” Close said. “By that time we believe we will have solid numbers.”

Billionaire Eli Broad, who has already donated $100,000 to the mayor’s anti-secession effort, said he thinks voters will be convinced to keep the city together once a campaign starts up in the summer. But the lack of public focus on the issue has given secessionists an opening, he said.

“The anti-secession people--the mayor and others--have been relatively quiet as the secession people are beating the drums, and as a result of that, some people have the impression that the anti-secession people aren’t doing anything,” Broad said.

Deputy Mayor Matt Middlebrook said that Hahn has been working hard to fight secessionist sentiments in the Valley, Hollywood and the harbor area by making city government more responsive and strengthening the new neighborhood council system.

“If we’re going to make the argument about keeping the city together, city government needs to have credibility,” Middlebrook said. “Changing how government does business has been a key focus of the mayor for the last nine months.”

Political consultant William Carrick, who is running the L.A. United campaign, said Hahn is also working behind the scenes to raise money for the effort, pulling in about $1 million so far.

“I think the mayor has focused on the secession issue pretty strongly, and he speaks out against it every chance he has,” said Carrick, adding that a more formal campaign will start in the summer. “There will be a much stronger debate throughout the community as we get closer to the reality of having it on the ballot.”

For the most part, Hahn has publicly tried to soothe the discontent fueling secession through low-key public events showing that he is improving city services. Last month, he stood on a busy street corner in Van Nuys and announced that the city has made improvements to 25 of Los Angeles’ worst intersections. He attended a Board of Fire Commissioners meeting in San Pedro to demonstrate how city panels were taking their meetings to neighborhoods. And he visited a Northridge electrical company to showcase the city’s new e-permit system.

“To me, that’s what I do every day, is campaign to keep the city together by making city government work better,” the mayor said last week in Pacoima.

Panel to Rule on Putting Measures on the Ballot

The Local Agency Formation Commission, which bears the responsibility for evaluating the feasibility of creating cities, will decide in May and June whether the three secession efforts qualify for the November ballot. If approved by LAFCO, each would be a separate measure on the ballot.

If secession goes on the ballot, the mayor will have to deliver a forceful message to voters about why they should oppose the measure--a prospect complicated by his recent slump in popularity, especially in his political base.

Hahn’s approval ratings among African Americans dropped significantly after he said he wanted to replace Parks, according to a recent Times poll. The mayor may not be able to turn to some of his former black allies to win back African Americans.

Basketball star-turned-entrepreneur Earvin “Magic” Johnson has expressed anger at his decision, and suggested he may want to run against Hahn in 2005. More than a dozen African American leaders, many of them clergy at prominent South Los Angeles churches, are withholding invitations to the mayor to speak at their organizations.

On Tuesday, a black city commissioner resigned her post, saying she believes Hahn manipulated the chief’s reappointment process by speaking out before the panel made its decision.

Some civic leaders say a broad coalition is needed to fight secession so the issue does not come down to a measure of Hahn’s popularity.

“I don’t think this should be a referendum on Jimmy Hahn,” said Miguel Contreras, head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, an umbrella union organization opposed to secession. “I think that would be a bad position, because of what’s going on in the city. We shouldn’t let the Parks issue color secession.”

Carrick said the anti-secession campaign will draw in other leaders, such as former Mayor Richard Riordan, who has agreed to participate.

But he disputed the argument that bitterness about the mayor’s stance on the chief will hurt Hahn’s ability to rally voters against secession.

“I’m not worried about it, because I think secession is going to be judged on the substantive merits,” Carrick said. “I don’t think the African American community is going to see secession doing any good for them.”

And Hahn thinks the anger about his decision has been overstated.

“There’s a few political leaders who have strong disagreements with me,” he said during a news conference Tuesday. “But everywhere I go, and talk to regular folks in the community, I still get very positive reaction.”