BILL TO EXTEND PETITION DRIVE GAINS IN SENATE.

Byline: David R. Baker Daily News Staff Writer

A bill that would give San Fernando Valley activists an extra three months to circulate petitions calling for a study of Valley secession cleared a key hurdle in the state Senate on Monday.

Also on Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California filed a federal lawsuit against Los Angeles city officials for interfering with the drive by ejecting petition gatherers from the Van Nuys air show.

The legislation, proposed by Assemblyman Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, and supported by several local lawmakers, won unanimous support in the Senate's local government committee. It could face a vote of the full Senate as early as Wednesday.

The bill seeks to clarify existing state law on the length of petition drives, stating that all secession-oriented drives face a 180-day deadline.

Members of Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment are circulating petitions calling for a public study that would explore whether San Fernando Valley cityhood is financially possible. Based on a state law that limits the length of some petition drives in Los Angeles County, VOTE leaders have assumed that they have just 90 days, ending Aug. 27, to collect the needed 135,000 signatures.

To the amazement of some of the bill's backers, secession opponent Sen. Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles, not only voted for the measure Monday but signed on as a principal co-author. Polanco said the bill would help make up for Valley VOTE members being unfairly prevented from gathering petitions at the recent Van Nuys air show.

``What motivated me was the issue of obstacles being created unnecessarily for the petition gatherers,'' Polanco said. ``Does this change my position on breaking up the city? No. But when you look at this situation, there was a compelling argument to be made for fairness.''

Valley VOTE members said Polanco's backing could help the bill win the two-thirds approval it needs for passage in both the Senate and the Assembly.

``With his support, I'm sure this will pass,'' said Valley VOTE President Jeff Brain.

Still, Valley VOTE Chairman Richard Close said the group would continue to plan around the Aug. 27 deadline. The chances Hertzberg's bill could be signed into law in time to help the group, he said, are slim.

``If the governor signs it on the 25th, great, but the chances of that are one in 100,'' he said.

In its editorial pages, the Daily News has strongly endorsed Valley VOTE's drive to trigger a public study of secession that would determine whether breakup would be revenue-neutral to the remaining part of the city and whether the new city would be economically viable. The newspaper has contributed $60,000 to the petition-gathering effort.

Hours before the Senate committee hearing, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles - and several specific city officials - for ejecting Valley VOTE volunteers from the air show July 18 and 19. The suit seeks damages, to be determined by a judge, plus an injunction blocking further city tampering with the drive.

ACLU attorney Peter J. Eliasberg contended that the incident at the airport clearly violated Valley VOTE's constitutional rights.

``We have to ensure that Valley VOTE's right to free expression is protected,'' he said.

Although Close had said Sunday that the group could ask for an extension of the petition drive as part of the damages sought in the lawsuit, he said Monday morning that a judge might not have the authority to grant an extension. Instead, he said, the lawsuit's main intent was to prevent the city from interfering during the petition drive's last 10 days.

The judge could direct the city to help pay for the proposed secession study, estimated to cost at least $1 million.The group could seek money from the city to hire more petition gatherers in an attempt to make up for the estimated 20,000 to 40,000 signatures the group now says it could have gathered at the air show.