CENSUS BRINGS PRAISE, WORRY FEAR OF UNDERCOUNT BALANCES PRIDE IN DIVERSE HERITAGE.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard and Rick Orlov Staff Writers

Local leaders reacted with a mix of dismay and delight on Friday to new U.S. Census Bureau findings about the size of Los Angeles and the ethnic diversity of the San Fernando Valley.

The city plans to press on with a lawsuit filed in February to force the Census Bureau to release additional data and adjust for an undercount, said City Attorney James Hahn. He estimated the 2000 Census omitted 100,000 residents in Los Angeles and 529,000 statewide.

``We know there's an undercount, an undercount of historic proportion,'' Hahn said. ``We want a fair count to get our share of tax dollars we send to Washington.''

The city attorney, who filed a similar action 10 years ago without success, said the state undercount could mean a loss of up to $240 million in federal funds over the next 10 years.

Other census findings, meanwhile, came as no surprise to officials who said the new figures reflect the Valley's diversity and could help end outdated stereotypes.

``Well, hello,'' was the reaction of Councilwoman Laura Chick, who represents the West Valley.

``Those of us who live and work here have known this for a long time,'' Chick said. ``We're not the stereotypical view that's been the traditional view of the San Fernando Valley, neither in ethnicity, socioeconomic terms or jobs.''

Activists in the Valley secession study movement said the findings could counteract critics who paint the area's residents as white suburbanites trying to flee the inner city.

``Those arguments tend to be made by people who are down at City Hall and go home to their West Los Angeles community,'' said Richard Close, chairman of Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment. ``They haven't visited the Valley. They would realize how silly that argument is.''

Close noted that when Valley VOTE collected signatures to trigger the cityhood study, the heavily Latino Northeast Valley had the highest response rate.

Mayor Richard Riordan, a secession opponent, has said the loss of the Valley and other breakaway communities would hurt the inner-city poor.

``What does he think we have in the Valley?'' asked Don Schultz, president of the Van Nuys Homeowners Association. ``Where has he been? Obviously not in the Valley.''

Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, who represents the Northeast Valley, said he has enjoyed watching the Valley transform itself over the years.

``The population mix of the Valley is much more diverse than when I grew up in Pacoima, which was monolithic,'' said Cardenas, D-Mission Hills. ``This is a totally positive thing.''

The demographic shifts of the Valley mirror those occurring in the city and state.

``It's a reflection of the fact that Los Angeles has become a destination for immigrants all over the world and a recognition that our own ethnic population will continue to grow,'' Hahn said.

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 charts

Photo:

(color) In an everyday demonstration of Valley diversity, Margarita Vazquez brings her grandsons along Friday while refilling a prescription at an Asian-American pharmacy in Reseda.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

Chart: (1) CHANGING FACE OF THE VALLEY

SOURCE: Census Bureau

(2) LOCAL COMMUNITIES