Secession Will Hurt Poor Most, Panel Told

A top aide to Mayor Richard Riordan said he told a panel of religious and civic leaders Thursday that the San Fernando Valley’s proposal to break away from Los Angeles will hurt all residents, especially the poor.

Addressing a committee appointed by Cardinal Roger Mahony to investigate the ethical and moral implications of secession, Deputy Mayor Bill Violante said during the closed-door hearing that breaking up Los Angeles will not benefit anyone.

“The mayor believes a breakup of the city is going to adversely affect the poor,� Violante said in an interview afterward in which he summarized his statements to the panel.

“In a divorce, nobody wins, no matter how you divide things up,� Violante added. “The mayor believes that there is no way breaking up could be of benefit to the haves or the have-nots.�

After listening to Violante list the many reasons Riordan opposes secession, the 10-member working group asked the mayor’s aide to return with a more detailed explanation of how secession would hurt the poor, according to Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese.

Violante’s appearance before the committee launched a series of hearings that will eventually result in the 12-member Council of Religious Leaders issuing a report on the issue next spring.

“The committee is set up to listen to all of the different voices, pro and con, those favoring secession and those opposed,� Tamberg said. “In terms of Valley secession, the mayor is an important voice as an opponent.�

Riordan, who has previously urged Mahony to get more involved in the secession issue, has called the proposed breakup “downright immoral.�

On Wednesday, leaders of the secession group Valley VOTE, including chairman Richard Close, will address the committee in another closed hearing.

Close said his group already has prepared its rebuttal to Violante’s charges.

“We will show next week when we meet with the group that local control will help people of all economic levels,� said Close, a Sherman Oaks attorney. “We are going to talk to them about the current conditions. If the city believes that the poor of the city have been adequately taken care of, they need to go to the northeast San Fernando Valley or South-Central [Los Angeles], and they will see that the poor of this city are most in need of local control.�

Violante said he told the religious leaders that keeping Los Angeles together is the best way to help all residents, in part because a larger city is more effective at getting grants to help with issues such as poverty, homelessness and public safety.

“Because Los Angeles is the [nation’s] second-largest city, it has a strong unified voice in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.,� Violante said. “After the Northridge earthquake, because of our size, the city was able to get a better and quicker response from the federal government.�

He said a Valley municipality will still be a large city, with all of the urban problems currently facing Los Angeles, including crime and an ineffective school system.

Close questioned the decision of the working group to hold the hearings behind closed doors.

“I would think that they would want them open to the public so the public will have more confidence in what they are doing,� Close said. “People do not like closed meetings. It raises suspicions. A lot of people feel this is just a method for Riordan to try to stop the reorganization.�

Tamberg said the group decided to exclude the public because it is only gathering information, which the Council of Religious Leaders will consider in making its conclusions.

Thomas Chabolla, who heads the archdiocese’s office of justice and peace and is representing the church on the panel, said Thursday’s session went well, but he said the group will not be talking to the press about details of the hearings.

Other members of the panel include the Rev. Madison Shockley, representing the United Church of Christ; Rabbi Mark S. Diamond of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California; the Rev. Jim Conn, representing the United Methodist Church; Father Arshag Khatchadourian of the Diocese of the Armenian Orthodox Church; and Fran Burnford, representing the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.