A group of Southern California professors agreed that the main
reason San Fernando Valley residents want to secede from Los
Angeles is because of cultural differences, not a lack of
services.
These statements were a part of a public forum on secession,
sponsored by the School of Public Policy and UCLA Extension, among
others.
Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn and leaders of the city’s
secession movements also appeared at the forum on Saturday to
discuss whether Los Angeles should be split apart.
Just over two weeks from now, voters will decide whether the
Valley and Hollywood can secede from Los Angeles and form their own
cities.
To pass, a secession measure needs to get a majority of votes
throughout Los Angeles. Each measure also needs to gain a majority
among voters within the city to be created in order to pass.
The most important factor in whether Valley residents support
secession is whether they consider themselves from the Valley or
from Los Angeles, said Alexandra Cole, a political science and
sociology professor at California State University, Northridge.
Polls she and her students conducted showed people who
considered themselves Valley residents, not Los Angeles residents,
were more likely to favor secession.
Whether the respondents felt services were being provided
equally to all parts of the city was not associated with how they
would vote, Cole added.
Secession advocates claim they do not receive the same services
or input as other parts of Los Angeles.
A new, yet-to-be-named city in the Valley would make government
more responsible to neighborhoods and the people, said Richard
Katz, co-chair of the San Fernando Valley Independence
Committee.
If secession passes, each city council district would represent
fewer people, which Katz said gives people a better connection to
their government,
But academics questioned whether the new Valley city ““
which would be larger than Dallas or Philadelphia ““ would
better represent citizens.
Hahn said a unified city government would be better able to
represent citizens and provide services than a city split into two
or three pieces.
He highlighted how the city was able to expand the fire
department, keep water and power prices low, and fix more potholes
while the nation suffered a recession as an example of what the
city could do if united.
“We have shown we can increase the direct level of
services, and that’s what people want,” Hahn said.
Gene La Pietra, president of the Hollywood Independence
Committee, compared Hahn to King George III of England, wanting to
prevent the American Revolution.
“America, the greatest nation on Earth, was the result of
a secession,” La Pietra said.
He also cited a CSUN study stating that secession would make
both the new cities and the remaining city of Los Angeles more
prosperous.
Neither message was well heard though, since the forum’s
keynote speakers could not attract a large enough audience to fill
Ackerman Grand Ballroom. There were few students at the forum, with
most in the audience coming from outside the UCLA community.
Some speakers attributed the low attendance to a common
perception that the secession movement is in trouble.
A poll conducted earlier this week by the Los Angeles Times
showed that secession did not have majority vote in the Valley.
Katz dismissed the poll, alleging it is biased.
“I think the Times finds the results it wants,” Katz
said.
The Times has publicly recommended readers to vote against
secession.
While the recent Times poll did not mention Hollywood secession,
previous polls have indicated that Hollywood secession cannot get a
majority of the votes even in Hollywood.
Regardless of the current poll results, both Katz and La Pietra
are confident that they will be able to win on election day.
“There’s no chance that we’re gonna
lose,” La Pietra said.