CITY MAY FIGHT LAW CHANGE OFFICIALS OPPOSE AMENDING RULES TO ALLOW '03 SECESSION VOTE.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

Top officials of Los Angeles said Tuesday that they oppose attempts to change state law so that an election on San Fernando Valley cityhood could be held in 2003.

City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, chairwoman of the council's committee on secession, and Chief Legislative Analyst Ron Deaton said the election should be held in an even-numbered year as the law now requires because voter turnout is higher in presidential and gubernatorial election years.

The county agency studying cityhood said this week the election may have to be delayed past the scheduled date of November 2002 because it is taking longer than expected complete all necessary work.

State law requires the election be held in an even-numbered year, meaning any delay would postpone the public vote until 2004. But some officials with the Local Agency Formation Commission said they may consider asking for a change in state law to allow the vote in Spring 2003 on breaking up Los Angeles, a step officially called a special reorganization.

``When we're really talking about democracy and letting the people decide, I think we've got to side with the state Legislature who said that on reorganization, those matters that go to the vote of the people should go on the highest-turnout elections,'' said Miscikowski, who is a member of the LAFCO board.

Valley secessionists want the vote to occur in November 2002, but if that date is missed, they said they could support a six-month delay. Even a two-year delay would not hurt their cause, they said.

``We're confident whether it's 2002 or 2004 that this is an issue whose time has come,'' said Jeff Brain, president of Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment. ``If they insist on waiting two years, we'll be there, if that's what has to happen. It'll give us more time to prepare. I think it works to our advantage in the end.''

According to city voting records for the past decade, city elections in odd-numbered years have had turnouts between 11 percent and 45 percent. In even-numbered year elections the turnout ranged from 26 percent to 75 percent.

Miscikowski said she is considering introducing a motion to get the full council to oppose a change in state law. Several council members on the secession committee said they have not yet made up their minds on the issue, which was raised as a possibility only Monday during a meeting of a LAFCO subcommittee on secession.