CARDENAS BILL PASSES 64-3; MOVE TO STRIP COUNCIL VETO ON SECESSION UP TO SENATE.

Byline: Paul Hefner Daily News Sacramento Bureau

A second measure to strip the Los Angeles City Council of its veto power over any secession drive cleared the Assembly on Tuesday on a lopsided vote of 64-3.

The Assembly's move gives the state Senate - where opposition to lifting the council's veto has been centered - two bills to contend with on the issue.

``It's obvious the real fight is in the Senate,'' said Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, D-Sylmar, after his bill, AB 1414, cruised through a floor vote.

Cardenas' bill would require that any Los Angeles secession proposal be put to a vote of residents of the detaching area. A two-thirds majority would be required for approval.

It differs from AB 62, which passed the Assembly earlier. That bill, co-authored by Tom McClintock, R-Granada Hills, and Robert Hertzberg, D-Sherman Oaks, also removes the veto, but calls for a citywide vote on any secession. A simple majority in the detaching area and citywide would be required for approval.

State Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer, D-Hayward, was carrying a third bill that also would have lifted the veto, but dropped his bill last week, citing opposition to his proposal.

Cardenas said he would work to get his bill approved, though he expected it would encounter the same opposition as the McClintock-Hertzberg measure.

``I think my bill has just as good a chance of passing as theirs does,'' he said.

State Sens. Diane Watson, D-Los Angeles, and Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles, have said they oppose lifting the veto, seeing it as the first step in allowing the San Fernando Valley to break away from the city.

Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Sheila Kuehl, who cast one of the three votes against Cardenas' bill, said she couldn't support it because it did not call for a citywide vote on secession. Other Assembly members voting in opposition were Roderick Wright, D-Los Angeles, and Michael Sweeney, D-Hayward.

``Frankly, I believe it's much more democratic to require that people affected by a vote get to vote,'' Kuehl said.

Cardenas said he proposed the two-thirds majority requirement to ensure that areas where voter turnout is low aren't ignored in secession campaigns.

Cardenas may be in the best position among Valley lawmakers to try to win over Polanco. He and Polanco share an apartment in Sacramento.

``I'll certainly have opportunities to talk with him about it,'' Cardenas said. ``I think he's going to be very responsive.''

Leaders of a San Fernando Valley group pushing for elimination of the veto said they were pleased to see Cardenas' bill moving forward, even though the group opposes the two-thirds vote requirement.

``We are very encouraged by his bill getting off the floor,'' said Jeff Brain, co-chair of Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment. ``It shows again that a City Council veto is indefensible. The ultimate voice should be with the people.''

No one spoke against Cardenas' bill before the floor vote. McClintock and Assemblyman George Runner Jr., R-Lancaster, endorsed passage of the measure.

``The only check on an abusive government . . . is the ability to walk away from that government,'' McClintock said.