San Fernando Valley

The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley in southern California, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles.

Secession movement

In 2002, Los Angeles residents defeated a proposal under which the San Fernando Valley would have seceded from the City of Los Angeles. The Valley attempted to secede in the 1970s, but the state passed a law barring city formation without the approval of the City Council. In 1997, Assemblymen Bob Hertzberg and Tom McClintock helped passed a bill that would make it easier for the Valley to secede by removing the City Council veto. AB 62 was signed into law by Governor Pete Wilson. Meanwhile, a grassroots movement to split the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and create new San Fernando Valley-based school districts became the focal point of the desire to leave the city. Though the state rejected the idea of Valley-based districts, it remained an important rallying point for Hertzberg's mayoral campaign, which proved unsuccessful.

Related Topics:
2002 - 1970s - 1997 - Bob Hertzberg - Tom McClintock - Pete Wilson - Los Angeles Unified School District

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Before secession could come out for a vote, the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) must study the fiscal viability of the new city and that the new city must mitigate any fiscal loss incurred by Los Angeles. LAFCO concluded that a new San Fernando Valley city would be financially viable, but would need to mitigate the $60.8 million that Los Angeles would lose in revenues. Secessionists took this figure as evidence that the Valley gives more money to the city than it gets back in services. This triggered a petition drive led by Valley VOTE to put secession on the ballot. Measures F and H would not only decide whether the Valley becomes a city but voters also get to pick a new name for it. Along with Measures F and H, elections were held for fourteen council members and a mayor.

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Opponents claimed that secession was motivated by racist and class-based factors. Valley politicians such as State Senator Richard Alarcon and City Council President Alex Padilla opposed the initiatives. The leader of the LAUSD breakup and former congresswoman and busing opponent Bobbie Fiedler also campaigned against secession. Supporters point out that the Valley suffers from the many of the same problems of poverty, crime, drug and gang activity as the rest of the city. The proposal passed with a slight majority in the Valley, but defeated by the rest of city voters due to a heavily-funded campaign against it led by Los Angeles mayor James Hahn. Republican Assemblyman Keith Richman of Northridge was voted in as mayor of the stillborn city.

Related Topics:
Alex Padilla - James Hahn - Keith Richman

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The effort highlights the secessionist tendencies of Valley residents. Many neighborhoods of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley have 'seceded' from one another in the form of renaming and reforming known community boundaries. Groups are motivated by the desire to disassociate themselves from undesirable connotations that some communities have inherited and, in the process, increase property values. Lake Balboa recently broke away from Van Nuys. Valley Village and Valley Glen separated from North Hollywood. West Hills and Winnetka from Canoga Park. Arleta succesfully broke off from Pacoima but thwarted in its attempts to carve out a separate ZIP code. None of the communities have actual governmental authority.

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