CARDENAS FLOATS SECESSION RESTRICTIONS; LAWMAKER CALLS FOR TWO-THIRDS APPROVAL IN CITYWIDE VOTE.

Byline: Paul Hefner Daily News Sacramento Bureau

Angering many San Fernando Valley community activists, Assemblyman Tony Cardenas proposed Friday requiring that secession from Los Angeles win approval of two-thirds of voters citywide.

Cardenas, D-Panorama City, previously refused to support right-to-secede legislation by other Valley legislators that required only a majority citywide. Instead, he proposed a two-thirds majority only in the seceding area. Both measures passed easily in the Assembly.

On Friday, Cardenas said he was amending his bill to require a citywide ``super-majority'' to appease East Los Angeles and South Central opponents of eliminating the City Council's veto power over secession. Cardenas said he would amend his bill for a Senate committee hearing next week.

``I think it's only fair that a monumental vote like this one requires a two-thirds vote,'' he said.

The proposal is the latest twist in the long-running debate over legislation to restore the right to secede to communities like the Valley.

Cardenas' move irked leaders of Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment, a San Fernando Valley group pushing to see the council's veto power stricken from state law. Should Cardenas' proposal become law, mounting a successful secession drive would be impossible, they said.

``It's insane,'' said Harry Coleman, a Valley VOTE board member. ``You could never do it. It can't be won.''

Cardenas disagreed. And he reiterated his stance that requiring a two-thirds majority was the only way to see that areas like the one he represents, where voter turnout is often low, aren't ignored in any secession campaign.

He said the amendment is necessary to keep his bill alive in the Senate, where pressure is strong to allow the veto to die only if it's replaced by a citywide vote.

``If we go to a simple majority, my community is still aced out,'' Cardenas said.

His proposal mirrors an amendment offered in committee last week by Sen. Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles, an outspoken opponent of any move to ease a breakup of the city.

Cardenas said he hadn't discussed the amendment with Polanco. But Valley activists said they were afraid Cardenas' move would strengthen Polanco's hand.

Polanco succeeded in forcing hostile amendments into both bills in an initial hearing before the Senate's Local Government Committee. The bills are due for another hearing by the panel Wednesday.

``The whole thing that Tony has done opens up a Pandora's box,'' Coleman said.