A MORAL VIEW OF CITYHOOD ARCHDIOCESE TO EXAMINE ETHICS OF SECESSION.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

At the urging of Mayor Richard Riordan, Cardinal Roger Mahony has stepped into the secession debate by appointing a group of religious leaders to examine the ``moral and ethical implications'' of breaking up Los Angeles into smaller cities.

The Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese sent a letter this week to Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment, as well as to leaders of the Hollywood and Harbor Area secession movements, inviting them to an initial meeting May 23 with representatives of the Council of Religious Leaders.

A spokesman for the archdiocese said Thursday that Mahony has no official position on secession but acted in response to a request from Riordan who has repeatedly argued that secession is immoral because he believes it would not serve the poorest residents of Los Angeles.

``We're not saying there are moral and ethical issues right now,'' said spokesman Tod Tamberg. ``We're studying it to see if there are.''

Leaders of the Valley VOTE secession movement welcomed participation in a dialogue on the morality of secession, saying a smaller Los Angeles and the new San Fernando Valley city would be able to serve the poor and all their residents more effectively with government closer to the communities they serve.

They noted that the Valley has its own pockets of urban poverty and closely reflects the demographics of the city as a whole as shown in the new census, which found that Hispanics slightly outnumbered whites in the Valley and that minorities were in the majority.

``I think we will demonstrate that this proposal for a Valley city which will allow two strong cities to exist is in the best interest of people of all economic, ethnic and racial backgrounds,'' said Valley VOTE Chairman Richard Close.

``The question being asked is fair and we will show how it benefits those groups,'' he said.

Secession leaders noted that the highest proportion of residents signing Valley VOTE's petitions for a secession study hailed from the heavily Latino Northeast Valley, where community leaders have complained for decades about being ignored or short-changed by City Hall.

``We feel it is the proper thing to do to give people local control and allow them to control their own destiny,'' said Valley VOTE President Jeff Brain. ``Whether they're affluent or impoverished, people have that same right. It's the more impoverished communities that supported this effort the most.''

Valley VOTE, which plans to send Close and former Assemblyman Richard Katz to the meeting, made two requests: inclusion of Valley residents involved in serving the needy and that the working group spend time in the Valley and get to know the community and its residents.

Mahony is spearheading the effort with the support of the Council of Religious Leaders, which includes representatives of 12 religions in the Los Angeles area.

A spokesman for the mayor said Riordan had asked Mahony to get involved in the issue but was uncertain whether Riordan proposed the study group.

``He's talked to Mahony about him taking a leadership role in the secession issue,'' said Deputy Mayor Ben Austin. ``He thinks there's a very productive role he can play in the debate.''

``The mayor is very focused in building a coalition of groups to make the case against secession. He believes it is a moral issue in that we all need to stick together and make sure the neediest in our society get taken care of.''

Mahony's study group will hold a series of round-table discussions with researchers, proponents, analysts and ethicists, according to the letter from Thomas A. Chabolla, a senior archdiocese official. The group will then prepare a report for the Council of Religious Leaders.

Ethical experts and religious leaders are divided over what, if any, are the moral consequences of secession.

John P. Crossley, director of the University of Southern California's School of Religion, compares Valley secession to a form of white flight in which white middle-class families abandon the city for the suburbs, hurting the poorer residents left behind.

``I would say it's essentially a selfish move,'' said Crossley, who is not affiliated with Mahony's group. ``It's designed to not care about those who need the greatest help, and to care about those who need the least and who want out of being obliged to help the more needy.''

Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis, head of one of the Valley's largest synagogues, Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, cautioned against either side speaking in terms of good and evil.

``The worst scenario is to pulverize the argument into saints and sinners, into good guys and bad guys,'' said Schulweis, who has not yet decided which side he supports. ``I think that's not going to be the issue.''

Rather, he said, it might be a question of which side achieves the greater good. To determine that, he said, one must carefully weigh each side's intentions and the consequences, intended or not, of their actions.

``The issue is not always good versus bad,'' he said. ``It may be good versus good. That is where it seems to me moral reason has to be used. You have to weigh how much good versus how much good.''

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo: (color) MAHONY